Course Information
Leadership in Internal Auditing - Building the Next Generation of Internal Auditing Leaders
Parking for SAO, Professional Development courses is in Garage B (1511 San Jacinto Blvd.). The Garage signage may read 1511 San Jacinto or Garage B. The elevator in Garage B is not reliable. If you are unable to walk the stairs, please contact the professionaldevelopment@sao.texas.gov for alternate parking arrangements. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.
A course coordinator will email you a parking permit prior to the course start date. A permit must be displayed or you will be ticketed.
Course Description
Why are there so many complaints about our audit managers in the workplace? Why do people who are promoted to a management position dread managing people? What are the essential skills for people management versus project management? How does the project manager’s role as applied to an internal auditing function differ from the every-day management of a business division?
“As the internal audit function continues to evolve, we are seeing a transformation in the skills and attributes required for success. The most effective internal auditor possesses a broad range of non-technical attributes in addition to deep technical expertise.” Richard Chambers, President & CEO of The Institute on Internal Auditors (IIA).
Leadership in an organization’s internal auditing division is far more challenging than for those auditors serving in external auditing functions. While external auditors come, and go, internal auditors must be aware of, navigate, and maintain their personal and professional relationships in the organization each day. Audit managers must be highly effective at their job, finding weaknesses of the organizational systems and culture, while still maintaining high performing working relationships with their organization leaders and their audit team members. These dynamics must be managed while communicating what can be at times incredibly difficult and confronting findings and failures of the organization to leadership and teams on a routine basis.
Leading an audit team requires a balance of people and project management as well as mastery of eight essential leadership skills.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
· Master the prized attributes of highly effective internal audit managers including: leading with integrity, effective communication, team-building, giving and receiving positive and negative feedback, continuous learning through failures, relationship and trust building, effective management briefings and root-cause analysis.
· Become facile at using audit leadership tools and techniques that will enhance your role as a leader and improve the performance of the audit team. In addition, use the tools and techniques to boost your profile in the organization and inspire and motivate your staff. This will include modern goal-setting methods, effective coaching, establishing hiring practices that will attract the best people, leading productive team and departmental meetings and mastering the art of persuasion.
· Learn a project management framework to successfully lead any internal audit program function to success within the organization including scoping, planning, application of standards, surveying, team responsibilities, audit and staffing plans, supervisory roles, and quality control.
· Hone your communication skills, both oral and written, and find new ways to help your team members reach their highest potential including facilitation, mediation, neuro-linguistic programming techniques, motivational interviewing and conflict resolution.
Course Outline
Day 1 – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? The 8 Essential Practices of Leaders (Mini-Workshop)
Day 1 focuses heavily on soft-skills development that all managers must master to maintain high performance for themselves and their teams. This mini-workshop is adapted from Ms. Frisch’s highly reviewed Defying Gravity Leadership Workshop and is also soon to be available as two books on leadership publishing in 2017 (Change Yourself/Change Others and Lead Yourself/Lead Others).
· The Illusion of Management Control in the Modern Workplace
· Which direction do you and your team point? The Leadership Compass
· The 7 Baggage’s that Sink Managers (and everyone else) in Organizations
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· It’s Your Fault (And that’s a good thing!)
· The Emotionally Resilient Manager
· The Power of Commitment
· Excellence Over Perfection – Making Peace with the “F” Word
· What me worry?
· Swallow the Frog
· What you Speak You Create
Day 2 Part 1 – Who’s in Charge Here? The Audit Leader/Project Manager
Day 2 Part 1 focuses on project management and successfully executing an audit as the Audit Manager from both a Strategic and Tactical standpoint using our 10-Step Framework for Success. Topics covered in Day 2 Part 1 include:
· Standards Review
· The 10-Step Framework for Success (Expectation, Communication, Mission, Strategy, Risk Assessment, Planning/Budgets, Assessing Skill Sets/Supervision, Infrastructure Development, Launch, Measurement/Quality Control)
· Introduction to Root Cause Analysis
Day 2 Part 2 – What Did You Say? Critical Communication
Day 2 focuses on the various modes of communication involved in a successful audit and how the audit manager can ensure they and their team have mastered communication tools and techniques that work for internal communication within the audit team and external communication to the groups being audited. Topics covered in Day 2 Part 2 includes:
· Team Performance (giving and receiving positive and negative feedback and appraisal of leader/team)
· Essential Strategies for Reporting Findings (Exit Interviews/Written Reports/Management Briefings)
Instructors
Audit Transformation Expert and Global Thought Leader in AI Auditing
Elizabeth is recognized as one of the world’s most senior and experienced AI auditors, blending over 32 years of auditing expertise with pioneering leadership in artificial intelligence tools and implementations. A master-level AI designer and certified AI practitioner, Elizabeth was among the first professionals globally selected to test and train in AI technologies for business and audit applications. She has spent the past three years deeply immersed in AI systems, governance, design, and risk—positioning her at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field.
Elizabeth is also one of SAO’s highest-rated professional development trainers and a frequent keynote figure in the world of organizational performance. Her career began in high-stakes environments—working for an ISO9000/14000/18000/27001 and EHS auditing —where she led audits across dozens of organizations including U.S. military installations, pharmaceutical and energy companies, research and development laboratories, and regulated entities in high-risk sectors like oil, gas, and power as well as local, state, and federal government agencies.
While at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Elizabeth developed the original regulatory framework for the Clean Texas performance-based auditing program, collaborating closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to align federal and state compliance strategies. This groundbreaking work set the stage for her career-long mission: transforming auditing into a force for innovation, compliance, and business performance.
Elizabeth is widely respected for her ability to demystify AI for auditors and business leaders, empowering professionals to both audit AI technologies effectively and use AI to dramatically enhance the speed, accuracy, and strategic impact of auditing itself.
She is the creator of a culture-change approach to auditing, which she has used to train thousands of internal auditors around the world. Her model teaches auditors how to:
Align audits with business strategy and performance goals,
Conduct audits that elevate organizational culture and leadership engagement,
Translate audit findings into measurable business outcomes.
Elizabeth is a sought-after keynote speaker, best-selling author, and executive trainer, known for making the complex simple and inspiring auditors to embrace innovation without compromising rigor. With her unique combination of technical AI mastery, deep regulatory knowledge, and decades of field-tested audit experience, Elizabeth is not just teaching the future of auditing—she's helping define it.
Additional Information
TAC Rule 523.142(g) requires the CPE Sponsor to monitor individual attendance and assign the correct number of CPE credits. Participants will be asked to document their time of arrival and departure in compliance with this Rule. Additionally, attendance will be monitored throughout the day and CPE certificates will reflect actual attendance of each participant.
If you are making travel plans to come to Austin, we recommend making "refundable" air and hotel reservations or waiting until 14 days before the class to actually book your reservations. Courses are occasionally canceled or rescheduled due to low enrollment. We determine whether a course has enough participants 16 days prior to the course date. If we cancel or reschedule, we will email the participant and his or her billing contact no later than 14 days before the original class date.
The course coordinator will contact you with parking information. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.
Vending machines with Coca-Cola products and various snack items are available. There is also a refrigerator and microwave in our coffee bar area. Feel free to bring in your own drinks and food if you prefer.
You might want to bring a light sweater or jacket, as room temperatures vary.
To see answers to our Frequently Asked Questions, visit http://www.sao.texas.gov/training/faq.html.