Question everything – what The Traitors taught a junior internal auditor
Q&A with Faraaz Noor, Graduate Group Internal Auditor at Persimmon Homes – and finalist on the BBC hit show The Traitors
So, you’re in a building full of strangers. You must work together and get to know them – then form some tough opinions and deliver these confidently and calmly. You must win hearts and minds and get on with everybody – but you know some of them are lying to you and trying to undermine you. They are equally suspicious of you. Can you spot the inconsistencies and the attempts to manipulate your views? Can you hold your own among strong personalities?
It almost sounds like an advert for the internal audit profession. But, in this case, you’re doing it all in the very public glare of a massively successful BBC game show. Faraaz Noor started his first internal audit job last year. Six months later, he was ramping up the pressure in the castle as a contestant in The Traitors.
The similarities with internal audit are not superficial. Noor is confident that the same skills that won him a place in the show’s final also got him his job. His training in Persimmon Homes’ Group Internal Audit, and his experiences in the castle, honed these further.
Noor says he “fell” into internal audit after studying accountancy and finance at university. Once he got his first internal audit role, he found he loved it and it plays to his strengths. “I realised that you get a view of the whole business and how all the separate divisions work together, which really appealed to me,” he says.
Now, still just 22, he says he is focusing on “staying grounded” and pursuing his career, including gaining the CIA certification.
What skills did you expect to bring to The Traitors?
I am a huge fan of the show and, when I applied to be a contestant, I hoped my interpersonal skills would prove a strength in the castle.
I haven’t been in internal audit very long, but I’ve played a lot of sport and been a referee. To be a good referee, you must work with people of all ages and backgrounds and exercise critical thinking, judgment, courage and communication skills – much like a good internal auditor.
You also apply your expert knowledge in a specific context, as you do in internal audit. You can’t bend the rules, but sometimes you need to be flexible and adapt your approach to suit the situation. You must then get your message across in the way that gets the best response.
Did thinking like an internal auditor help you reach the final?
Inside the castle, I needed to use professional scepticism and critical thinking all the time. These are skills I am learning in internal audit, so I had a head start. But they are also skills that attracted me to internal audit in the first place.
I am naturally curious about people, but in the castle I had to work out why people were behaving in a certain way, and distance myself so I didn’t accept everything they said at face value. Looking back, I know I made better choices when I thought like an internal auditor rather than being swayed by my emotions.
For example, when Stephen came back from the cages instead of Maz, I had to work out why. I also questioned the root of my suspicions about Rachel. I had to ask what I was really seeing, why she was acting in a certain way and what I thought she wanted.
When I let my emotions affect my decisions, I usually got it wrong.
I couldn’t talk about being a contestant, so I couldn’t ask anyone in my team for advice beforehand. Once I returned to the office, the show sparked conversations about the role of professional scepticism.
What did you learn about behaviour and culture?
In a way, the castle is a microcosm of an office or a small business. However, it’s not true to life for internal audit because you have very little evidence to go on. Everyone is on a level playing field. You don’t know what the audience knows.
This meant that success depended on looking below the surface and spotting behavioural patterns. It was excellent training for auditing culture because I needed to identify inconsistencies – what did and didn’t fit and where there were gaps between words and actions.
As I’m still a junior internal auditor, I found that my experiences reinforced the need to question everything. It’s easier at work where you don’t audit people with whom you have such close relationships, but you need to be sceptical and look for root causes constantly.
It also taught me more about the value of being a good influencer. You must think about how you deliver a message and the impact you want it to have. Most of the time, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it that matters. You need to use logic and reason, but most importantly you must remain calm. You can’t become flustered or angry when people question you.
What else did you gain from participating?
I’m naturally confident, but being on the show, in a high-pressure environment, and having to voice my opinions and win people over boosted this hugely. Since then, I’ve done lots of interviews and it’s made me feel that my views are valid and I can express them to anyone.
Working closely with lots of different people, hearing their stories and adapting my communication styles to suit them was fascinating. I didn’t expect it to be so difficult, and I didn’t expect to form such close bonds with the other contestants. We’ve shared an intense experience and we all got on really well.
Everyone learned from each other. We were so different – I don’t suppose I’d have met about 18 out of the 22 contestants in any other part of my life. Some people were much better at detaching their emotions than others.
One key lesson I took from Judy and Maz was to find the fun in every experience and get the most out of everything you do. They were determined to live every moment.
Rachel was particularly good at introducing humour. Of course she was lying, but she did it amusingly. She was great at getting people on her side and sowing little seeds in their minds – which was really interesting to watch.
Would you have played differently if you’d been a traitor?
No, I’d have played exactly the same game. It worked – it got me to the final. I’m just grateful for the whole experience and wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
Photo credit: BBC / Studio Lambert