Forget policies. Forget charters. The real governance of any organisation is shaped by one invisible force: boardroom culture. Boardroom culture refers to the unwritten code that governs how directors behave when no one is watching, including how they challenge, listen, and make decisions. It is the mood, the mindset, and how governance plays out around the board table. You can have a world-class governance manual… But if your boardroom is gripped by fear, apathy, or groupthink, it isn’t very worthy. Why boardroom culture defines governance In a toxic culture, tough questions are avoided. Bad news is sugar-coated. Real risks hide…
Be the great leader who embeds fraud risk into strategy
In leading organizations, fraud prevention is not a defensive move. It is a strategic advantage. It protects trust, reputation, and business value. The key is having every part of the leadership ecosystem play its role with foresight, not just compliance. The board of directors is the architects of risk-smart strategy. The Board must do more than approve policies. They must define a bold risk appetite that allows innovation without exposing the organisation to blind risks. They integrate fraud risk into strategic decisions, partnerships, digital transformation, and market entry, making fraud resilience part of value creation, not just protection. Audit committees…
How to fix a micro-managing board: Use the board mandate clarity tool
In many boardrooms, I have had the chance to step in; one silent killer stalks board effectiveness: mandate drift. Boards begin with strategic intent but slowly slide into operational meddling, drowning in detail, or worse, and shadow-managing the CEO’s team. That is why I researched and developed the 5-item Board Mandate Brief, a straightforward and repeatable tool for onboarding and governance alignment. It is not a policy document buried in a manual. It is a living, breathing boardroom guide used every time a director joins, a mandate question arises, or governance boundaries are tested. The tool’s power lies in its…
How culture eats everything in an organization without noticing it
A crocodile does not announce its bite. That is how culture eats strategy, execution, innovation, and even common sense, without you noticing. Consultants see a lot and sometimes feel bad for pocketing the cheque despite doing a lot for it. I once consulted for a growing fintech. On paper, they had it all: sharp strategy, aggressive investors, and a clear market gap. Yet, inside the company, a silent killer lurked. Meetings started late, always. Decisions dragged. People avoided accountability like the plague. Everyone smiled in public but whispered in corridors. When targets were missed, the executive committee blamed “market conditions.”…
The risk you ignore is the one that will hurt your organization
You do not need to be an entomologist to know that a termite never bites loudly. It chews quietly until the pillar collapses. That is how organizational risks work. The ones you ignore are the ones that bring you down. In May 2024, Summit Consulting Ltd was engaged to conduct risk training and got the opportunity to review a manufacturing company’s risk register. It had every textbook risk: market volatility, regulatory changes, and supply chain disruptions. All neat, all useless. Guess what was missing? A risk that every staff member knew, but no one dared to write down. The CEO’s…
George W. Kanyeihamba, 85, Uganda’s dissenting conscience on the bench, dies
“Justice may bend, but it must never kneel.” That can be said of the late Justice (Rtd.) Prof. George W. Kanyeihamba’s credo. KAMPALA, Justice (Rtd.) Prof. George Wilson Kanyeihamba, a towering figure in Uganda’s legal and political history whose judicial independence, constitutional scholarship, and fearless dissent shaped national debates for decades, died on July 14 at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala. He was 85. The cause was complications of advanced diabetes, according to a longtime aide. Kanyeihamba’s name became synonymous with principled defiance, a rare trait in a judiciary often wary of the executive’s shadow. From his role as chief architect…