Courage has come up a lot for me in the past week. In a research interview with Daisy O’Reilly-Weinstock on her new By Design piece of work, we talked about permission and bravery: who feels able to say that the …
Enough straw men: the case for a proper trial on paying Trustees
I am calling on the Charity Commission for England and Wales to run a pilot on paying Trustees, in a way that is designed to improve access and inclusion on our Boards. The conversation about paying Trustees is one of …
Weaponised values: the elephant in the room the sector refuses to talk about
“We have a bit of a culture problem”, the Chair says during your interim CEO interview. You talk about team building, collaboration, warmth. You have been beloved by all your teams to date. You believe in your ability to give …
The New Charity Governance Code: Three steps forward, and one word that should be scrubbed from existence
The new Governance Code – I’ve now read it, and here’s my tuppence. People often hear the word ‘governance’ and think it means just the tick box policies and procedures. Got a conflict of interest policy? Great! But really charity …
The mistake Boards often repeat after every failed CEO
You’re on a Board that has finally parted ways with a CEO who wasn’t what you’d have hoped for. Maybe it was competence, maybe it was the relationship. Maybe they quit, maybe they’ve been ousted. Maybe you’re still grappling with …
Recent study by Bath University on Charity Board Effectiveness doesn’t quite achieve what it claims to
A recent study – Examining the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in charity board governance – led by a team of University of Bath researchers, supported by the Charity Excellence Framework, set out to examine how charity Trustees make …
Why building an effective Board is like learning to make a cake
When you’re new to baking, you might need some basic instructions, like ‘don’t forget to add an egg’, or ‘you’ve used salt rather than sugar’. These are the basic building blocks that an early chef needs to learn. Without it, …
Shame and defensiveness: How conflicts of interests are misunderstood and how to get it right
How would you feel if someone told you that your interests were conflicted? That your personal relationships or professional interests stood in the way of you making an unbiased decision? Many people react with defensiveness or shame. “I’m not like …
Why the Six Trustee Duties Don’t Work
Since the downfall of so many voluntary support organisations, I’ve found myself delivering a lot of Trustee training: via zoom, in person, even developing videos for long term Trustee induction. And I generally start off with the Trustee duties: the …
Feedback Fails: From Frustration to Fixing It
Many Boards I work with struggle with giving feedback. Some feel it’s not their place- how could they know more than the professionals who do this every day? Some worry about the adaptability of their own field of expertise: how …