Good governance starts at the top. So does bad governance.

A guest blog post by Fiona Allan

Former board member, Culture Central; author of Strengthening Chair/Chief Executive Practice in the Arts and Cultural Sector (Arts Council England, March 2026)

I have spent much of my career in the West Midlands. As CEO of Birmingham Hippodrome for nearly seven years, I served on the board of Culture Central and watched a creative sector struggle to survive through Covid and then return thriving. I watched a region that already punched well above its weight gear up for the opportunities and international exposure afforded by the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. I remain a committed supporter of the work Culture Central does to provide a collective voice for the region.

So when Arts Council England asked me to write guidance on strengthening Chair and CEO practice, the organisations I had worked alongside in the Midlands – small, mid-scale and large – were very much in my mind. I am pleased to say that the consultation process that shaped this guidance included voices from the region. Their contribution made it more practical, honest and no-nonsense.

The guidance tackles what I have come to think of as the most consequential and least examined relationship in our organisations: the one between the Chair and the Chief Executive. It shapes culture, morale and strategic clarity from the top down. When it works well, boards provide genuine challenge and support, decisions get made, and the organisation thrives. When it doesn’t, the consequences radiate outward – factions form, trust erodes between board and executive, and in the worst cases, one party exits at significant cost to the organisation.

I started thinking seriously about this after a run of high-profile CEO departures – some of which I knew at close quarters – that had cost charities significant sums of money and come down, in the end, to interpersonal and governance breakdowns. The question I kept returning to was: why do we leave something this important to chance? We plan for financial risk, reputational risk, artistic risk. But we tend to leave the Chair/CEO relationship to chemistry, goodwill and luck.

The guidance I have written – commissioned by Arts Council England and published in partnership with Clore Leadership and the Cultural Governance Alliance – is designed to change that. It covers how to set the relationship up well from the start; how to find the right balance between too close and too distant; how to establish clear roles, delegations and communication; and how to manage things when they start to go wrong. It is advisory, not prescriptive, and free.

Forty-six Chairs and CEOs contributed detailed feedback on the first draft, and a further twenty sector leaders tested it in a facilitated online session. The engagement was candid and, frankly, a little surprising in its depth. People clearly wanted to talk about this. Many had been waiting for something they could point to.

For the West Midlands in particular – where so many organisations are operating on lean resources, where the funding environment remains genuinely tough, and where the stakes of a governance failure are high – I hope this guidance is useful. The good news is that many of the things that make the biggest difference cost nothing. They require clarity, honest conversation, and the willingness to invest a little time at the beginning so that you don’t have to spend a great deal more sorting things out later.

You can download the guidance here. The face-to-face workshop hosted by Clore Leadership and the Cultural Governance Alliance on Thursday 16 April at Hackney Empire has already sold out – which speaks for itself. I am exploring options for online delivery for those who missed out; if you would be interested in that, do get in touch.

Our organisations exist to take creative risks. Getting governance right is how we make sure we can keep doing that – together. If any of this resonates – or if you are navigating a Chair/CEO challenge in your own organisation – I would be delighted to hear from you. You can reach me at fiona@fionaallan.com.