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For facilitator/project manager Lucy Byrne GAICD, understanding what she didn’t know, and getting up to speed on governance, were steep learning curves.
What surprised you the most about your first year on a board?
I was 23 when I first got a role on a board, and what surprised me most is how much I didn’t know. At that age, you think you know everything, but I found out very quickly that I didn’t know anything about board governance. When I reflect on that now, after more than two decades of experience as a director and also facilitating board governance training, I can see I was in over my head – big time.
How did you get a board role at such a young age?
It was a local sporting organisation and I think I was asked to join because of my paid employment with the local council. I was a youth officer and this was a youth sporting organisation. So they wanted somebody with that experience and connection to young people.
Was it an amazing experience or an overwhelming one?
A bit of both. I remember really enjoying the high-level oversight of the whole organisation and being able to give input to the future direction of it. It was one of the first times I had conversations on that level, rather than “the doing” of work, and I was really put in a position to think high-level and strategically. It was my first step into board governance, which has created a whole career for me.
Is there anything in that first year you would now do differently?
Whether a first-time director is young or not, getting some sort of governance training is really beneficial. It doesn’t need to be formal. It could be a chat with a board director, a one-on-one mentoring program or grassroots governance training. It’s important to be aware of your statutory and fiduciary duties. I didn’t even know what those words meant, let alone what the responsibilities were that came with them. I put myself at a fair bit of risk because I didn’t understand my obligations as a board director.
How would you describe your growth in that first year?
It was huge. A lot was about understanding what I didn’t know. In the end, I stepped down from that board due to mission creep. It was an organisation set up for vulnerable, marginalised and disadvantaged people in our community. However, the organisation was located in one of the most affluent suburbs and because of its location, ended up serving primarily the most affluent people in the community and their children.
This article first appeared as 'Governance and mission creep' in the Aug/Sep 2026 Issue of Company Director Magazine.
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