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Balancing the Future Ep. 14 - Success Built on Learning and Listening with Stephanie Johnson
284 Plays2 months ago
Stephanie Johnson, Head of Audit for Brokerage Coverage at Fidelity, talks with host Christopher Mitchell about the practice of internal auditing, why she loves the job, and the skills that internal auditors bring to the table. Without a background in accounting, she shares her path into the profession and the importance of self-advocacy, mentorship, and a curious spirit to grow your career. She also advocates for the importance of internal auditors and their role in navigating organizational changes like AI integration.
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Transcript
Introduction of Stephanie Johnson
00:00:09
Speaker
Well, thank you for joining us for another conversation on balancing the future. Today, I have Stephanie Johnson with me. She's a senior leader over at Fidelity. And Stephanie, your background is impressive. I mean, I got a chance to take a look at your bio and For anyone who's been in internal audit, yeah okay because I'm an internal audit person myself, I've been doing it for about 25 years. It is a unique skill set and to stick around it as long as you have, because I think you've been in it maybe 18 plus years. ah It's just a special human being that that that it takes in order to deal with it. And the reason I say that for a lot of reasons, I'm not going to blow it up.
00:00:48
Speaker
and give you my take on it but i definitely wanna hear from you what am i missing as it relates to your background cuz i know you're in the community i know that you're doing a lot of great things i know that you have a tremendous amount of responsibility of what am i missing as it relates to you please share.
Leadership Role in Internal Audit
00:01:04
Speaker
Chris, thank you for having me today. Appreciate the opportunity to talk with you. um So yes, I am at Fidelity Investments as a leader in their internal audit group, um but it's more than that, right? I think it's important to think of internal audit as a partner in the businesses that you support. And so I try to consider myself also an advisor. um How can we make sure the firm is ah managing its risk appropriately?
00:01:31
Speaker
um And so that's the day job. But what's really is important for me too is the people management responsibilities. um I think it's critical to the success of an internal audit function that you think about your people first, all right? The job won't get done without it. And it is a special role and it it is unique in its nature that you are able to see a firm end to end and have a very high level view. And you have to be able to nurture the individuals who do the job so that they can do an excellent work with it. And so while my title is head of audit for brokerage coverage for the fidelity groups, it's important to think about the people who are doing the job day to day to execute and deliver on our responsibilities.
Essentials of Career Success
00:02:16
Speaker
So when they think about, you know, just growth in corporate America and you hear a lot of stories about challenges and difficulties and how it's not easy and no one gets to your level by themself. I remember when I was coming up through the ranks and getting a partner and being an influencer and billion dollar organizations. It's not easy. I didn't do it by myself. What worked for you? I mean, how have you become so successful?
00:02:41
Speaker
It takes you know not just yourself being excellent at what you do. It also is important for you to be an advocate for yourself, but also to have those around you who know who you are. um So I've been very fortunate in my career to have managers who were willing to invest in my development, um who wanted to listen to what I was interested in, and find opportunities to challenge me and grow.
00:03:07
Speaker
um so I had early opportunities in my career i think back when i was first starting off that i wanted to understand. What it meant to be a global organization at the time i started off my career at jp morgan chase a global bank and i had an opportunity to go overseas and spend time working overseas.
00:03:28
Speaker
That wasn't because I was just sitting there and doing my work. It was because I did excellent work and I also expressed an interest. I it was i wanted to understand how things operated. and So that gave me an opportunity to do that.
00:03:43
Speaker
ah So it really is a combination of how you bring yourself to work every day, but also how do you talk to your managers or your mentors and express what are your opportunities for learning and development and maybe what's
Authenticity in Leadership
00:03:58
Speaker
your passion. Sometimes it's just as simple as saying, I've never been overseas and I want to understand how an organization operates. Don't know anything else, but I want to learn.
00:04:07
Speaker
And sometimes even that simple comment will drive an opportunity that you didn't know that was coming. um So taking those time to really be able to express yourself, I found to be really important um because the work alone, sometimes that will not be enough.
