The Toughest Fiasco Yet (Christmas Edition🎄)

Friday’s Fiasco

When your board can’t agree on what happened

The departure of Oxfam's chief executive has exposed serious governance failures after Dr Halima Begum left the organisation amid claims of bullying and creating a "climate of fear." Following complaints from nearly 70 staff members, an external review examined testimony from 32 current and former employees. The charity stated the investigation identified serious issues in leadership behaviour, breaches of organisational processes, and inappropriate interference in safeguarding investigations. However, trustee Dr Balwant Singh publicly contradicted the board's statement, saying Begum's treatment was "anything but kind, just or fair" and that she wasn't given sight of the findings or right of reply. Begum's solicitor alleges she was subjected to a "victimising witch-hunt" and has whistleblown to the Charity Commission.

When your board splits publicly over whether your CEO was sacked or constructively dismissed, when findings aren't shared with the person they concern, and when the departure hits the national press before proper process concludes, you've got more than a leadership problem, you've got a governance crisis.

If Oxfam’s Board asked for our advice, here's where we’d start:

Your focus should be repair, not reputation management so stop fighting this through press statements. You've got a sitting trustee publicly contradicting the board's position, anonymous staff allegations met with whistleblowing claims, and suggestions of both racial abuse and retaliatory behaviour. Every defensive statement deepens the damage. The Charity Commission is now involved. 

Admit that your process was demonstrably broken. Whether Begum was genuinely toxic or unfairly targeted, staff felt unable to raise concerns through proper channels. Investigation findings weren't shared with the subject. The board couldn't maintain a unified position. Your departure announcement became a public battlefield. Recognise this isn't resolved by her leaving. 

Address the dual narrative honestly. Either dozens of staff legitimately feared a bullying CEO, or a woman of colour attempting necessary restructuring was undermined by resistant employees and an unsupportive board. Both narratives exist simultaneously in the public domain. Until you examine whether racial bias influenced how restructuring decisions were received, and accept that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, your organisation cannot move forward.

Acknowledge Haiti's still hanging over you. This is your second major leadership crisis since the 2018 sexual exploitation scandal destroyed public trust. This governance shambles suggests you haven't rebuilt the internal accountability mechanisms needed to prevent the next disaster. 

Understand what repair actually requires. Your staff need to know concerns can be raised safely through proper channels. Your trustees need to know how to handle serious allegations without public fracturing. Begum deserves procedural fairness regardless of the allegations' merit. Your donors need confidence you can govern yourselves. None of that happens without genuine acknowledgement of what went wrong, transparent investigation of who knew what when, and demonstrable changes to how you handle differences of opinion at Board level.

Whatever the truth about Begum's leadership, the way you handled her departure has shown that you care more about being right than being kind.

Face the facts

The holiday period is rarely plain sailing. Here are our top three tips for surviving Christmas and New Year with your relatives:

The argument probably isn't about what you think it's about whether that’s food, politics, or what to watch on TV. It's about feeling dismissed, unheard, or disrespected. Address what's actually broken, not just what's being said. Ask questions instead of defending your position. 

You can't repair what you won't acknowledge. "Let's just move on" and "can't we all get along?" aren't constructive but they are classic conflict avoidance. If someone's genuinely hurt, pretending it didn't happen just guarantees it'll resurface over the cheeseboard. A simple "I can see that upset you, I'm sorry" costs nothing and will make a huge difference.

Not everything needs resolving by Boxing Day. Some family dynamics have been toxic for decades. You're not going to fix generational patterns over turkey. Sometimes the most restorative thing you can do is set a boundary, stay civil, and accept that repair takes longer than the holiday period. Protecting your own wellbeing isn't selfish, it's essential.

We're organisational repair specialists.

We’ll be back on Fridays from 9th January 2026 with more fiascos, agonies and tools to help you repair and restore. Thank you for being a part of our community. Enjoy the break!