Governance in Practice Is Human — If Yours Isn’t, That’s a Red Flag
Governance in Practice is Human - It lives where formal structures and processes meet power dynamics and hierarchy, cultural norms and group behaviours, the Chair/CEO’s tone, organisational history and unspoken rules — and the real level of psychological safety in the room.
Early in my career I learned that decision quality rarely turned on how polished the papers were. It turned on how power was held and how truth travelled. When people could speak plainly, hold tension cleanly, and put purpose ahead of ego, decisions got better, faster and fairer.
The meeting we’re actually in
The room carries history, hierarchy and unspoken rules.
You bring values, patterns, confidence (and sometimes doubt).
Where those two meet is where governance lives — in motion.
When we don’t name this, we slide into survival patterns that look professional but quietly corrode outcomes. We play nice to keep the peace. We play dead when it matters. We play politics to manage perception over purpose. The cost? Integrity, culture, and the quality of the decisions that set our course.
What to practise instead
Presence over performance. Notice the switch; come back to centre.
Clean power. Authority aligned with purpose and the decision (recognising fiduciary and officer accountabilities), not ego.
Let truth travel. Build conditions where disagreement is safe and useful.
Environment design. Choose (or change) contexts that support good governance behaviours.
Micro-moves for your next meeting
Name the decision. “What decision are we making? Who owns it?”
Clarify roles. “Recommend, decide, advise, inform — who’s where?”
Invite one dissent. “Before we land, what are we not seeing?”
Time the tension. “Two minutes to say the hard thing plainly.”
Close cleanly. “Decision, owner, by when — and what we’ll tell the organisation.”
Quick self-check (leader’s mirror)
Did I hold power in service of purpose — or perception?
Did people feel safe enough to say the thing that might change our minds?
Would I be proud for this process to be seen in daylight?
What one behaviour from me would make the next meeting cleaner?
Join me for my free workshop
How to Show Up in the Boardroom — Without Playing Nice, Playing Dead or Playing Politics
You’ll take away
The shift from performance to presence (and how to catch yourself in the moment)
Your model of clean power — authority aligned to purpose and the decision, not ego
Micro-moves for when your voice wants to shrink, smooth, or strategise the truth away
An environment check to increase clarity and psychological safety
Who it’s for
Chairs, Directors, CEOs, Executives, and Governance Professionals who want open, transparent, ethical decision-making — and rooms where the best ideas win, not the loudest voices.
Details
Date/Time: September 25 - 4:00 pm AEST
Format: 45-minute live session + Q&A
Cost: Free
Seats: Limited to protect depth and confidentiality
Save your seat: Register Here!
Great frameworks don’t rescue poor behaviour. But clean behaviour can rescue even average frameworks.
If you lead or advise in the Boardroom, this is the work: reshaping how power is held and how decisions are made so openness, transparency and ethical judgement aren’t exceptions — they’re the norm.
