There was no shortage of tumultuous times over the past year and a half. A global pandemic, isolation, social unrest, a tenuous election, fear, anxiety and, what I keep hearing over and over again, a shortage of hugs. But as Mark Greenblatt, CFE, Inspector General at the U.S. Department of the Interior, said today, we can come out of these difficult times with lessons learned and tools to have for the next challenge that comes our way.

In his session, “Leading Your Anti-Fraud Team Through Tumultuous Times,” Greenblatt shared what he personally learned over the past year when leading the U.S. Department of Interior’s office of the inspector general. He focused on three themes that arose and how each serve as vital keys to unlocking your team’s success in the future.

According to Nicole Babnick, HR director at Avalon Health Care and former attorney and investigator, one of the best ways to check your biases at the door is simply to acknowledge that you have them. This act of self-awareness emphasizes just one of the four areas that make up emotional intelligence (EI). And, according to Babnick, EI can make or break an investigative interview.

In her session, “Emotional Intelligence: The ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ That Sets You Apart,” Babnick discussed how self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management can each play a part in conducting a successful investigation. And, believe it or not, none of them have anything to do with your business acumen, where you went to school or what characteristics you were born with. While many of us attended the first day of the ACFE Global Fraud Conference to learn how to improve our auditing, compliance, risk management and other skills, those make up only half of what we need to be sharpening.