Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need

by Brian D. Kush

Overview

Until now, there has not been a book created specifically for auditors that solely focuses on the critical skills needed to personally excel and become a leader in the audit profession.

Written by Brian Kush, an experienced coach and CPA who has worked with thousands of auditors, Auditing Leadership is the only book of its kind, brimming with practical tips, insights, and ideas on becoming a leader in completing audits, in the audit profession, and in your life.

Avoiding technical accounting literature and references to FASBs, IASBs, and SASs, this invaluable resource instead addresses the key interpersonal and leadership challenges auditors face every day in the world of auditing and provides:

• Solid guidance on becoming a better leader, based on the person you already are and the strengths you already have
• The workable skills to excel in auditing, including client service, client management, time management, personal branding, supervising, communication skills, and much more
• Stand-alone chapters that allow readers to read the book cover to cover or pick and choose topics of interest
• Reflective discussions that challenge professionals to take their leadership skills to a new level by uncovering their goals and uncorking their potential

All about uncovering your big plan and having lots of little plans as well, the skills discussed in this guide are centered on the auditing career, and becoming a better leader, whether you are "leading" your family, working alone, or working with a large group of people. Both a professional guide and an insightful personal reference tool, Auditing Leadership authoritatively enables auditors to boost their personal leadership and professional skills.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470503164
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	06/29/2009
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	450 KB

About the Author

Brian D. Kush, CPA, CISA, CITP, former Vice-President of AuditWatch, is President of Moxie Partners, a professional coaching and personal networking company that helps accountants and IT professionals achieve in self-defined and measurable ways. His clients include 25 of the top 100 accounting firms as designated by Inside Public Accounting. He has worked with over 100 CPA firms and provided consulting and/or live instruction to thousands of auditors on best practices, audit process reengineering, and audit technology tools. Kush is a former Audit Manager at Ernst & Young. His unique background includes having worked in the accounting profession, having trained in the profession, and now being a professional coach to those in the profession. He has worked intimately and consulted with level-one employees all the way up to managing partners and executives at hundreds of accounting firms and internal audit departments across the country.

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Table of Contents

Preface xi

About the Author xiii

PART I PROFESSIONAL INTERACTION AND REFLECTION SKILLS 1

CHAPTER 1 Where Are You Going? 3

Your Roles 4

Your Mission 6

Your Core Values 9

Roles, Mission, Values: Tying It All Together 10

Leadership Summary 11

CHAPTER 2 Selling Number One 13

Continuously Selling Yourself 13

Your Brand 16

Branding versus Selling 21

Leadership Summary 22

CHAPTER 3 Feedback Equals Money 23

Sources of Feedback 23

Performance Evaluations 25

Feedback Is Contagious 27

Specific Feedback Rocks! 28

A Feedback Culture Can Start with You 29

Leadership Summary 32

CHAPTER 4 The Audit Cheerleader 33

Belief Is Mandatory 33

Conflict Is Healthy 36

Positivity Is Contagious 40

Enemies Are Counterproductive 45

Leadership Summary 47

PART II NETWORKING SKILLS 49

CHAPTER 5 Your Social Capital 51

Social Capital 52

Your Circle of Trust 54

Strengthen Your Capital 55

Leadership Summary 56

CHAPTER 6 The First Step in Networking 57

Networking Events 58

Approach Networking as Relationship-Building 59

Leadership Summary 61

PART III TIME MANAGEMENT AND PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY SKILLS 63

CHAPTER 7 The Most Important Word to an Auditor 65

Understand More by Asking “Why?” 65

Teach Why 70

Leadership Summary 72

CHAPTER 8 The Problem with To-Do Lists 73

To-Do Lists Can Create Guilt 73

Create Action Lists 74

Reconcile To-Do Lists with Goals 77

Prioritization of To-Dos—It’s Impossible! 78

Leadership Summary 78

CHAPTER 9 The Power of Time-Blocking 79

Schedule Buffer Time 80

Time-Block Commitments, or Say “No!” 82

Planning Your Day by Using Time-Blocking 84

Time-Block Away Distractions 86

Time-Block Yourself 88

Leadership Summary 90

CHAPTER 10 The Power of Routines 91

Routines and Habits 92

Identifying Proactive, Healthy Routines 92

Multi-Fulfilling 98

Give Them a Name 98

Group Routines Require Group Buy-In 99

Create Accountability Related to Your Routines 100

Leadership Summary 103

CHAPTER 11 Do You Train Your People to Interrupt You? 105

Interruption Dependence? 106

Are You Too Accessible? 107

Empower People More So They Interrupt You Less 110

Leadership Summary 111

CHAPTER 12 Do You Have Commitment Issues? 113

Be Aware of All Commitments 114

Habitually Undercommit 117

Leadership Summary 120

CHAPTER 13 Reengineer Your E-mail Practices 121

How Much Are You E-mailing? 121

Challenge E-mails without Substance 123

What’s in an E-mail? 124

E-mail Subject Headers 124

E-mail Body 127

E-mail Habits of Others 127

Processing E-mail 129

How Often Should You Check E-mail? 134

Leadership Summary 137

PART IV COMMUNICATION SKILLS 139

CHAPTER 14 Effective Opining 141

What Is Your Advice Process? 141

Unsolicited Advice 143

Leadership Summary 149

CHAPTER 15 Are You a Filler-holic? 151

Conversation Word Fillers 151

Writing Word Fillers 154

Leadership Summary 156

CHAPTER 16 Why We Love PowerPoint Slides 157

What Is Your Objective in Making a Presentation? 157

Present with the Audience in Mind 158

Preparing a Presentation with Purpose 160

Leadership Summary 161

CHAPTER 17 One Way to Avoid Office Rage 163

Your Confrontation Style? 163

Turn Anger into Problems and Solutions 165

Leadership Summary 167

PART V CLIENT RELATIONSHIP SKILLS 169

CHAPTER 18 Who Is the Puppet Master? 171

Who Is Pulling the Strings? 171

The Single Biggest Opportunity to Improve Your Audit? 172

Stop Managing “Clients” 172

The First Step in Client Management 177

Stop “Managing” Clients 179

Leadership Summary 181

CHAPTER 19 What Hat Are You Wearing? 183

How Many Hats Are You Wearing? 183

Audit Your Audits 184

Client Education 184

Leadership Summary 186

CHAPTER 20 Be Memorable 187

Remind Clients of Your Value 187

Create Stories 189

Turn “Messing Up” into “Stepping Up” 190

Let Clients Guide You 193

Be Yourself 195

One Client at a Time 195

Leadership Summary 196

PART VI TEAMBUILDING AND REFLECTION SKILLS 197

CHAPTER 21 Prepare to Be Fired 199

Prepare to Be Fired from the Very Beginning: Leadership Transition 200

Add More Responsibilities 203

They See, They Do 203

Team Accountability 206

Team Chemistry 208

The “Open Door” Leader 209

Teach Your Teams to Seek Complaints 210

Ponder Your Future Often 211

Leadership Summary 213

CHAPTER 22 Now Where Are You Going? 215

Success Is a Mind-Set, Not a Finish Line 215

Awareness Unlocks Who You Are 218

What Are the Leadership Skills You Uncovered and Want to Develop? 219

Your Plan 225

APPENDIX You Know You Are an Auditor When . . . 227

Afterword and Acknowledgments 233

Index 235