2024-2025 Anti-Corruption Day

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Every year on December 9th is International Anti-Corruption Day, an unfortunately little-known but tremendously important annual observance of the importance of our global work to enact the institutional systems necessary to prevent corruption. Each year, I will share some reflections from the previous year on the progress and setbacks toward the goal of a corruption-free World.

This year's theme is "United with Youth Against Corruption," and will focus on

the role young guardians of integrity play as advocates, raising awareness about corruption and its impacts on their communities. They will actively participate in discussions, share their experiences and propose innovative solutions to combat corruption. The campaign will amplify voices of integrity leaders of tomorrow, allowing them to express their concerns and aspirations, with the hope that their appeals will be heard and acted upon.

I've written an extensive account of my personal experience as a young idealist who had the best of intentions backfire by not recognizing the danger of working in a culture of corruption, and for this year's theme I want to focus on the thousands of youth working or seeking to work in public service, just as I did.

Look closely behind the scenes at any governmental body and you'll notice how important young interns and junior staffers are to running the daily operations, even at the U.S. Congressional level. Most serve with a sense of purpose, motivated by an idealist mindset and hoping to make positive impacts. But while I celebrate their motivations and will cheer on their determination to improve the World they will ultimately inherit and have to repair, I fear for their well-being and the risks of being exposed to and possibly harmed by the corruptive influences they are exposed to.

Most are also likely underpaid, heavily overworked, and in many cases, in over their heads in trying to navigate the challenges they have to deal with on a daily basis. As such, I'd like to share some "Public Servant Survival Tips in Corruptive Cultures" that every new youth should know when entering these political arenas and working for powerful people that may see them as commodities to exploit.

Seven Tips to Help You Get Started

Get training and ongoing guidance on applicable Ethics rules

Many governmental bodies have formal Code of Ethics rules that define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors within the organization. Oftentimes newly-elected or appointed officials are required to participate in ethics training as part of their orientation, but it may not be mandatory for junior staffers.

If it exists, take the initiative to learn about the Code of Ethics and the people that conduct its training and compliance oversight. Even if it's not mandatory, enroll in any trainings and maintain contact with the Ethics oversight staff. If there is no formal Code of Ethics, review available publications from similar institutions to be aware of commonly established rules (and perhaps nudge your organization to adopt some).

Become familiar with "dark triad" personality types among the people you work with

I truly believe most people are good, even if they don't always agree and make mistakes while trying to do the right thing. For these people, Code of Ethics serve as guardrails to keep everyone honest and political dealings above board. Unfortunately some people don't work this way, and often undermine a healthy institutional culture.

Such people have high levels of distinct traits that have been collectively defined as dark traid personality traits: machiavellian, narcissism, and pschopathy. While we all have some level of these traits, you'll come across others that seem problematic in nearly every interaction. Do your best to be aware of them and the negative influence they may have on the institution, often becoming the most likely corruptible people you'll face.

Find experienced mentors to help confidentially keep yourself in check

While gaining experience in navigating the many pitfalls of political institutions, it's important to build relationships with seasoned individuals that can serve as mentors and accountability partners for you. It's also important to find people that are at least somewhat removed from the ethical situations you'll face so they can provide more objective perspectives.

These relationships must be based on trust and confidentiality, and will take time to establish. Developing a discipline of establishing trust with others will go a long way towards identifying the right ones to mentor you, as well as check your own behavior in prioritizing that trust over compromising yourself to corruptive influences by dark personality types.

Recognize the risks of discussions involving bribery, extortion, and other illegal activities

From a small borough hall to the U.S. Congress, every governmental body operates on quid-pro-quo interactions, favors provided in the past are constantly tracked and leveraged for new requests. This could be convincing Public Works to again plow the street of a vocal resident or adding specific language to a bill that benefits key constituency.

In most cases these implicit interactions are simply natural human behavior as part of negotiations and other means of influence. Increasingly, however, they have become more explicitly transactional in nature, often involving financial considerations that impact political outcomes. Any when relationships between officials are confrontational, every "ask" can seem to come along with carefully crafted "conditions" involving questionable exchanges in budgetary or authority exchanges.

In what I call toxic cultures of quid-pro-quo, these exchanges tend to dominate negotiations, and in high-pressure situations such as budget talks, election seasons, or crises, such situations are explioted. It's in these times that illegal activities such as bribes and extortion are used, and it's essential for you to detect when that's happening and take immediate action to extract yourself.

Extract yourself from uncomfortable situations and seek out solicitor's office for clarity

If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation where the discussion seems to involve even a hint of bribery, extortion, or other illegal schemes, you need to extract yourself as soon as possible. Remaining in the discussion, playing along, and giving lip service to possibly illegal activities could implicate you despite your lack of intent to participate.

If your boss is involved in such a discussion, unfortuntely you cannot always trust them to know where the line is. While it's important to respect your boss's authority, you have every right (and duty) to step back and make it clear you're uncomfortable with what it being discussed. Taking the right actions at this time is extremely important.

While I can't provide legal advice for such situations, your institution's Solicitor will be able to, and if your boss downplays or disagrees with your concerns, it's in your own best interest to ensure you're on the right side of the law. Not following through with this was one my fatal mistakes, and I would hate to see others make the same mistake.

Become familiar with whistleblower laws and situations where you may need to become one

If, when reviewing the situation with the Solicitor, it appears that the uncomfortable situation may in fact involve corruption, you may be faced with the decision to take the role of a whistleblower. This can be a very difficult role to take on, but is far better then being pulled into a conspiracy investigation that you may be implicated as part of.

Depending on the whistleblower laws that have jurisdiction, the institution (assuming it cooperates overall) should support you in the process. If the institution itself may be embroiled in the case, it may be best to have outside counsel to represent you. In either case, familiarizing yourself with applicable whistleblower laws (perhaps as part of your initial ethics training) is a good idea.

If you find yourself getting pulled into re-election activities in addition to your regular administrative role as a staffer, the risks of participating in quid-pro-quo discussions involving campaign contributions tied to official actions of the public office increase substantially. Many staffers also participate in campaigns to show loyalty to the official, raise their profile for potential advancement, or even to simply keep their job.

Even in environments where the institutional culture is healthy and the Code of Ethics well-established, dynamics between office staff and campaign staff can blur lines and protocols, with campaign staff often having different goals and obligations that downplay ethics in pursuit of winning. Authority you make have had during the term can be subjugated to the demands of the campaign staff, and even level-headed officials in tight races enter gray areas under the pressure of getting re-elected.

This was another fatal mistake for me, and one I urge you to seek out support from the Solicitor and your mentor(s) to keep your own actions in check.

The Key Take-away

If reviewing these tips made you uncomfortable, that's alright. Have a healthy fear of the risks of a toxic culture of quid-pro-quo can have on your career and your life as a public servant. It's an incredible feeling when you know you're making a difference, and I applaud your goals. But be ever cautious of corruption.

If there's one thing I hope you take away from this article and apply it to your career, it's these two rules:

Ensure you are trained and fully aware of your organization’s code of ethics, including how to safely report violations.
As soon as you sense something is wrong, stand up, speak out, push back, and if you aren’t being heard, walk out.

Nothing you think you’re doing in an organization is worth the risk of compromising your values and ethics or breaking the law. In the end, you’ll only allow your values and ethics to be compromised. I wish you all the luck in the World towards your service to others.