Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need [Hardcover]

Brian D. Kush (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470450010 | ISBN-13: 978-0470450017 | Publication Date: July 27, 2009 | Edition: 1

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

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

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.

About the Author

Brian D. Kush, CPA, CISA, former vice president of AuditWatch and a former auditor at Ernst & Young, is President of Moxie Partners, a professional coaching company that helps accountants and other professionals achieve in self-defined and measurable ways. His clients include accounting firms, internal auditors, entrepreneurs, and other leaders across the country. In his career, he has worked with over 100 CPA firms and provided consulting and/or live instruction to thousands of auditors on best practices, audit technology tools, and audit process reengineering.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470450010
• ISBN-13: 978-0470450017
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #761,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian D. Kush is a CPA, CISA, and CITP and a leadership coach who serves entrepreneurs, accountants , and other professionals. Clients enter a coaching relationship with Brian to change their life by uncovering who they already are, their values, their strengths, and obtaining new results.

Brian authors the healthy accountant blog (www.healthyaccountant.com) and is President of Moxie Partners.

Brian was born in Chicago, Illinois and resides with his wife and son in Reston, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Empowering Book, December 22, 2009

By 

L. D. Ecle (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need (Hardcover)

Auditing Leadership by Brian Kush is an empowering book from beginning to end. The title is almost a misnomer as the valuable information in the book transcends the auditing field and can be applied to other service oriented and business professions. When reading this book, I felt empowered to implement the skills and tactics embedded in the chapters. In particular, the chapters pertaining to `interruptions from co-workers' and `soliciting feedback' are topics that have a huge impact in the any profession, but are often given little significance or thought.

Furthermore, reading each chapter allows you to analyze the various roles you possess and provides insightful ways to become an effective leader in all aspects of your life through networking, time management, communication, feedback, and managing clients. More importantly, the book is extremely easy to read and the information is relatively concise and straightforward. The book reads as if the author is actually having a dialogue with the reader in an actual coaching session.

The book also has thought-provoking quotes from Mohandas Ghandi, Ben Franklin, and others, and contains funny anecdotes in the section "You know you're an auditor when..." For those new to the accounting field, I highly recommend reading this book as it offers a fresh perspective on improving and developing leadership skills and practices which will help you to achieve your personal and professional goals.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Refresher!, November 10, 2009

By 

S. Zilberman (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need (Hardcover)

The book is very well written and very easy to read. I like how it's broken up in to small chapters (bite size) and as a reader I can go directly to the topic that interests me the most. For any person fresh out of school or really early in their career this book will be very helpful in many aspects of work life no matter what profession they are in. As an experienced auditor and a person who has read quite a few business books, I did not find many new ideas. However, it still served as a good refresher of things I should be doing or ways of handling different situations. The author of this book would make a fantastic mentor.

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Time, October 28, 2009

By 

Shana A. Crabb "S. Crabb" (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Auditing Leadership: The Professional and Leadership Skills You Need (Hardcover)

I enjoyed the Auditing Leadership book. It is well organized and is a fast read. The book gives constructive practical examples of things to do and to say to become a leader.

For example, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the "Most Important Question an Auditor Should Ask". I now use this question all of the time.

There is another chapter that discusses how to most effectively use your time. A precious resource many auditors have little of.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is beginning a career in auditing or as a refresher to those who have been auditing for awhile. This book is also an excellent "coaching" tool.