00:04:24
Speaker
You know, a word that you brought up and you mentioned is excellence. And over the past four years, and I'm not trying to back you into a corner and please don't answer if you don't want to answer because excellence means a lot. OK, and there is authenticity and who I am as a human being outside of work. And I'm a kind of person that I was I was in military for a while. OK, and there was a code and there was honor and there was an expectation and there was discipline.
00:04:51
Speaker
I mean, how important is that still today? Because I think somehow we think it's loose. OK, and I can show up a certain way, but there's an expectation of leaders. There's an expectation as it relates to that organization. And yes, it's good to be authentic, but it's still an employer. What do you think about that when I mentioned things like that to you? what What comes to mind?
00:05:16
Speaker
I think being authentic to yourself does not mean you know leaving it behind the door and walking in and trying to have a whole new persona. But there may be different moments that require you to show up differently, still being authentic to yourself. And I think that's what's critical. So if I'm on the sports field playing, you know whether it be tennis or some other sport, you know I'm going to be aggressive to the net. I'm going to play as hard as I can.
00:05:43
Speaker
right But if I'm going to show up to a meeting that has a sensitive topic that is maybe a bit more charged than necessary, do I want to bring my aggressive self to that meeting? That is likely not the best way to show up to build a proper conversation. So I'm going to show up in a way that is still me, but it's going to be in and in the environment that is needed to deliver on what I need to deliver on. So if that moment is a bit more charged,
00:06:12
Speaker
Perhaps I need to show up with more sensitivity to the situation of the person across the table and still come with the facts and the circumstances of what I am trying to convey.
00:06:24
Speaker
but show another person another angle of myself to deliver on that um that on that message or that meeting. Again, it's still me, but it's a different part of me that needs to show up for it. So I think about authenticity as you're still who you are. You're still going to be expressive the way that you are, but you need to understand the environment you're walking into and what part of you is going to show up for that moment.
00:06:54
Speaker
Awesome, awesome.
Evolution and Appeal of Internal Audit
00:06:56
Speaker
Put our internal audit hat on. Let's sell some folks on internal audit because it is it is it has changed. It is different. I've always been drawn to internal audit for a lot of different reasons. I mean, I like the variety. I liked coming up with the recommendations off the cuff. I like feeling like a consultant, that's just who I am. um let's Let's sell everybody on internal audit because I think we've got in we've got accountants coming up and through the ranks and they think, well, all I have are debits and credits and and tax and what have you.
00:07:32
Speaker
What is the cool thing about internal audit that you want this audience to know about? Because we're talking to accountants, we're talking to folks that are trying to figure it out. I've i've always tried to sell them on consulting. So what's your take on it? What are the cool things? Oh, absolutely. So one thing I should share with this audience is I don't have accounting as a background. I am not accountant by trade.
00:07:56
Speaker
um I finished undergrad with a degree in economics and I went into the workforce and I stumbled into internal audit, as some would say, where I would have the fortunate opportunity to do a rotation.
00:08:11
Speaker
and spend six months with the internal audit group at JP Morgan and learn what it meant to be in internal audit. And the first thing that came from me that I recognize the importance of the role is we have to bring value to the organization. What does that mean? We need to provide insights to senior leaders on how things are working. I love that challenge. So I need to, how do I do that?
00:08:34
Speaker
I need to understand how the business operates. I need to understand how risk are managed within that business and bring that knowledge to then develop analysis to determine how well you're managing that business and its risk. Well, that can be many things. It's not just the debits and the credits. It does lead down to the financials. Everything leads down to the financials. However, there are components of that that could be technology risk, it could be regulatory risk, it could be related to your operational risk. This whole spectrum of activities that supports the operations of the business, as an internal auditor, you have an opportunity to evaluate that. And so if you're someone that's curious, you wanna know how you know a light bulb is made, you wanna know how a crayon is made. When I was a kid, I'll go back a little bit
00:09:34
Speaker
Mr. Rogers used to have this item where you know they had a segment where they had the factories and you would watch how something was made. Well, as an internal auditor, you need to understand how something is made, whether it be a product, a service, and then you need to evaluate, is it working as intended? Is it meeting a regulatory expectation? Is it meeting the strategic expectation of the firm? And that then you need to analyze and provide perspective to senior leaders on how well the organization is doing on managing that.
Learning and Challenges in Internal Audit
00:10:10
Speaker
And then you got to do it again on another topic. So the opportunity of continuous learning and driving critical thinking and being able to ask inquisitive nature questions that are diving deep into the details. After you do an internal audit engagement, you walk out of there sometimes as as well knowledgeable as the individual that does it day in, day out.
00:10:35
Speaker
And then you're on to another topic. So I love the ability to just learn and challenge and be able to talk to the experts on how they do their job and provide a an opinion of the effectiveness of their work in a manner that's based on our knowledge and our testing.
00:10:56
Speaker
Now, in my career, I've had the opportunity to evaluate processes from asset management to wealth management to retail banking. you know My career is in the financial services industry, so different products across.
00:11:10
Speaker
I'm not an expert. I will never say I'm the expert. But I will say I have the techniques as an auditor to ask the tough questions, to get underneath the processes, and really provide perspective that allows someone to say, well, maybe we need to do this better. Or maybe this is something that is not as we intended. So we need to think differently.
00:11:35
Speaker
And that's the value then you feel at the end of an audit to say, I've done my job to help the organization move forward. You know, when I think about the question marks out there for any business, it is trying to figure out the human capital equation. I've always thought that accountants would make really good internal auditors. I've always thought that IT specialists would make really good internal auditors. I've always thought that business majors would make really good internal auditors. What's that human capital equation now? Can you describe with that person, the ideal candidate? And maybe it's several.
00:12:10
Speaker
ah makes makeups of that. But what are your thoughts as well? I see the ideal candidate. say Absolutely. So one thing that comes to mind for me, I think about the teams I've built over the years. It is a mix of talent, right? um You need to have multiple perspectives out on your team to really drive a comprehensive evaluation of how the business is operating.
00:12:35
Speaker
So I love the technologists when they join our audit teams because they bring a depth of knowledge on systems and applications and infrastructure that my myself do not have. But they are going to bring that perspective on understanding the technology risk of how we're running our business.
00:12:55
Speaker
At the same time, I need the accountants. I need them to understand the financial implications of what does this mean as we manage a book of business. How does this impact what we are committed to say? Whether it be a public company or private company, what is the um the risk associated from a financial posture of the activities that we're doing. If we said this is what a product was going to yield, why didn't it? Why are we missing the mark? What is that? And then you need generalists too. I kind of consider myself more of that generalist who yeah I will learn and I will pick up eye on topics quickly. And I am willing to build certifications around my knowledge to continue to help. But it's bringing levels of experience
00:13:48
Speaker
different types of experience to the table to drive a comprehensive type of work. So I say levels because sometimes you want individuals that come with many years of experience because that drives a different level of perspective. But I also have a big advocate for our college hires because those fresh eye perspective into the industry, we get sometimes get comfortable saying, well, this has always been that way. And they're going to ask why.
00:14:17
Speaker
Why has it always been that way? Or they're gonna pick something up from their horsework that may be something applicable that we never had thought of. So there's many, I've always said to my associates who work for me, you have the opportunity in whatever seat you're in to bring value. So you could be day one in the professional sense, you could be 20 years, each of you have something to bring to the table.
00:14:43
Speaker
And it's a different perspective. And you want to bring it to the table so that we're all thinking through the problem statement, the audit challenge, and thoroughly assessing it. You know, when I think about what I need to know before I join a team, and
Skills for Effective Auditing
00:14:59
Speaker
okay? And you never know with internal audit because continuous auditing and all these other things and, you know, ideally for internal audit and I'm going to put my hat on, I need to, I need to sample a hundred percent of everything and talk to everybody I can talk to before I can form a conclusion on whatever it is. um What does that toolkit look like? I mean, what, when they show up, I mean, I know I need to know Excel, I need to know how to write, I need to know how to,
00:15:24
Speaker
um I used to, I was coached in Toastmasters. I need to know how to present. I need to know how to share the story. I mean, what's a toolkit look like? We talk about, you know, having enough of what it's going to take in order to to be effective that first step. Yes. So all of that still is applicable, I would say. and Communication is key. And I i emphasize that because you can do great work in internal audit. The challenge with internal audit is we're sometimes bringing some difficult messages to senior leaders. They don't want to hear that because it may be something that is broken, that needs to be fixed. But if you can communicate it in a manner so that they know the importance and that they care about what we found, then the solutions
00:16:15
Speaker
we're all gonna be on the same page together to solve for that problem that the team identified. So communication is critical because if you've done all the great work but you can't explain the why and build the buy-in from the leaders, the work is just gonna go unseen. But the other critical skills, right? Critical thinking, um the ability to analyze data, I mean, quite honestly,
00:16:43
Speaker
the environment that we're in today and we're continuing to be, the access to data is continuously at our fingertips that we have to be able to understand the data that we're seeing at scale. And so whether it be Excel or the various new programming languages that are being further enhanced, we need that skillset to be early on in your career because it allows you to then be able to drive deeper levels of assurance in the work that you deliver. So if we can move away from sampling and do 100% testing of data, how impressive is that? right And how can you take thousands or millions of records and be able to put that into an opinion that's a few sentences? That takes skill. That takes
00:17:34
Speaker
a learned ability, whether it be from your college work or when you come on to the job, quite often organizations have the opportunity to give you this the training to do that. But that is critical because that is going to give a level of information now that you can opine on.
00:17:54
Speaker
So data analytics is critical. um It's knowing when to ask the next question. And so oftentimes you hear an the internal audit professional trust, but verify.
00:18:07
Speaker
Right? So someone tells you this is how it's done. Well, show me how it's done. I need data to understand. Why do you do this? Ask me again. Why are you doing this? Say it one more time. Why? Because oftentimes as you dig deeper into the problem or the question, it uncovers more details that you need to understand. And sometimes the devil's in the details.
00:18:32
Speaker
And you need to understand that to a great degree to make sure at the end of the day, you're protecting your firm in your internal audit um work. So ah that ability to ask those questions and know when to keep asking the questions and also know when to stop.
00:18:49
Speaker
um It's important, right? I mean, ultimately, at the end of the day, as an internal auditor, you're facing off with your colleagues, right? I always say, um you know, we are all on the same team. I have to do with my job. It's independent responsibility, but we're all on the same team. So it's best for me to find something than someone else. And so how do we need to do that? We need to build a common level of trust in the process that I'm doing is more about making sure we protect the firm versus trying to say, gotcha.
00:19:19
Speaker
um And I think if you come at it with that mentality as well, um that's not necessarily skill, it's more of a mentality. I think it's important because people will then be more willing to help make sure you're doing your job the best. Because from there, you can then build on the knowledge that they're sharing and hopefully yeah build out a further comprehensive type of review. So the skills early on,
00:19:48
Speaker
You know, it's really transferable type of skills. As you progress in your career, you will become somewhat of a specialist in certain topics. You know, I have an expectation for my associates that over time we figure out what your path is. What certifications must you take? What is the thing that you're passionate about in the work that you do? um I have obtained a couple certifications myself.
00:20:11
Speaker
And it's important. It shows credibility in the topic that you're doing. And it also allows you to maintain the knowledge. Oftentimes, certifications come with continuing education requirements. So you need to stay current, which I love that. it' Sometimes, oftentimes, I hear teams like, oh, it's a burden. I need to get through my CPE credits. I need to get through my CE credits.
00:20:35
Speaker
But reality is you're maintaining that knowledge and you're staying current, which is going to continue to make sure you're effective in your job. You know, one thing I know about internal audit and people ask me today, cause I've been a partner in billion dollar organizations and they said, how'd you learn to sell? I said, I started internal audit. I started selling early on. So selling recommendations and helping leadership understand. And they started, they had to trust me. I had to be articulate, you know, I had to be on point.
00:21:03
Speaker
with whatever i was recommending and i became a really good sales person and to the point i was believable to the point that you're making with certification with chris is a certified internal auditors certified information systems auditor you know he has a master's degree in this i mean it all helps the process so you know for this audience know that you are selling you always telling yourself I don't know how people don't believe i can't say i said if you're doing well in corporate america you're pretty good sales person so ah you know that's just my thought behind it now let's let's let's dive into this because i know folks are afraid when it comes to this one thing that i'm about to say and you probably you're why not you probably think well what is chris gonna present ai okay ai is
00:21:47
Speaker
And I think people are afraid because they don't know how it's going to change what they do today.
Impact of AI on Internal Audit
00:21:52
Speaker
I mean, what does it mean as it relates to my job and my family and how I go about doing things? I can tell you right now you're using it. If you Google anything nowadays, guess what comes up? AI is going to serve it up to you first.
00:22:05
Speaker
you know, in an outline and help you understand exactly what it is that you've searched. and Okay. So what does it mean for the internal audit profession? What does it mean for how, you know, your organization, not your organization, but you as a professional and what you've seen, because you've been around a while.
00:22:21
Speaker
you know I tell people, if you've been around a while and then all of a sudden AI comes in and it makes it maybe easier, but you know maybe there's some concern about accuracy. i mean What do you think when I say AI? and I know its it's happening in the organization and europe you're on the hook for helping them understand what the risks are related to it. so When I say AI, what does that mean to you?
00:22:43
Speaker
Absolutely. um So first and foremost, I must say that, you know, the views I share are those of mine and not of my firm. So um I do want to make sure that's clear. ah But what I think about as AIs, it's another moment of transformation, right? We've been through moments of transformation before. The internet was a moment of transformation, right? The ability to not have to go to a library to access books to get information was not at your fingertips.
00:23:11
Speaker
Well, artificial intelligence is now another method of data at scale, right? Now, not only do it does it allow you to um access the information quickly, but it also can summarize information. It could provide conclusions. It can do many things for you. So I think about it as a transformation point. And how do we think about moments of change? I often think about it as a moment to embrace change, right? um You have to
00:23:46
Speaker
be along for the ride or you're going to miss the ride is how I think about it. And I think the same for internal audit and AI. um You know, businesses, you see it all over the news, whether it be, like you said, if you're on Google it it itself or Microsoft, I think it's co-pilot, they all have their own version of AI and you're using it every day and you're likely not knowing it. And therefore businesses are starting to continue, or not starting to, but continuing to figure out solutions using AI to help the customers, help their associates be you know build products, be more efficient. So as an internal auditor, we need to understand how we got we have to. if we are If we keep our blinders up,
00:24:38
Speaker
we're not doing our job to help the organization. and And what I mean by that is if we're not understanding how this new technology, and let's be real, I think this technology has probably been over here for 10 plus years, and it's only making it mainstream in the current um couple of years, but how is that evolving how business is, right? What is it changing about how we do business?
00:25:08
Speaker
And that's where the opportunity as an internal auditor to understand it so that when something changes about your own organization's way of operating, because it's been augmented with AI, you're prepared to be able to provide perspective. So I think about it as any other topic that as an auditor you're walking into, you may not know it today,
00:25:34
Speaker
But how are you going to learn it so that you are available tomorrow to provide perspective? You know, when I think about AI and I'm happy you shared it that way is that it is a solution. Okay, it is my responsibility to learn as much as I can about it.
00:25:50
Speaker
Someone will come to me and they'll say, so yeah I don't need to know AI and um you know or I may have a fear related to AI. I say, well, you need to read and research and you need to take a course and you need to get comfortable with it because there's an expectation. you know I'd rather know how to use it than not because I don't know how my company and and the expectations of me and my skill set and my resume and what folks are looking for. so I would encourage anybody, if you don't know, then find out.
00:26:18
Speaker
I know what it means find out how it works and how to use it go ahead i'm sorry go ahead stephanie no no i just said absolutely because there's plenty of resources available right at your fingertips there are you don't need to sign up and pay for a course there's plenty of things that you can read up on their many you know, white papers and articles and um reputable sources to to provide you insights. You know, if you are thinking about, um well, what does that mean for me? Just take and half an hour and read a few and you'll be surprised about how it's already impacting you today. And you may not even know how it's impacting you.
