How to Do Your Job and Keep Your Job Becoming A Trusted Advisor

How to do it…(Trusted Advisor) Roadmap for Success Courage Passion for the Job What to do…(IPPF) How to do it…(Trusted Advisor)

Trusted Advisor Definition of Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Have to earn it Needs to be shared with caution Once broken very difficult to repair

Becoming a Trusted Advisor Chambers, Richard: Trusted Advisor-Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors

Personal Ethical Resilience Results Focused Intellectually Curious Open-Mindedness

Personal – Ethical Resilience Integrity – strict adherence to moral principles Courage – doing the right thing Honesty – unwavering commitment to dealing with truth Accountability – take responsibility for actions and perceptions Trustworthiness – history of ethical behavior

Personal – Results Focused Will/Did the audit have impact? Will/Did it create productive and beneficial change in the organization? Will/Did it identify opportunities for improvement? Other considerations: Are you giving an overall opinion on the area reviewed? Are you telling them what they did well in the report?

Personal – Intellectually Curious Why? Root Cause Smart Questions and the Right Questions “Healthy” Skepticism Good people will do bad things Smart people will do dumb things Life-long learner

Personal – Open-Mindedness Are we really open-minded as we: Compile the audit report Undertake various engagements Deliver the audit report Conduct follow-up Are you providing “insight” to management? Have your observations and recommendations become routine? Lack of policies and procedures Lack of training Productive Failure

Becoming a Trusted Advisor Chambers, Richard: Trusted Advisor: Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors

Relational – Dynamic Communicator Know your audience Non-verbal clues Set the right tone in the entrance conference Be a good listener 3 things most people will want to know before entering into conversation with an auditor Is what you are going to talk to me about going to be painful? How long is it going to take? What are you going to want from me?

Relational – Dynamic Communicator 5 words or phases to avoid in written communications of audit results: Failed Inadequate Ineffective We found It Appears Overall opinion Balanced reports: Things done well Improvements that have been made Any leading practices being utilized

Relational – Insightful Relationships Starts at “home” How to build relationships: Positive intent Diplomacy Trustworthiness Empathy Be approachable

Relational – Inspirational Leader Share their experiences Let others lead Coach and train people to greatness Build teams and promote teamwork Employ purposeful emotion Lead through culture of continuous improvement Face challenges Earn and extend trust

Becoming a Trusted Advisor Chambers, Richard: Trusted Advisor: Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors

Professional – Critical Thinkers

Professional – Technical Expertise Master the technical end ACL IDEA Tableau Audit Management Software Etc

Conclusion Internal Audit is not an easy profession and is often misunderstood Have courage Be passionate about your job Strive to be a trusted advisor and work on your soft skills

References Purchase from the IIA Bookstore http://www.drlillie.com/a544/kpmg/jdgmt/KPMG_ProfJudgment_Monograph.pdf