Blog: Persuading Internal Audit Clients Just Got Harder

In his blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers, CIA, QIAL, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession. Here’s an excerpt from his latest post:

​There’s an old expression — “when everyone shouts, no one listens” — that certainly rings true today. From politics to social media and even in grocery store aisles as much of the world still battles COVID-19, the prevailing approach to discourse is to shout down or vilify those who disagree.

It seems to me that the art of persuasion has fallen out of favor to confrontation. But as internal auditors know well, to effect positive change in our organizations, we must make those on the receiving end of our recommendations and reports open, comfortable, and amenable to what we have to say.

Put another way, to be agents of change, internal auditors must embrace the art of persuasion. I wrote about the importance of persuasion in the chapter on “Dynamic Communicators” in my second book, Trusted Advisors: Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors, a few years ago. The lessons remain relevant today. We do not enhance value until management implements our recommendations and they produce a desired outcome. And that won’t happen without effective communication.

Read the full InternalAuditor.org blog post from IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers.