2021

It is May again, and as many internal auditors know, that means International Internal Audit Awareness Month is upon us. The IIA, along with its affiliated institutes and partners and sponsors around the world are vigorously promoting the value that internal audit brings to fostering stronger internal risk management, internal controls, and corporate governance. Awareness month has long provided an opportunity for practitioners to plan events, gather proclamations, and do other outreach. There is no doubt this positive and coordinated effort helps to build awareness and appreciation of the profession.

As I have expressed before, however, I fear that much more needs to be done to build and sustain an enduring awareness of the profession’s value.…

Over the four decades that I have been part of the internal audit profession, I have been struck by how often I have heard the refrain – “Internal audit should change its name.” The idea is typically suggested as a way to avoid what some view as a negative stigma associated with internal audit. During my years at The IIA, I quickly shot down such ideas as unnecessary and counterproductive. After all, I headed “The Institute of Internal Auditors!” However; as I noted in my recent blog on personal goals for myself, I need to be more open to alternative views and be courageous enough to reexamine long held personal preferences or beliefs.…

For almost two years, I have been encouraging internal auditors to become more assertive and adept in “telling their story.” Telling our story is simply another way of creating awareness among those of our stakeholders who may not appreciate the value we create, or our potential. As I noted in a January 2020 blog:

Successfully showing our value is more than what we say. Indeed, it is all about delivering on that promised value. I’ve written extensively on how internal audit adds value, including dedicating chapters in two of my books to the subject. In my first book, Lessons Learned on the Audit Trail, I included a “Life Lesson” that provides particular insight on this subject:

“Your key stakeholders have the last word on whether you are doing your job well.…