logo-newlogo-newlogo-newlogo-new
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Audit Trail Academy
  • Advisory Services
  • Books
✕
  • Home
  • Chambers on Internal Audit
  • Internal Audit Resources
  • My 500th Blog Post: Final Reflections from The IIA

My 500th Blog Post: Final Reflections from The IIA

​How Agents of Change Can Shape Internal Audit’s Future
March 22, 2021
Five Goals for My Next Chapter on The Audit Trail
April 5, 2021
March 28, 2021

When I assumed the role of President and CEO of The IIA on Jan. 5, 2009, little did I know that I was embarking on what would become the longest and most rewarding professional assignment of my life. The world was in a dark place that winter as economies had plunged into the most severe crisis in seven decades.

As the saying goes, when the economy catches a cold, not-for-profit organizations like The IIA catch the flu. So, with the world suffering pneumonia, my entire focus in those early months was squarely on the challenges we faced as an organization – not the amazing journey that would lie ahead.

On Feb. 10, 2009, I wrote my first blog, “Chief Audit Executives Beware: We Are Entering One of Those Eras Again!” My message then is as relevant today: CAEs must be continuously attuned to the risks their organizations face and to their stakeholders’ expectations for internal audit. I concluded that inaugural blog with a list of “10 signs that potential trouble may be brewing for the CAE:”

  1. You are executing an annual audit plan developed from a risk assessment conducted six months ago, and no new audits have been added in the past two months.
  2. You increasingly find yourself arguing with stakeholders about why internal auditing should not be addressing specific new or emerging risks.
  3. The audit committee is surfacing more new risks to you than you are to it.
  4. Audit committee members are citing best practices they have observed in other companies with increasing frequency.
  5. Your CEO, CFO, or audit committee chair are citing internal audit thought leadership that you have not heard about.
  6. You are getting a lot of pressure from your stakeholders to undergo an external quality assessment. An external quality assessment is a great idea and mandated by The IIA Standards — but it should be your idea and not theirs.
  7. Your budget/staffing is being reduced, and you are not even being asked about the impact.
  8. You find yourself on the audit committee agenda with less and less frequency.
  9. You are getting fewer and fewer phone calls and emails from key stakeholders.
  10. ​You discover that one of your peers in the CFO organization has just joined The IIA.

Even though that first blog was written 12 years ago, the message and “10 signs” remain timeless. A year of COVID-19 reaffirms that. The good news is that internal audit has evolved over the past 12 years, and that our profession is far more risk-centric, stakeholder-attuned, and agile than we were at the end of the century’s first decade. I certainly do not take any credit for that, but I believe The IIA has been a beacon, shining a light on a path forward for our profession.

This is my 500th and final blog post as IIA President and CEO. I could have never imagined when I began “Chambers on the Profession” just how popular this format would become, or how widely my blog would be read and cited. In recent years, annual readership has routinely topped 400,000, and the blog has been regularly translated into multiple languages.

This week also marks my last as IIA President and CEO. As I noted when I announced my intent to step down last July, my decision afforded The IIA’s Board “the opportunity to secure new leadership with fresh ideas and perspectives at a critical time. The association industry in general, and The IIA in particular, will likely look very different in the post-COVID era, and new, strong leadership will be instrumental in executing bold, decisive, and agile strategies to address this new frontier.”

While I have come to embrace the term “retirement” to describe the end of my IIA tenure, in no way do I intend to retire from this profession. Just as I formally retired as a U.S. government Inspector General in 2001, this milestone will simply signal the end of an important chapter and the beginning of a new one that is yet to be written. But I pledge to continue writing and sharing my perspective including via a new blog to be launched in April. I also plan to remain active by partnering with organizations whose missions include advancement of the internal audit profession worldwide.

As I prepare to turn out the office lights one last time, I can’t help but reflect on all the changes the world and The IIA have been through since my first day on the job. I have seen four U.S. presidents and scores of other global leaders come and go. When I assumed this job, I purchased a new iPhone 3, but there was no such thing as an iPad, and 3G technology was state-of-the-art. Smart watches, commercially available drones, self-driving cars, 3D bio printing, and electric car charging stations were not yet full realities. The internal audit profession was focused extensively on financial reporting, cost reduction and containment, and risk management assurance. Risks related to cyber security, corporate culture, big data, and artificial intelligence were not on many of our radars.

During my IIA journey, I have overseen the launch of the Audit Executive Center, Public Services Audit Center, Financial Services Audit Center, and Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Center; the Certification in Risk Management Assurance and Qualification in Internal Audit Leadership; the Pulse of Internal Audit series; the American Corporate Governance Index and OnRisk series; and two Common Body of Knowledge studies. I have been privileged to author four books for the Internal Audit Foundation, including my most recent, “Agents of Change: Internal Auditors in an Era of Disruption.”

I also have travelled more than 1.4 million miles, visited more than 60 IIA affiliates, and addressed more than 100,000 internal audit professionals around the world. I have helped grow IIA to more than 200,000 members and more than 170,000 Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) worldwide. I remain immensely optimistic about the future of our profession. The IIA, this year celebrating its 80th anniversary, is unquestionably the world’s leading voice, standard setter, certifying body, and principal educator for the internal audit profession.

I am eternally grateful to have been part of this incredible journey. I thank each of you for listening to my thoughts, for your comments, and for your forever-valued support.

Share

Related posts

January 9, 2023

Follow the Leaders in 2023


Read more
December 28, 2022

A Dozen Who Made a Difference:


Read more

Man hiding under laptop

December 23, 2022

A Bad Month for Internal Audit Just Got a Little Better


Read more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What’s Trending

03-20-23

New Report Reveals Surprising Insights from Internal Audit Executives


03-13-23

New IIA Report Is a Timely Benchmarking Resource for Internal Auditors


03-02-23

6 Things Audit Committee Members Often Won’t Say to Internal Audit


Read More

Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009

Contact Us

PO Box 1441
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32170

+1-407-463-9389
rchambers@richardchambers.com

About AuditBeacon.com

AuditBeacon.com is a resource center for internal auditors and risk professionals from around the world. In addition to more than 500 blogs authored by Richard Chambers, the site includes links to news and insights on internal audit and other information that illuminates the value of this important profession. AuditBeacon.com is provided as a service by Richard F. Chambers and Associates, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 Richard F. Chambers & Associates. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Audit Trail Academy
  • Advisory Services
  • Books