Can Positive Illusions be the Survival Solution for the Unappreciated Internal Audit Activity?

Let’s imagine this hypothetical scenario:

“you are managing an internal audit activity and working really hard to make it a value-adding function to the organization. But yet, whatever you do go unnoticed and/or unappreciated by management and the Board”

What do you do in this situation?

Call it a quit and leave?
 Or
Hang on and keep trying to win the hearts and minds of management and hoping that one day your hard work will pay off?
 If you choose the second option, how would you be able to mentally and psychologically survive until you achieve your goal?
The answer, according to some psychologists, may be in adopting “positive illusions”!

What are Positive Illusions?

According to Wikipedia:
Positive illusions are a form of self-deception or self-enhancement that feel good, maintain self-esteem or stave off discomfort at least in the short term. There are three broad kinds:
- inflated assessment of one's own abilities,
- unrealistic optimism about the future,
- and an illusion of control.

If you were in the shoes of the internal audit leader in the above mentioned hypothetical situation, which option would you choose? Is there third or more options? Would you adopt positive illusions as a mechanism to survive or would you come with other techniques?

Please share your thoughts!