With their emphasis on cultural collaboration, Kiwi boardrooms are just a little different from the norm, says former Auckland City councillor and self-confessed disruptor Victoria Carter.
Victoria Carter ONZM MAICD studied law before embarking on a career that has covered vast ground, including marketing, public relations, local government, early childhood education and entrepreneurship, the latter most notably as founder of New Zealand’s first carshare company, Cityhop. After reviving the Auckland Arts Festival, in 2016, she received an ONZM for services to the arts, business and community. In a governance career spanning three decades and more than 25 directorships and numerous chair roles, she is regarded as a creative problem solver and empathetic people person.
What was your first directorship?
I was in my early 30s and because of my marketing background, was asked to join the board of the Auckland Kindergarten Association. I didn’t know it was the largest educational organisation outside the tertiary sector — we had about 100 childcare centres and 3000 children. When I started to create a fact sheet to lobby politicians for more funding, I realised how significant we were.
I once got Helen Clark, who later became Prime Minister, to come to a kindergarten in her electorate. She was fascinated by how many different cultures were there — about 20 different cultures among 30 children. I said to her, “This is the changing face of Auckland.” She asked me to present to her MPs on the face of Auckland, because if that’s what it looks like at pre-five, that’s the future.
It was a great insight into the need to raise awareness of how important preschool education is and why we must fund it. How do we adapt to a city that no longer looks like it used to? That’s a metaphor for business today, isn’t it?
What has a governance career taught you?
I’m a futurist — I’m fascinated with what’s around the corner, trying to improve the way we live. It’s why I’ve been involved in so many startups and why I started Cityhop. I’ve been lucky being on boards in so many different industries and sectors, but generally they all have the same challenges — managing people, driving revenue, growth, asset replacement. Sitting on boards has taught me to think differently about risk. How do we ensure we stay in business? Directors have to think about risk all the time. Not just operational, financial, compliance or reputational, but what tomorrow looks like and what we can do to mitigate it.
One of the challenges for good chairs is to draw all the voices out. The greatest risk most boards face is when everybody thinks the same. When everybody does that, you get groupspeak. I’d love to see the lone voice — which is often the brave voice at the board table — being encouraged more.
Even if we don’t agree with other people or are afraid everybody else is thinking the same, all we need is to have one other person start to question things. If everybody has the same voice, what’s the point of having a board? More than ever, boards need to be open-minded and curious. Management should be encouraged to challenge itself about the ways it works, ways it might respond faster to this ever-changing environment. If a board can’t think about risk openly, how will they be open to innovation and new ways of doing things?
How diverse are NZ boardrooms?
I’ve seen a huge change over 30 years, from when there were not many women at the table. But we need more than one, which is often still the case.
I was on the Auckland Racing Club, NZ Thoroughbred Racing and Asian Racing Federation boards. I spoke at the Asian Racing Conference on why we need more women everywhere, including in racing, to really emphasise its value. If you want good decisions, strategies and outcomes, you need good discussion. The only way you get that is to have people around the table who don’t look like you. If you sit at a table with people who are mostly like you, you’ll probably all be thinking the same. That won’t help any industry move forward or deal with the enormous changes we’re grappling with. It’s not representative of the community or world we live in, let alone our customers.
Times are tough in business at the moment. Our economy is very vulnerable, which is why it’s so important we have people who aren’t afraid of change and are capable of innovation, rejigging how things are. I’ve never agreed with that old belief that you’ve got to have a banker, an accountant and a lawyer on your board. You can hire good advice.
Being on a board is all about managing risk and being brave. But if you spend your life telling people how to avoid risk, I’m not sure you want to have a like-minded group around the board table, because it will be hard to drive that business successfully.
People with different backgrounds often see a problem differently. The challenge is to get them to be confident enough to talk about the ideas they’ve got and the changes they can see. When we value the differences we all bring to the table by collaborating, innovation will follow. Maybe then we’ll have solutions to our complex problems.
How do Kiwi boards differ from Australian?
The biggest difference is NZ boards are very aware that Māori are a Treaty of Waitangi partner. Some government agencies and other NGOs appoint a Māori director specifically to represent their voice. There is an understanding that being a good treaty partner contributes to the work of good boards.
In practice, this means incorporating te ao Māori — the Māori world view, encompassing language, culture and knowledge systems — into board settings. This demonstrates a respect for Māori culture and improves communication. It fosters a more inclusive and culturally aware environment, hopefully strengthens relationships with Māori stakeholders and demonstrates a commitment to the treaty.
Tikanga (customs) principles are put into practice in most of the boards I sit on — and they sit alongside governance principles. For example, tikanga in practice would be that before you do the apologies at the start of the meeting, you would say a karakia (prayer). It’s encouraged for all board members to be able to say a karakia, so it’s not always the Māori at the table who is that voice. At the end of the meeting, there is a closing karakia.
Many boards encourage directors to learn a little te reo (Māori language) and to actively use it. It would be unusual for a senior leader not to be able to say a pepeha (introduction) that tells people who you are by sharing your connection with the places and people important to you.
How do Australians tend to settle on boards and in business in NZ?
There aren’t too many differences between us. I’ve made lifelong friends on every commercial board I’ve sat on, some of them Australians. I’ve always enjoyed talking to people throughout the company to get a better understanding of the business.
One of the biggest board roles I’ve had was the New Zealand Transport Agency. I chaired the people and culture committee and we’d do site visits to check health and safety standards. I’d also check out the call centre and was always interested in what they heard and saw that never came to the boardroom — insights into how we could be better.
Those soft skills of empathy, of observation, managing one’s own emotions and recognising and influencing the emotions of others are really important, but often undervalued in a boardroom setting. We’re all feeling human beings, so are our employees, customers and stakeholders. It’s useful to step into each other’s shoes occasionally to understand another dimension.
How do you feel when called a disruptor?
I’m comfortable with change. Maybe it’s that entrepreneurial spirit of looking at everything and asking how we can do it better — and not being challenged when things don’t go your way. I like solving problems, particularly around people. I like thinking how a business stays relevant, which means considering what’s around the corner. There’s always room for things to be better.
This article first appeared as 'An eye on tomorrow' in the November 2025 Issue of Company Director Magazine.
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