Governance is not a morally neutral activity

Governance is not a morally neutral activity, and for anyone leading any public purpose organisation this is perhaps the big-picture critical factor for 2026. It’s in the zeitgeist.

A good starting point was this year’s BBC Reith Lectures from Rutger Bregman, The Moral Revolution, which explored themes of moral decay among today's elites, historical parallels to past eras of corruption, and how small, committed groups have sparked transformative change (drawing on examples like the abolition of slavery and the suffragette movement).

Bregman argued that we're in an ‘age of immorality’. This is a crisis but at the same time offers hope for progressive moral revolutions amid rapid technological change.

If you sit on the board of any public purpose organisation, this is the framing for how your board needs to work.

At GGi we have been steadfast proponents of impactful governance that goes beyond industry codes, and we have promoted South Africa’s King Committee codes as exemplifying a prescription for governance that results in:

• ethical culture
• conformance and prudent control
• legitimacy
• performance and value creation

At the core of good governance is the concept of the virtuous organisation and boards acting as good moral actors. But while this is the essential starting point if you lead a charity, an NHS trust, a local authority, a university or any public purpose organisation, much of this is discussed implicitly rather than explicitly.

At this webinar we will explore the practical ways in which those leading our public purpose organisations can do so in an ethically positive way that adds real value to society and counters the moral decay that we all see and Bregman speaks of.

Our guest speakers will be Beatrice Fraenkel, an experienced trustee and non-executive director; Will Godfrey, former chief executive of Bath and North East Somerset Council; and GGi CEO Professor Andrew Corbett-Nolan. The session will be chaired by GGi partner and principal consultant Aidan Rave.

It’s a webinar not to be missed.