About Us
The purpose of Leading Governance is to support brilliant corporate governance by developing leadership in the Boardroom.
We are passionate about governance, and the positive impact good governance makes in the development and profitable running of organisations. Although we recognise the contribution good governance makes to the bottom line, it is the impact on the board team, staff, customers and suppliers that makes us governance champions.
Leading Governance helps organisations to improve their performance by developing the leadership and governance capabilities of their Boards and key staff. We believe that leadership and governance should be embedded in all company activities. We recognise that leadership can be developed at any level within an organisation, and that effective governance is the responsibility of all staff and board members. We focus on board development so that the values and culture are set from the top, and can influence behaviours throughout the organisation.
Joe Simpson
With his passion for supporting Board members to access useful resources, Joe now manages the Leading Governance website. His own boardroom experience helps him to ensure that the materials we provide are practical and relevant to 21st century governance. Joe is happy to receive requests from website members for tailored materials to support their ongoing development of governance and Board effectiveness – [email protected].
Joy Allen
All of the materials on the Leading Governance website have been written by Joy Allen, a Chartered Director who devoted the last 26 years of her career to the practice, development, teaching and review of governance and board effectiveness across a wide range of sectors. With experience in senior management, and a Masters Degree in Leadership, her clients included Hastings Hotels Ltd, Dept of Finance NI, Dept of Agriculture NI, Chartered Institute of Taxation and HSC Leadership Centre. Now retired, she still develops materials for the site, and is contributing to the digitisation of practical tools to support reviews of governance and board effectiveness.
After 12 years as CEO of social enterprises, in 2000 Joy set up her business ‘Focus Management Development’ which provided training in management, leadership and coaching to a range of organisations, including Hastings Hotels for 7 years. Recognising the importance of the Board’s role in leadership, she set up Focus on Governance Ltd in 2009, and provided training and coaching to Boards and individual Board members. This included CIPFA’s ‘On Board’ training to Non-Executive Directors in the public sector, alongside undertaking reviews of governance and board effectiveness.
In 2013, she joined forces with the late Richard O’Rawe and Nicole Mulholland to launch Leading Governance Ltd, using their unique ‘4 P’s Model’ of People, Purpose, Processes, and Performance to develop a membership website offering practical support and guidance to Boards.
A Career Rooted in Real Experience
Joy served on the Boards of organisations working in areas she cared about, reflecting her experience as a foster carer of teenagers for over 25 years, and as a carer for her late parents, both of whom had dementia and other health conditions. In addition to 30 years as Director of a family property business, her Board service included:
- 2 years as Chair of the board of VOYPIC (Voice of Young People in Care)
- 5 years as trustee/director of The Fostering Network UK (Vice Chair for 1 year)
- 7 years as trustee/director of Simon Community (2 years as Chair)
- 4 years as trustee/director of Alzheimer’s Society UK
- 7 years as a Non-Executive Director of The Ulster Community & Hospitals Trust
- 7 years as a Non-Executive Director of The Belfast Health & Social Care Trust
- 7 years as Chair of the board of Morrow Communications Ltd
National Recognition and Specialist Programmes
Over the years, Joy became recognised as one of the leading boardroom leadership specialists in the UK. She was appointed by a number of professional bodies as a lead contributor, including:
- Senior Associate of CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy), including design and co-delivery of the accredited programme ‘Inspiring Boardroom Leadership’ for public sector NEDs.
- Regular masterclasses in London for ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations), and delivery of many reviews of governance and board effectiveness for its members.
- Co-design and co-delivery of the ‘Leading Effective Boards’ programme for Queens University Leadership Centre.
- Design and delivery of ‘Inspiring Boardroom Leadership’ workshops for HSC Leadership Centre.
- Masterclasses for The Sixth Form Colleges Association, and delivery of reviews of governance and board effectiveness for its members.
The Institute of Directors and Beyond
After delivering a number of workshops for The Institute of Directors in Belfast, Joy co-designed and co-delivered an accredited ‘Leadership for Board Chairs’ programme for its members. In 2014, she was appointed as course leader in London for the ‘Leadership for Directors’ and ‘Role of the Director and the Board’ modules of the IoD’s Chartered Director programme, and she regularly delivered those until the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Since 2020, Joy has continued to deliver training and reviews of governance and board effectiveness for boards across the UK, using online communications. After a career including 26 years of specialising in governance and board effectiveness, Joy has now retired and spends most of her time walking her dogs on Donegal beaches. She continues on a voluntary basis to develop practical materials for the Leading Governance website, based on her own extensive experience as a board member and her work to support several hundred boards across all sectors.
Our Resources
The Leading Governance model is an innovative framework to help your organisation focus on getting the right people, doing the right things, using the right tools, to get the right results.
People
An effective board has the right people in the boardroom, with all the skills, knowledge, experience, attitudes and networks needed to drive the agreed priorities. It works well as a team, and provides leadership to all the people in an organisation. The Leading Governance website has all the tools you need to identify which skills you need in your boardroom, develop appropriate roles descriptions for board members and office bearers, and recruit the right people for your board.
Purpose
The board is responsible for developing the strategic vision for the organisation. They must ensure that it is communicated appropriately with all key stakeholders, including members, shareholders and staff.
Processes
The board should ensure that relevant policies and procedures are in place and are being followed to keep the organisation safe and legal. There should be clear processes for ensuring that the board agenda is focusing energy on the right issues at the right time, that the right questions are being asked, and the right decisions made.
Performance
The board is responsible for monitoring the performance of the organisation, and challenging management to ensure the company is operating within the law, its objects and for the benefit of its members / shareholders. In addition, the board should regularly review its own performance, and that of its committees and members, to ensure it is contributing to the advancement of the organisation. Our website has a full suite of guides and templates to help you undertake your own board reviews.