Most Trustees join charity Boards with good intentions. Yet poor Trustee behaviour is one of the most common frustrations faced by charity leaders, fellow Trustees and Boards. Is it something about our sector is it the charity structure itself that is the problem?

This episode explores why it is that there are so many examples of Trustees behaving badly, and we examine why this is so, and what can be done about it

Today we speak with Mary-Ann Ochota, a Trustee who found herself facing an impossible governance situation, Penny Wilson, governance consultant, trainer and former CEO of Getting on Board, and Dr Vidya Sukumara Panicker, Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University whose research explores trustee skills, governance and Board effectiveness in charities…. Together, they examine why Trustees behave badly, what sits behind poor governance behaviour, and whether some of the sector's structures are inadvertently creating the conditions for failure.

Founder’s syndrome is a recognised problem in our sector, but there is more to the story. Why is it so prevalent? What can be done? And what should founders do if they recognise some of these behaviours in themselves? This episode examines how control, identity and power can shift founders from driving impact to creating risk…or worse, and how those dynamics are often enabled rather than challenged.

The discussion brings together Susanna Kislenko, an academic specialising in founder leadership and founder’s syndrome, Carla Gill, a former founder now working with others through transition, and Mona Vadher and Nick Moore, two Interims for Impact associates who, as interim CEOs, who have seen first-hand the impact these situations can have on organisations, culture and governance. Together, they explore what sits beneath the label of founder’s syndrome and what needs to happen before the consequences become systemic.

Trusteeship is treated as the moral foundation of the charity sector, with voluntary service upheld at its core.

But that assumption quietly shapes who can take part in governing charities and who cannot.

This episode asks what really sits behind the resistance to paying trustees. Is payment about professionalism, access and lived experience, or does it undermine the idea of public service and public trust?