IIA training and events

Successful influencing and political savvy strategies for heads of internal audit – a masterclass

Presented By
James Paterson PIIA With a career in both finance and human resources, James was also the head of internal audit for AstraZeneca PLC from 2002-2009. James has been training, consulting and coaching HIAs and their teams since 2010 and runs a number of key courses for the IIA, including the Head of Audit Induction Masterclass, Root cause analysis for internal Audit and Assurance Mapping. James was a member of the IIA Council and has been invited as a speaker at three IIA International conferences. James has had numerous articles published and is the author of the book Lean Auditing, published by J Wiley in 2015.

This masterclass explores the influencing challenges and opportunities that heads of internal audit face when working closely with business leaders, peers in other risk and compliance functions. It is aimed to refresh and strengthen influencing and stakeholder management and to understand the importance of political savvy in the success of an HIA’s career.

Who should attend?

Heads of internal audit and senior audit managers who want to take stock what they are currently doing and how to proactively promote the value of internal audit and head off potential pitfalls.

What will I learn?

Upon completion you will be able to:

  • assess key stakeholders now and going forward and what they may be looking for
  • take stock around your own leadership and influencing style
  • understand the psychological factors that lead to irrational and unhelpful behaviour and how to manage them
  • understand the political dimension of audit work, recognising constraints, agendas and knowing how to leverage alliances to deliver appropriate change in the context of the organisations culture and key dynamics.

Course programme

Stakeholders

  • the special relationship between internal audit, senior executives and the audit committee.

Models of influencing

  • understand what stakeholders value using the Kano model
  • gain insights around your own leadership and influencing style
  • understand key biases and psychological pitfalls in one-to-one interactions (“Predictably irrational” factors).

Group dynamics

  • understand the way group dynamics operate.

Political savvy

  • understand political thinking in a positive and ethical light
  • understand key political skills to influence effectively at a senior level.

Putting it into practice

  • use of Action Learning techniques to apply insights to current challenges and as a way of supporting ongoing challenges
  • key actions to prioritise with key stakeholders.

CPE competency areas covered

  • Improvement and innovation
  • Persuasion and collaboration

7 CPE points

Full price

Member: £625 + VAT
Non-member: £840 + VAT

SAVE £100 when you book this course 3 months in advance

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