Adrienne von Tunzelmann: a hard act to follow

Adrienne von Tunzelmann QSO DistFInstD began her career in governance through working on the 1993 company and security law reforms. So, she will be following the upcoming reform of the Companies Act with great interest. 
 
“My career had been in the public sector management and so it was all new to me, but I was plunged in headfirst,” recalls von Tunzelmann. “The Act is now more than 30 years old and has had many amendments. An update is appropriate. The world has changed and the understanding of good governance and what makes a good board has evolved greatly over the past 30 years. 
 
“I am always slightly worried at any suggestion of simplifying something as complex as company law, but I look forward to the consultation, reflection and expertise that will be brought to it, particularly the second part with the interesting work that will be done by the Law Commission. 
 
“The reforms were controversial in the early 90s, particularly the debate around investors’ interests versus company shareholders, and I would like to see a good balance maintained in that space.”

After completing a master’s in economics at Canterbury University, von Tunzelmann’s early career spanned working in the Treasury and later the Ministry of Justice where she became Group Manager with responsibility for the Law Reform Division and Office of Treaty Settlements. In earlier roles, she headed Parliament’s Select Committee Office and was Deputy Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
 
It was her work for the Ministry of Justice around the Act that led to discussions with the IoD’s then CEO Geoffrey Bowes DistFInstD, who suggested she join the organisation and do the Company Directors’ Course. 
 
“I was the only public sector person in that intake and it opened up an entirely new window of knowledge for me, bringing to life what company directors need to know,” she says. 
 
A growing interest in governance led her to recognise no systematic work had been undertaken on how New Zealand companies approached the rapidly emerging theme of corporate social responsibility. 
 
That took her down a path of research supported by Ernst & Young, whom she joined after leaving the public sector. In 1996, she co-wrote the groundbreaking Social Responsibility and the Company: A New Perspective on Governance, Strategy and the Community. 
 
That included interviews with multiple CEOs and board chairs, although she first had to overcome some reticence from business leaders who feared drawing the attention of policymakers to the subject might lead to regulation. 

Her first steps into governance came via Ministerial appointments to three boards, Pharmac, the Bay of Plenty Community Trust and the Whakatāne-based Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. 
 
“It was an unusual pathway into governance. It had not been part of my career plan, but it did shape how I thought about the world. They were diverse appointments. The entity does not have a say in the Ministerial appointment, and you must be certain there is a contribution you can make. I remember thinking, ‘there is a lot to learn but I think I can do this.’ 
 
“I think the organisations recognised that having someone with a background in company and corporate law and public service would be useful. Over time, I have seen there is value in public service experience and the sort of discipline and ethics you gain from that and bring to the board table. 
 
“There is also value in understanding how the machinery of government works, how policy is made and what happens with development of legislation. I have pulled that out of my pocket many times in board discussions. 
 
“There is now far greater understanding than there was 20 or 30 years ago, in both the public service and the business sector, of the unique characteristics of each and how they can bounce off one another.” 
 
Von Tunzelmann says she learned much from observing high-performing board chairs. “I love to work with chairs who bring that high level of intelligence and expertise to a board. You can do no better than watch and listen, and understand how they conduct themselves. 
 
“The chair’s role is a challenging and sometimes difficult job. Obviously, they lead the setting of vision and values, but pulling together a collective of people as a team is by no means a given. There can be tensions around the board table and sometimes difficult conversations with underperforming board members. There is also the interface with the CEO. 
 
“Often it is a chair’s ‘soft’ skills, integrity and deep understanding of the importance of ethics that makes a real difference to creating that collective responsibility and that relationship with the CEO.” 

Today, von Tunzelmann balances her continuing interest in public policy consultancy with positions on charity sector boards, including Osteoporosis (Bone Health) New Zealand and Age Concern. She sits on the Wānanga’s Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and is a Patron of the Tauranga Community Housing Trust. 
 
Previous governance roles in a range of other voluntary and professional organisations include President of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, trustee on the University of Waikato Foundation, Chair of the New Zealand Women’s Refuge Foundation and President of the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration. She was a member of the Wānanga’s council from 2005 to 2019 and remains the Wānanga’s External Advisor. 
 
In 2016, she was awarded the Queen’s Service Order for her contribution to community and governance. 
 
She describes her governance career as one of many paths. “There is a sameness but also a lot of difference between being on a not-for-profit board and a purely for- business board. What is hugely valuable is people holding governance roles across that divide. 
 
“Over the years, I have seen the boards of community and charitable organisations make huge leaps forward in terms of governance, with massive growth in the confidence and capacity of the sector. 
 
“In many ways, the challenges of governance in the charity sector are greater than those of a company. In the community sector you have multiple accountabilities to the people you serve, as well as the regulatory requirements with a whole different level of complexity and accountability to grapple with. 
 
“There is learning that corporate boards can take from that. I look around the community sector and see serious commitment to very good governance, constantly asking, ‘are we doing what we set out to do for our community and how can we do it better?’” 

Similarly, von Tunzelmann says boards can benefit from learning about how Māori organisations work, founded in mātauranga, tikanga and kawa – if that s approached with genuine intention and willingness to gain real understanding. 
 
“These are characteristic of Māori organisations and reflect styles of governance and practice that have a long whakapapa deeply rooted in the knowledge of past generations, and with a long-term view of the future which may include preserving and growing assets for future generations. 
 
“There is a notion that there is such a thing as ‘Māori governance’ that you can pick up and translate into a non-Māori organisation. That may be well-intentioned but is potentially superficial. There are valuable practices that can be adopted, but boards need to be clear about the why and what. It is certainly not as simple as appointing a Māori director to the board. 
 
“My experience from the Wānanga is that I will never know enough to be able to speak confidently and knowledgably about how you bring a Māori perspective into a non-Māori organisation. It is a good journey to be on, but you are navigating something quite complex and it has to be done carefully and slowly.” 
 
The Wānanga, which she describes as having been the “treasure” of her governance career, has been a decades- long personal learning experience. “I went into that with a high level of naivety and no prior experience of Māori entities. I could see it would fill a huge gap in my experience, and it did.” 
 
In May this year, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi recognised von Tunzelmann’s contribution by honouring her with the award of a Distinguished Fellowship in Education. 
 
“That was enormously humbling,” she says. “Only three such fellowships have been awarded in the Wānanga’s history and I was the first non-Māori person to receive it. 
 
“I felt the same way as when I was awarded the Distinguished Fellowship by the IoD last year, inspired to continue to contribute to the mahi of these organisations.”