Lately, I’ve found myself reflecting on the growing number of phone calls and emails coming from our community who are facing difficult governance situations. These calls aren’t always coming from board chairs or board members. Often, they’re coming from management teams — people carrying pressure from all directions and trying to make sense of what’s unfolding around the board table.
The reflection I keep coming back to is this: these situations rarely come out of nowhere.
What I’m seeing, demands from board members, poor decision-making, rising tensions, fractured relationships is usually the result of things left unaddressed for too long. And this isn’t unique to our Community and Voluntary sector, commercial boards face exactly the same issues; Chair–CEO conflict, power imbalances, unclear roles. Trust breaks down under pressure.
That’s why there’s an entire industry of corporate governance “fixers”, board reviews, legal interventions, consultants brought in to fix, fix, fix! Too often, we wait too long and then throw a lawyer, a consultant, or a formal review at a problem that has been quietly building for months or years.
What we often see is, it takes a skilled board (Chair or member) and a skilled management team to name tension early especially when the stakes are high and it takes courage to say, “Something isn’t right here,” before positions harden and relationships fray.
Recently, I’ve been involved in supporting some incredibly complex board situations. The kind no one wants to be in. These governance situations are tense, draining, emotional, and deeply taxing. They require strength, clarity, and a steady commitment to process and principle, and, it takes a strong person and strong support required to weather these storms.
That’s why I’m glad we’re receiving these calls and emails – we are here to help you.
Because when things get hard, minutes matter, process matters, good faith matters, clear roles and responsibilities – they are all important and good support around you is really important, as these tensions have a way of impacting your partner, family or friends.
If you have something on your mind, something that doesn’t quite sit right – give us a call. Or send an email, that’s why we’re here. .
What helps us practice good governance?
Some of the best advice I received early on was simple: try the free stuff first. Not everything has to be expensive to be of value. A $700 membership might be absolutely worth it — but only if you’re clear about what you’re getting back. Quality governance support isn’t about price; it’s about relevance, trust, and practical insight.
Second — invest in relationships.
Build your support network around you, some of the most powerful governance support comes from accessing a confidential ear, someone who understands governance, power dynamics, and the realities of making the hard decisions.
And, if you don’t have that person or network yet – give us a call.
Back to basics
You told us in our last Sector Survey 2026 that more support is needed at the grassroots and flax-roots level. We listened. And we were fortunate to secure grant funding from the JR McKenzie Trust, which means we’re able to offer six online governance workshops this year – completely free.
We don’t take membership fees. We work hard to keep our offerings low‑cost or no‑cost, thanks to our funders. The only programme we charge for is our Certified Community Directors Course — and every dollar from that is reinvested straight back into keeping the lights on and continuing to support strong governance across the community and voluntary sector.
As part of our Good Governance Code workshops, one group recently suggested hosting post‑event wrap‑ups. I love that idea. Governance doesn’t stop when the Zoom call ends — it’s in the conversations that follow, the reflections, the shared learning.
With some local COGS community organisation funding, we’ll also be running some live events. I’ll be on the ground — not just supporting our facilitators, but critically, doing debriefs afterwards. If you’re in the area (Rotorua) and want to come along, we’ll share timings soon. And if you’re not — Zoom in. Call in. You can be anywhere and still access these sessions. We’ve already had hundreds of people sign up!
So yes — governance tensions will always arise. There’s no shortage of public fallouts, disputes, and dysfunction playing out in real time.
But what you do makes all the difference.
Keep learning – and keep up the good work!
