Phil's resource recommendations

Strategy/Strategic Thinking:

• Thinking Strategically – Pocket Mentor – Harvard Business Press
• Strategic Thinking – DK Essential Managers – Andy Bruce & Ken Langdon
• Strategic Thinking: A Four Piece Puzzle – Bill Birnbaum
• Blue Ocean Strategy – How to Create Uncontested Market Space & Make the Competition Irrelevant – W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne
• On Strategy – HBR's 10 Must Reads – Harvard Business Review Press
• Learning to Think Strategically – Julia Sloan
• Business Strategy – Brian Tracy
• Executing Strategy – Identify Priorities – Create Action Plans – Make Judgment Calls – Harvard Business Press
• Strategy – Create & Implement the Best Strategy for Your Business – Harvard Business Essentials
• Strategy – The Art & Science of Strategy Creation & Execution – Stuart Crainer & Des Dearlove

Relationship Building:

• The Trusted Advisor – David H. Maister, Charles H. Green & Robert M. Galford
• Power Questions – Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others – Andrew Sobel & Jerold Panas
• Little Teal Book of Trust – How to Earn it, Grow it, & Keep it to Become a Trusted Advisor in Sales, Business, & Life - Jeffrey Gitomer
• Relationships 101 – What every Leader Needs to Know – John C. Maxwell
• Trusted Advisors – Key Attributes of Outstanding Internal Auditors – Richard F. Chambers
• The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook – A Comprehensive Toolkit for Leading with Trust – Charles H. Green & Andrea P. Howe
• The Relationship Advantage – Become a Trusted Advisor and Create Clients for Life – Tom Stevenson & Sam Barcus
• Why Should the Boss Listen to You? – The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor – James E. Lukaszewski
• Power Relationships – 26 Irrefutable Laws for Building Extraordinary Relationships – Andrew Sobel & Jerold Panas
• Selling to the C-Suite – What Every Executive Wants You to Know About Successfully Selling to the Top – Nicholas A.C. Read & Stephen J. Bistritz, ED. D.

Consulting:

• Flawless Consulting – A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used – Third Edition – Peter Block
• Million Dollar Consulting Toolkit – Alan Weiss, PhD
• The Consultant's – Bringing Who You Are to What You Do – Geoffrey M. Bellman
• Consulting Stance – The Discipline of Consulting – Everyday Practices of Extraordinary Consultants – Christine Lambden & Casey Conner

Other:

• Crisis Management – Master the Skills to Prevent Disasters – Harvard Business Essentials
• Crisis Communications – The Definitive Guide to Managing the Message – Steven Fink
• The Politics of Internal Auditing – Patricia K. Miller, CIA, QIAL, CRMA & Larry E. Rittenberg, PhD, CIA, CPA
• HBR Guide to Office Politics – Rise Above Rivalry – Avoid Power Games – Build Better Relationships – Karen Dillon
• On Collaboration – HBR's 10 Must Reads
• Performance Auditing – Measuring Inputs, Outputs, & Outcomes – Third Edition – Stephen L. Morgan, CIA, CGAP, CGFM, CFE, Ronell B. Raaum, CGAP, CGFM, Colleen G. Waring, CIA, CGAP, CGFM

Tips - Strategic Auditing – Initial Steps:

1. Request/review the stated objective for the strategic priority & explanation of how success will be determined (written in one paragraph)
2. Identify that an executive management “Champion” was named for the strategic initiative (who will be accountable)
3. Determine that status reports will be provided periodically (at 1 – 3 months intervals) & track to the above identified success factors/deliverables/outcomes (if not achieving the defined success – changes to plan or why no changes made?)
4. Confirm that the appropriate amount of resources have been committed to the strategic initiative/priority (budget established & approved)
5. Identify what personnel, data, market information, counsel, etc. was considered/utilized to make the decision about the strategic initiative/priority (who was at the table when the decision was made and/or information considered)
6. Validate process toward defined success and if significant variance is identified what if any action is being taken/considered

Disclaimer:

The information, considerations & tips provided should be applied based on your organization’s culture, policies, standards, procedures, codes of business conduct, etc. This information is meant to be used as a guide to increase your knowledge/success related to areas that you audit. It is important that you recognize that there are no items that will address all challenges/variables that auditors face.  However, additional knowledge in the above areas should help to better fulfill our goals & objectives as they relate to our overall business knowledge.