As an executive coach skilled in navigating the business
environment, the worlds of academics and of IT are somewhat foreign territory.
What do my areas of expertise – soft skill training and interpersonal
communication -- have to do with highly skilled technology and finance
students? Turns out, they are a perfect match.
At Temple University’s Fox School Department of Management Information
Systems (MIS), administrators hold the
innovative idea that increasing social awareness, the ability to self-regulate
impulses and enhancing communication skills, will produce better IT auditors.
As a result, I am currently teaching a class in a newly formed IT Auditing
Masters program.
Typically, I
work with organizations that want to increase the success of their executives,
and in turn, business revenue. This usually
involves developing emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills among
business leaders.
The Magic of IT
I have
always admired IT departments and tech businesses that are crammed with technical
geniuses who, seem to make the impossible, not only possible, but actually
quite ordinary. Achievements like tablets
or smart phones that play music, show movies and act as a TV, camera, encyclopedia,
classroom, radio and a video camera, are truly magical. And now I am getting a
closer look at these magicians.
I have learned that the Fox School of Business’s new MS program in IT Auditing and Cyber Security -- one of only three such programs in the
country -- is based on ISACA, a global association of information systems
professionals. Students are trained to complete the Certified Information
System Auditor (CISA) exam at the end of their studies.
Based in
Philadelphia, the Fox School of Business in general, and my class specifically,
is an amazing place filled with students from all over the world who come here
to study and learn. One of my goals was to culturally prepare and acclimate students
for the business world, including the interpersonal skills an auditor needs to
be successful. The classes include individual personality assessments and
real-world feedback from the head of audit of a major financial institution about
what makes a successful auditor. We also practice interviewing skills, what
good negotiation looks like, and discuss how emotional intelligence plays a
major role in working with clients and stakeholders.
Learning Subtle Skills
Obviously,
the first measure of success as an IT auditor requires excellence in the
technical side of the job. But to get business constituents who are being
audited to change their behavior, involves much more subtle communication and
negotiation. How we say what we say, how much we listen to the verbal and the
nonverbal language around us, and how comfortable we are asking and disseminating
difficult information, often determines the outcome of any meeting—and any
career.
Students
learn that an IT audit meeting, which often involves much nuance and potentially
negative consequences, is difficult under any circumstances. Therefore, knowing
how and what to communicate, adding value to the conversation, and trying to be
as objective as possible, will also determine the success of the IT auditors’
outcomes.
Teaching
this wonderful, dedicated group of students is a unique and fulfilling
experience and it proves that executive or business skills coaching is valuable
in every setting.