00:26:59
Speaker
um So learning it is critical and it is a solution. I think the human element will always be there, but understanding how AI comes about is critical, right? I mean, there's someone that's creating an algo. That's a person element. There is someone that is putting inputs. If it's like you're talking about a prompt, like a large language model, someone is actually needs to input in question or request for the model to work. And then you need to read it. And is it make sense? How do I know if it's right or wrong? How do I know if it may have taken in data that is not the right set of data? So you have to then be able to train yourself to
00:27:47
Speaker
be extra critical to the output of the results that an AI tool could provide you. Because there may be times where it's not the best or optimal answer or solution. So you have to have the human element throughout. And that's just the use of AI, right? We're not even talking about how to think about auditing.
00:28:11
Speaker
Right? And that's ever evolving, but just making sure you understand, like, well, what's a good prompt? What's a good um output? Is this a bad output? How do I know? So it's really learning about this a bit more and understanding that the challenges, shortcomings of sometimes AI, as well as the benefits. We all understand the real benefits.
00:28:35
Speaker
the efficiencies and the ah vast data that you know I couldn't do by myself in a minute that a computer can do. But if you understand both sides, then you're becoming much more um capable of then really utilizing the tool in a way that is productive for yourself, whether that be in a work environment or even a personal environment.
00:29:00
Speaker
You know, when I think about internal audit and I think about the job that we do, and I think about where it's like accuracy, validity, completeness, you know, efficiency, ah ROI. I mean, that's our job. People don't look at it that way. So if I have a business unit that's implemented AI, so how do I make sure?
00:29:19
Speaker
with the accuracy, the completeness, the validity, the efficiency. And I need to know what that tool is and how it's being used and what's coming out on the back end and who's actually sourcing it. out there so I go into a whole program that I've developed in in order to mine that, to understand those risks and know that that's coming. And I know you already know this, Stephanie, because it's our responsibility, because it's the third line of defense. Your organization is looking, I am the third line of defense. So who's after me?
00:29:49
Speaker
Probably you know someone coming in to check the books, maybe it's a regulator, maybe it's the external auditor, maybe it's, I want to make sure that we're doing the right things in-house. So that's why I think the onus and the responsibility is so great. And it's cool too, just to know how we're going to be woven into that overall process. So I'm excited for where we're headed with it, but I do know it's a huge responsibility. I'm also happy that I'm at the tail end of my career. and but to be as responsible for it, and I can speak to it. But I know it's going to change the way we go about doing our jobs day to day. So that's my two cents as it relates to it. Oh, I hear you.
00:30:30
Speaker
I know I am not in my tail end but of my career, but i I will say though, it's it's exciting, right? um To think about the capabilities. But with that, you also just need to be very mindful of the risks that come with it to your point. so ah That's where I think um as an internal auditor, you have an opportunity not only to make sure you're learning it, but also make sure you have a seat at the table as your organizations are exploring it. We don't expect, I don't expect that an individual like an auditor is in the forefront, but you understand where they're thinking right so that you know the direction of where your organization is going.
00:31:18
Speaker
And you could provide perspective, right? yeah I think no matter what, however we slice this, it's it's a new product, a new service, it's a new capability. Well, with anything, we need to understand how well are we governing that? How well do we have our hands around who can do what and how and when and that all that goes with it? And that itself I think it's more foundational. It could be as complicated technology as we would like, but if you can bring it back down to its foundations of, well, how do we know who built this? How do we know that there is no bias in this calculation or ALGO? How do we understand if it's creating an unintended consequence? How do we understand this?
00:32:09
Speaker
And these are easy answers, but are we asking the questions of ourselves so that as our organizations think about it, that then someone who is the individual, the developer, or whoever's at the forefront of actually creating has those type of risk questions also in mind too?
Continuous Learning and Listening
00:32:28
Speaker
You know, when I think about your career and the success that you have, and I started thinking about a takeaway that you have for this audience, because it's, it can be one thing, but when I say one thing, people freak out and say, it's one thing, Chris, I've got three things. yeah true What's your takeaway for this audience? What do they need to know about It could be internal audit, it could be career, it could be about whatever you think is important for them to take away, given you know who the audience is. What's that takeaway that you want them to have from this experience and talking and sharing with us today? More. I'm going to give you two. So two that come to mind for me. One, this topic that we've been having ah discussing today is new and exciting.
