Most Boards Don’t Fail in a Crisis. They’re Exposed Before It.

Insights from our latest webinar 

Crisis sounds like a big word. But for most organisations, it does not arrive as a headline event. It shows up as pressure. Ambiguity. Incomplete information. Fast decisions. Stakeholder noise. And a very real test of whether leadership is actually prepared.

As Gerry Lynch opened in our recent Govn365 webinar with George Adams, one of New Zealand’s most experienced chairs:

“Crisis response is back on the agenda for boards and CEOs in a very real way.”

And the evidence suggests many organisations are not as ready as they think.

What actually is a crisis?

Before boards can govern well through crisis, they need clarity on what it is.

As George Adams defined it:

“A crisis is an abnormal or unstable situation that threatens the organisation’s strategic objectives or survival. It requires immediate leadership intervention and an extraordinary response, outside normal business operations.”

That distinction matters. Not every difficult situation is a crisis. But real crises demand a different governance posture than business as usual.

Outcomes typically fall into three categories:

• You come out worse (common without preparation)
• You come out the same (often a strong result)
• You come out better (possible, but requires readiness and agility)

The difference is preparation.

The uncomfortable reality: most crises are foreseeable

A consistent theme from the session was that many crises are not surprises.

As George shared from a conversation with a senior coroner:

“In 35 years, he’d only seen one incident that wasn’t foreseeable. Everything else was. We just prefer not to think about it.”

Financial shocks, cyber incidents, operational disruption, product failure – these are all scenarios that can be anticipated and planned for. The barrier is not knowledge. It is attention.

Boards that scenario plan even at a high level are significantly better positioned when disruption arrives.

What separates organisations that respond well

Across six major crises in his governance career, George’s observation was simple:

“The ones that are well prepared are still here. Ultimately.”

Preparation is not a document. It is organisational readiness:

• Current crisis plans (contacts, roles, responsibilities)
• Agreed communication protocols
• Clear board–executive role separation
• Capacity to absorb disruption, not just prevent it

The board’s role: support, not control

In crisis, the instinct is for boards to move closer. More updates. Faster updates. More involvement.

But this can quickly become counterproductive.

George recalled:

“I remember a board call while I was under a table in an earthquake because the board wanted updates.”

The better approach is disciplined engagement:

• Increase availability, not interference
• Use a single communication channel
• Let management lead, with clear escalation pathways

A useful framing:

“Tell me the facts. Tell me what you’re doing. Tell me how I can help.”

Communication: honesty over comfort

A key governance discipline is resisting the temptation to smooth uncertainty.

George’s view was direct:

“Telling the truth means you don’t have to remember the lies. And you will get caught out.”

Effective crisis communication is:

• One consistent core message
• Tailored to different stakeholders
• Explicit about what is known and unknown
• Clear about what is being done next

In practice, this often means multiple audience-specific updates built from a single source of truth.

Safety leadership and crisis leadership follow the same logic

Good safety governance assumes failure is possible and prepares for it.

“You have seatbelts in your car, not because you expect to crash, but because you know something eventually could go wrong.”

Crisis readiness follows the same principle: build resilience so the organisation can absorb impact and recover quickly.

After the crisis: the discipline of learning

Recovery is not just return-to-normal. It is improvement.

The strongest organisations treat crisis as a forcing function for change. Examples include companies like Toyota and Zoom, which used disruption to adapt and strengthen.

Closer to home, rebuilding after the Christchurch earthquakes delivered more resilient infrastructure and better systems within months.

The principle is simple:
Never waste a crisis but you must survive it first.

What boards should take from this

Practical governance commitments:

• Define what constitutes a crisis for your organisation
• Scenario-plan your most foreseeable risks
• Test crisis plans (not just file them)
• Align board and executive roles in advance
• Establish clear communication protocols
• Commit to honest, consistent stakeholder messaging

Organisations that navigate crisis well are not lucky.

They are prepared.

Want to explore this further?

Watch the full webinar discussion here

Continue the conversation

Join us for our nxt webinar featuring former Z Energy CEO Mike Bennetts to explore what really drives decision quality in the boardroom – from Chair/CEO dynamics to how challenge, trust, and behaviour shape outcomes.

If you want sharper governance conversations and better decisions, this webinar is for you.

The Board Behind the Board Paper: How Chairs and CEOs Shape Better Decisions

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If you’re starting to think about how this applies in your organisation, we’re always open to a conversation.

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