May is coming to a close, and with it another Internal Audit Month. I was pleased when The IIA dropped “Awareness” out of the official name, but it is still a month set aside each year to tout who we are, what we do, and the value we bring.

A Noble Tradition

As always, I have been inspired by the creativity, pride, and passion demonstrated throughout our profession during these past few weeks. Around the world, internal auditors hosted events, shared success stories, promoted the profession on social media, engaged students, and reminded stakeholders why internal audit matters.

I have long believed these efforts are important. I wrote years ago that Internal Audit Awareness Month should be “more than just talking the talk.” I also observed that “awareness begins at home,” meaning our most important audience is often the people we work beside every day.

Perception Versus Reality

But as another May ends, I believe we need to confront an uncomfortable truth. Internal audit awareness cannot be something we practice for 30 days and then abandon on June 1st. It must become a habit.

There is plenty of evidence that our profession still struggles with perception challenges. Despite decades of progress, internal audit remains one of the least understood professions in business. In many organizations, we are still viewed through a narrow compliance lens rather than as strategic partners capable of helping organizations navigate risk and uncertainty.

The IIA’s Vision 2035 survey (from 2024) underscores the challenge. When respondents were asked how internal audit is viewed today, the top responses were “compliance-focused,” “independent,” and “as police.” Far fewer respondents selected terms such as “trusted advisors,” “strategic,” “dynamic,” or “technology and data experts.”

That should concern all of us.

When nearly half of respondents still associate internal audit with policing behavior, we must acknowledge that perception did not materialize in a vacuum. In many cases, we helped create it.

Too often, internal auditors spend May talking about collaboration, partnership, and trust, only to return in June to rigid, transactional behaviors that reinforce outdated stereotypes. We speak about being advisors while acting primarily as enforcers. We promote our softer side during awareness campaigns, then immediately pull out the radar guns again once the banners come down.

Walking the Talk

Changing perceptions requires more than marketing. It requires consistency. Stakeholders form opinions about internal audit based less on what we say and more on how we behave.

• Do we approach engagements with curiosity or with preconceived conclusions?
• Do we seek to understand the business before critiquing it?
• Do we communicate risks in language executives understand?
• Do we help management solve problems, or simply document deficiencies?
• Do we demonstrate that risk truly is our North Star?

Those questions matter because awareness is earned through daily interactions. Every meeting, every audit report, every executive presentation, and every conversation either strengthens or weakens the profession’s reputation.

The encouraging news is that internal audit has already demonstrated an extraordinary ability to evolve.

Over the years, I have written extensively about the profession’s transformation from a function heavily concentrated on financial controls to one increasingly focused on strategic risks, cybersecurity, governance, culture, resilience, and emerging threats. Internal auditors today possess broader skill sets, deeper business acumen, and greater strategic awareness than at any point in our history.

But capability alone does not guarantee perception. Stakeholders must experience the value we bring. That requires intentional effort throughout the year.

Winning and Sustaining Trust

If we want to be viewed as trusted advisors, then trust must become central to how we operate every day. Trusted advisors do not lead with authority. They lead with insight, credibility, objectivity, and relationships. They are respected because they consistently help organizations succeed, especially during periods of uncertainty.

In today’s era of permacrisis, organizations desperately need that kind of partner. Risks are moving faster. Geopolitical instability continues to disrupt supply chains and markets. Cyber threats evolve daily. Artificial intelligence is transforming business models at unprecedented speed. Regulatory expectations are rising. Boards and executive teams are searching for clarity amid accelerating complexity.

This environment presents a tremendous opportunity for internal audit. But opportunity does not automatically translate into relevance.

Internal auditors who cling to outdated approaches focused primarily on compliance checklists and retrospective fault-finding risk becoming increasingly marginalized. Meanwhile, those who embrace innovation, strategic thinking, dynamic communication, and relationship acumen will position themselves as indispensable.

The choice belongs to us.

Siezing the Opportunity

Awareness should not depend on annual campaigns or slogans. It should be reflected in the habits we cultivate throughout the year.

That means:

• Listening more carefully to stakeholders.
• Framing risks in terms of business impact.
• Delivering insights that help organizations anticipate emerging threats.
• Communicating with clarity and courage.
• Following the risks, even when doing so challenges conventional audit plans.
• Embracing technology and innovation instead of resisting them.
• Demonstrating empathy without sacrificing objectivity.
• Building relationships rooted in trust and credibility.

Most importantly, it means ensuring our actions align with the story we tell about ourselves.

Several years ago, I wrote that Internal Audit Awareness Month should remind practitioners to “live up to the picture we are painting about the profession.” I believe that message is even more relevant today.

The future stature of internal audit will not be determined solely by standards, certifications, methodologies, or technology investments. It will largely be determined by whether stakeholders genuinely experience us as trusted, strategic partners who help them navigate uncertainty and create value.

That reputation is not built in May alone. It is built audit by audit and conversation by conversation. It is reenforced Habit by habit.

Internal Audit Awareness Month may be ending. But the responsibility to elevate our profession continues every single day of the year.