What Māori governance says about good governance

Governance is often described through structures and responsibilities. Boards determine strategy, oversee risk and hold management to account.

In Māori governance settings, an interesting an interrelated set of questions often emerge.

How did our tūpuna (ancestors) foresee what was going to be important for the generations to come?  

How do we bring our future to today’s decision-making table?  

And how will we be remembered by our mokopuna (grandchildren)?    

The answers stretch well beyond the current board table. It reaches back to those who came before and forward to those yet to come. Relationships are critical to results. Commercial success matters too, but only if it strengthens the legacy of the organisation.

Those themes ran through a recent IoD webinar between directors Jim Mather CFInstD, Maxine Graham MInstD, Jymal Morgan MInstD and Te Teira Pitama MInstD. While they spoke from different governance experiences, they returned repeatedly to the idea that today's board decisions should strengthen what future generations inherit.

Values are tested when decisions become difficult 

Many organisations have carefully articulated values. The challenge is what happens when a board has to choose between competing priorities.

"I don't know if we look through them as separate lenses," Maxine Graham said, reflecting on Māori and Western approaches to governance. The challenge is "how we turn up authentically Māori, or authentically yourself, in spaces that are primarily governed by Western structures".

As iwi organisations move beyond Treaty settlements, she believes the language of governance may remain familiar while its application continues to evolve.

"The kupu (words) may be the same, but the expression of them may look different for the current time."

"Words on a page are actually expressed and activated every day."

That is why, Graham says, "processes protect us". Good governance processes are not there to slow decisions down. They help boards remain true to their values when the choices become difficult. 

When governance isn't at arm's length 

Joining his hapū commercial board challenged Te Teira Pitama's assumptions about governance.

"To be honest, it was quite frustrating at first," he said.

Investment opportunities that looked commercially compelling still had to answer a broader question: would they strengthen what the board existed to protect?

"What we want to pass on to my tamariki and their tamariki is a really healthy balance of commercial achievement, but maintaining our values and maintaining who we are."

"They work hand in hand with who we are."

The board is no longer judging success only by today's performance, but by what future generations inherit.

Relationships create a different kind of accountability 

The people affected by governance decisions are not always anonymous.  
"When you're governing alongside your Māori whānau, you're not operating at arm's length."

"The people that you're making decisions with are not abstract stakeholders. They know you, they know your whānau, they know your address – they'll come around and knock on your door if they see fit."

The accountability that comes with those relationships cannot be delegated or managed through reporting alone.

Building cultural capability requires the same deliberate investment boards have already made in cybersecurity, climate and health and safety. 

"It's not magic." 

"If you want to grow a new muscle, you need to invest in it." 

"You're not managing financial or other risks. You're managing intergenerational relational capital." 

It is an expression that captures a central idea running through Māori governance. Relationships are not an outcome of good governance. They are part of the asset the board is responsible for protecting. 

Governance is an act of service 

Long before he became a director, Pitama watched his grandfather lead his community.

"He was there to serve. Whatever he needed to do for the betterment of his people dictated his decisions."

Service remains the benchmark against which he measures his own governance.

"When you're in a service-type role, that courage is actually just a duty to your people."

Jim Mather shared advice from the late Sir Hirini Moko Mead that has remained with him throughout his governance career.

"Whatever happens, love your iwi."

The advice places service ahead of status and stewardship ahead of authority. Directors are only temporary custodians. Their responsibility is to strengthen what has been entrusted to them before passing it on.

Stewardship also means preparing those who will govern next.

Associate director programmes, mentoring and school boards all have an important role in developing future governors, Graham said.

"Intentional investment will grow great leadership."

Those future directors will bring different expectations.

"They are not younger versions of ourselves," Morgan said.

Graham put it this way.

"I'm not here to prepare my children and my mokopuna for the world. I'm here to prepare the world for them."