Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

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.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

How can you start a culture of feedback that improves your organization?
Turn to page 27.

Want to know the most important word to an auditor?
Turn to page 65.

Do you train people to interrupt you? Want to stop?
Turn to page 106.

What is the single biggest opportunity to improve your audit?
Turn to page 172.

Want to hear about the funnier side of auditing?
Turn to the "You Know You Are an Auditor When…" Appendix on page 227.

Praise for Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need

"From networking to e-mail, from team-building to selling yourself, Brian shows how to create a well-organized and effective working life. Although aimed at auditors, the countless ideas put forth in this book can be used by individuals in every field to grow and become more successful in their chosen careers. In fact, one particular assertion summed up the entire thesis for me: 'success is a mind-set, not a finish line.' Kush offers a multitude of unique and creative suggestions for establishing that mind-set."
―Joe Hoyle, Associate Professor of Accounting, University of Richmond, and cofounder, www.CPAreviewforFREE.com

"Auditing Leadership is a must-read for new graduates and a solid resource for seasoned professionals. Brian Kush has taken a wide range of best practice advice and distilled it into a fantastic handbook for the auditing profession."
―Andrew Prather, CPA, Shareholder Clark Nuber PS

"Brian's book takes you beyond the technical skills of auditing to help you become both a professional and a leader. The scope of topics covered is impressive, from e-mail communications to accountability to planning your future. The book includes sound, actionable advice that will benefit auditors at all stages of their careers, from staff to partner."
―Louise M. Peabody, CPA, Member Watkins Meegan, LLC

Aus dem Klappentext

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.

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Auditing Leadership

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

How much time have you spent planning your life? How much time have you spent thinking about where you are headed? Do you know where you want to be in five years? Have you ever dreamed about how much you can achieve in the next 10 years? It does not matter if you are 20 or 60 years old, the questions are yours, and only yours, to answer. If you were to envision the most ideal scenario of where you would be and when, what does it look like? Many accountants I have met and worked with have not invested much time in planning their life and how to live out the most successful version of themselves they can visualize. Most people have not defined what that successful version looks like. They feel they are either too young (Why should I be thinking about that stuff now?), too busy (I have no time to plan my life, because I cannot even plan my day!), or too "stuck" (I do not have much control over what is going on in my life. I just do what is asked of me!).

It is very easy to ignore these things or not think about them. It is extremely easy to get stuck in the day-to-day responsibilities we maintain, and you cannot plan your life in one day or even a few days. Let's turn on your self-reflective mode for a little while and have you ask and answer some questions that will provide you with a base for planning the life you want and becoming the person you want to become. We are not talking solely about your career. We are talking about all aspects of your life and your future.

It is absolutely amazing how much you can achieve as an auditor when you are more self-aware and intentional about your growth. That is one of the reasons this book was written ... to uncork your potential.

This book is about being intentional, reflective, and proactive about the development of your leadership skills. It is about having a big plan and having lots of little plans. It is about never forgetting your big plan and always being able to forget your little plans. The skills discussed in this book are centered on your career in auditing, but they can be leveraged in many aspects of your life. Becoming a better leader does not pertain only to circumstances where you are leading a team; it pertains to all that you do, whether you are "leading" your family, working alone, or working with a large group of people.

Let's dive into you and take a grander view of what you stand for and desire to achieve. While achievements and new skill development are great and should be celebrated, the real value in specific achievements is how they help you to become the very authentic, successful person you desire to be, or maybe the person you already ARE but just have not realized yet. So now we want you to ask yourself this question: Who is the person I desire to be, the person I already am (buried deep below the surface)?

To answer this question, you should ask yourself a few questions about what matters most to you:

* What are the most important roles in your life you aspire to master?

* What is your mission?

* What are your core values?

Your Roles

Take some time to focus on and identify what you consider to be the most important roles in your life. Most people will limit the number of roles they uncover to five or less, not because there aren't more roles than that, but because limiting the number of possible roles will force you to think about the general and most important ones that you feel you have and want to excel in serving. The roles you identify will probably be centered on the most important responsibilities and relationships you have. Some examples are:

* Spouse

* Parent

* Friend

* Leader at work

* Community member

Now spend some quality time thinking about what each of these roles mean to you. Why are they important? How do you become wildly successful in fulfilling that role over time? How might others see you in this role? Spend some time pondering the role you have identified. Why is it important to you? How do you feel in serving that role to the best of your ability? Some people can complete this exercise rather quickly, while others will spend hours and maybe days thinking about it and documenting their thoughts. Let yourself go a little bit when answering these questions and uncovering your roles. Don't get caught up in judging your thoughts and feelings too quickly. There are no right and wrong answers here. Consider getting away to a place where you can do some real reflection. You are documenting the most important roles you live in your life. These roles ARE your life, and you will be spending a lot of your time in fulfilling them.

Here are examples from two of your fellow auditors. Keep in mind that neither of these was crafted in one sitting or in one day. It took time and many revisions to explore and refine these personal role definitions. Both of these people not only spent a few hours or more brainstorming what the role meant to them, they also went so far as to ask their family and friends for feedback and input. The input from others was very useful. It allowed them to see themselves through others' eyes. They both reported that the process of uncovering their roles and obtaining feedback from others was just as valuable as the documented end product. One of the auditors chooses to review this role on a weekly basis; the other on a daily basis. As they deemed necessary, both made changes to these role definitions since they first documented them.

Example 1: Family Guardian

"Currently, I am a single mother with two children. That brings challenges at times, some very difficult challenges. I see that as a blessing in my life, as it has taught me to be disciplined and hopeful at the same time. My children are very important to me and I serve my role in ways that provide for them financially, emotionally, and developmentally. The most important thing I do is spend time with them, both in terms of quantity and quality. Anyone can give them money, anyone can give them shelter, but nobody else can spend time with them as their mother like I can.

This role provides me inspiration to use all the time I have in the most efficient manner and to value quality time with my kids."

Example 2: Body Protector

"I choose to protect my body both physically and mentally, because I know it allows me to accomplish what I want to in life. It affects my relationship with my wife, and I cannot help but think of our future together and that being in good physical shape will allow me to enjoy a long and fulfilling life with her. By exercising regularly, I am energized on a daily basis. I take this role seriously."

Choosing your roles is a personal exercise and decision. Only you can do it. The more authentic it is to you, the better. One auditor chose, for example, to document her role as "Self-Server." That sounds kind of selfish, right? This person actually struggled with being selfish enough. She caught herself saying yes to everyone but herself, so she created an important role focused on being more aggressive about looking out for her interests. The surprising result (to her) was that by looking out more for herself, she actually became more energized to focus on her other roles, roles that affected others around her!

Another auditor chose "Volunteer" as...