Our Difference

Beyond abstract principles to behavioural governance that produces sustainable outcomes.

There are always those who say legislation can’t solve the problem. There is a half-truth involved here. It is true that legislation cannot solve the whole problem. It can solve some of the problem. It may be true that morality can’t be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.

Martin Luther King, Jr

Our Vision

Closing the gap between Compliance and Organisational Performance.

Our Mission

We shall achieve our vision through creating learning, knowledge and practice exchange platforms for building capacity and capability in corporate governance and board effectiveness – that meets global standards but situates in context and culture.

Our Beliefs & Why

We believe in the power of ‘unreasonable people’ such as us to change our world for the better; one organisation at a time, one government at a time. We see what is possible when leaders and organisations practice good governance that then improves the performance of public sector organisations and service delivery to citizens.

Good governance is a journey, not a destination. At Maddison Pine we are passionately committed to building an enduring community of governance and change champions who dare to believe that meaningful change is possible and are determined to do what they can where they are. So, our delegates become first, our advocates, and then become co-creators of change. As Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

Good Governance matters greatly because in the final analysis it affects us all. Public institutions, especially State-Owned-Enterprises and Local Governments are the major arteries that connect government to citizens. The impact of paucity of governance eventually finds its way into every body’s home, rich and poor; and, the lives of those who lead and the led, are inextricably linked.

This is why Governance is not just about compliance with the law; Good Governance must bring about demonstrable and significant improvements in the performance of leadership, organisations, and service delivery. Good Governance centres on humanitarianism and the ties that binds us.

Driven by our vision, our work is socially useful and collaborative; always seeking to work with people and organisations with the same values. Our pursuit of quality and a result-based based approach should in itself be useful. If we can demonstrate how our public services and government leadership can be improved, this is likely to have a much greater effect than mere technical skills and rhetoric. Thus, our advisory services and training programmes are a whole experience which encompasses first class knowledge and practical skills development…seasoned with storytelling and sense making….outcomes-driven…..and wrapped up in enlightened hospitality.

We are intimately connected to the countries where we work and demonstrate our ethos of social responsibility by investing in local partnerships and investment in communities. The training is the beginning of strong relationships because we take our client’s success personally and the vitality of these connections is part of what defines and fires up Maddison Pine. We joyously interact with communities on a level that defines us and provides a uniquely gratifying experience all around.

We will never be a big company simply because we choose not to be big. Significant, we shall be, as we strive continuously to build good governance in our public institutions. We very much believe in the works of Robert Kennedy:

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

And, as we diligently and courageously pursue this God-given vision, we shall either set the world on fire or become fire itself.

Our Guiding Principles

“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” – Alexander the Great

We are committed to helping Boards to build effective and visible governance practices that have a demonstrable contribution to the improvement of the performance of their organisations. Therefore, all our work, whether building board and organisational capacity through executive education, facilitating knowledge & practice exchange; or campaigning for radical reform of state-owned-enterprises – is grounded in unreasonable faith that boards can be strengthened to deliver value (and we have reference sites to show!); and we are cognisant of differences in culture and context for development.

Our Campus

Imagine your ideal campus! This is what we create for you at our different locations in London, Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius, Ghana……you get the picture. We create an ideal learning environment for you as you step back from your daily routine and step into a world of action-learning, where you will have the time to reflect on where you have been, where you are, where you want to take your organisation, and yourself – why and how.

Whichever location you choose, you can be sure of a wholesome learning experience as we work closely with you to deliver a programme that will raise you and your organisation to the next level of performance and relevance.

Aesop’s Fable: The Brave Mice

With the growing intensity of the scrutiny of boards, effective board leadership has become a pressing demand in all sectors, and most importantly, in the public sector. The pressing challenge for board leaders today is to grapple with the compliance aspects of governance as well as understanding and executing important board functions such as strategy oversight – and then working with other members to improve organisational performance. To do something different and meaningful.

But it takes courage to do something different and meaningful. But it takes courage as the following fable illustrates….

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The Brave Mice – A fable by Aesop

There once was a very old cat who lived in a barn, as cats often do. His job in the barn was to catch all of the mice, and he was very good at it.  As you can imagine the mice didn’t really like this and so . . . one day they met together to talk about the great harm that the old cat was doing them.   Each one shared a plan that they had by which to keep out of her way.

An old grey mouse who was seen to be very wise by the others spoke up:  “Do as I say.  Do as I say.   Hang a bell to the cat’s neck.   Then, when we hear it ring, we shall all know that she is coming and we can scamper out of her way.”

“Good!  Good”” said all of the other mice, and one ran to get the bell.

“Now,” said the old grey mouse . . . “which of you will hang this bell around the cat’s neck?”

“Not I! Not I!” came the shouts all-together and the mice scampered away to their holes.

And things continued as they always had done . . .

Real courage lies in action….not words. As Aristotle observed, “we become brave by doing brave acts” and effective board leadership is about leading the board to provide direction, strategy, value and results. Period.