00:33:14
Speaker
Right? Artificial intelligence is going to be transformational in our lives. But we have to be able to understand it. and So the one, first of my two, is the continuous learning, the lifetime learning. As an auditor, as a professional, it's important that you're learning the new, understanding how that impacts your environment and have a balanced view of what that means.
00:33:43
Speaker
because it's important for us to make sure we are managing new technologies with care, in my opinion. So learning and continuously learning is critical. The number two thing I would highlight is listening. Oftentimes, we don't pause enough to just listen, to hear the viewpoints of those across the table. And it's important because Sometimes if we do actually actively listen, we're going to hear those nuggets that we may not understand before that we're going to ask the next question. If we go in with the opinion and we're looking for the answer we want to hear, we're not getting to the
00:34:30
Speaker
real conclusion or perspective. And so taking a moment to really listen to the person that's across the table or the individuals that are explaining processes is critical for us to help make sure we're really understanding fully what we're working through or what are we evaluating.
Diversity in Teams
00:34:53
Speaker
you know you You had mentioned cedar at the table a couple of times. And cedar at the table means a lot of things. okay It means that I'm in a position within the organization where I'm at the table and I can share in a different way to influence that audience. and okay And I think about you as a woman, as ah as ah as a female, and a black female like that, and how that is important. And I think it's important because I'm a black male and I've been a partner at a firm and I've been an executive leader.
00:35:23
Speaker
and But I think about diversity in general. okay I think it's just important to have a diverse team and be a part of the solution. So you think, when I say diversity, and yeah hopefully it doesn't back you into a corner because I think you know my ethnicity and and well male, female, whatever matters, how important is it to have a diverse team go out and share and help your customer, which are those business units that are internal and maybe external. I don't know. But how important is that? It's important. It's important um that diversity brings together different levels of perspective, ah right? Whatever that might be for the individual. And I find it if you have a group of individuals with the same voice, you're going to only hear what you want to hear.
00:36:12
Speaker
The level of opportunity that we have with bringing diverse viewpoints to the table allows us to elevate how we are thinking about a problem because it is going to allow us to consider angles that we have possibly not thought of from our own seat and allow us to deeply evaluate.
00:36:34
Speaker
and so I've heard it before, right? To um you know be successful in a business, you have to have a diverse point of views because that will then allow to drive the bottom line because you're thinking about a group of um customers that tend to be of different um different perspectives as well. ah And I think about that with internal audit. Our business units are all different. They operate differently, whether it be in the finance industry or other industry.
00:37:06
Speaker
At the end of the day, we're all human, but we come with it with different human experiences and understanding that is critical to how we operate with one another. Awesome. Stephanie, it's been fantastic speaking with you today. I mean, your perspective and your understanding of not only internal audit, but just you know just corporate America and having grown up and gotten as far and being as successful as you are, it's just awesome to see. So thank you for joining us and sharing this morning because it's important It's important that this audience understand kind of the inner workings and kind of what the responsibility is on their end as human capital and showing up and wanting to be successful. So I appreciate you making the time. I know it's early for me. I'm probably not supposed to say anything about time, but I know that you're a busy lady and I really do appreciate you. Well, thank you again for having me today. It's been a pleasure speaking with you and um all the best. All right. Well, I'm going to look into the camera and I'm going to say this.
AI and Career Path in Internal Audit
00:38:06
Speaker
um your Your career is your responsibility and how you go about navigating those waters. If you know AI is on the horizon, figure it out. Take some lessons. Read some articles. Understand it. Do not be afraid of it. There's just so much opportunity and I am going to push internal audit because I believe in it. I've done it for 25 years. If it wasn't for internal audit, I absolutely wouldn't be where I am today.
00:38:30
Speaker
I didn't know what I wanted to be when I was coming up and through the ranks, but I am not a debits and credits person, no offense. I just wasn't wired that way, but it was something about being a salesperson and helping someone out and solving a problem daily and being a consultant that interests me. So I'm telling you, think about it. Think about all those various avenues that are available to you, whether you're a CPA, whether you're a CIA, whether you have a degree in computer science, there's an opportunity for you within this field so give it a try. And I look forward to our next conversation on balancing the future and I look forward to you being a part of it. So thank you for your time.