On Our Watch: Chris Sherwood on Boardroom Decisions and the Turnaround of a 200-Year-Old Charity

When Chris’s appointment was leaked to the press before he'd even started, one newspaper called him a "colourful bachelor". Within a month, the regulator had issued its first ever official warning to his charity. And the board he inherited hadn't reformed its governance since 1974. In this episode of Grit in the Boardroom, Erika Eliasson-Norris, CEO of Beyond Governance, sits down with Chris Sherwood, Chief Executive of the NSPCC and former Chief Executive of the RSPCA. It's one of the most honest executive interviews yet on what leadership decisions it takes to reform a heritage organisation from the inside. The conversation opens with a moving tribute to Dame Esther Rantzen, whose vision for Childline has supported more than 6 million children and young people since it launched 40 years ago. \[More information on Chris below.] The RSPCA's eighth chief executive in a decade, Chris inherited a board of 28 trustees, a £26m deficit and an impatient Charity Commission. Rather than cast himself as a hero, he took time to understand the problem and uncovered the real reason for resistance to reform. For trustees who had served for 25 or even 47 years, the RSPCA was their life; letting go felt like handing over a child. Within 12 months, the board shrank from 28 to 12 and the charity appointed its first independent chair in almost 200 years. The story offers one of Grit in the Boardroom's richest case studies in turnaround and management. Together, Erika and Chris explore the corporate governance questions every board should be asking. Why are most boardroom decisions really made outside the boardroom? How did reframing "should we change?" into "who wants to lead that change?" turn a regulator's warning into a mandate? And why does good risk management mean asking questions about harms that haven't been invented yet? Chris shares practical lessons on building trust between boards and executives, leading governance reform under regulatory pressure, and preparing for the risks of an AI-enabled world. He also speaks openly about why the NSPCC is personal. Childline was there for him as a child, and he explains why lived experience shapes his empathy but never his judgement. It's high stakes strategy, business resilience and company culture change, told with real warmth (and the odd very large glass of red wine). What you'll find in this episode of Grit in the Boardroom: - Why Chris rejected the "hero on a pedestal" model of leadership and became the conductor of the orchestra instead. - The real reason a 200-year-old board resisted reform, and why the official explanation was only the presenting problem. - How to build informal authority when you have the title but not the credibility (even if colleagues think all you want to do is cuddle kittens). - Why governance is about relationships, and why most boardroom decisions are made long before anyone sits down at the table. - How a KC's opinion broke down a decades-old argument for doing nothing, and why you should never take "we can't change" at face value. - Working with the regulator rather than fighting it: how constructive engagement delivered reform in 12 months instead of years in a statutory inquiry. - The three warning signs Chris looks for on any new board: the chair and chief executive dynamic, a shared agenda, and a shared understanding of risk. - Leading more than 230 redundancies with humanity, and why those decisions should never get easier. - The swan metaphor, crisis communications, and how a charity AGM nearly knocked Boris Johnson off the front page. - "Split screen leadership": running the day job while transforming the organisation, because disruption is the new normal for growth under pressure. - How boards should govern risks like AI that move faster than regulation, and why fiduciary oversight is only part of the job. - Chris's three pieces of advice for a new CEO or chair inheriting a broken board, starting with who's on your speed dial. Chris Sherwood is Chief Executive of the NSPCC, the UK's leading children's charity and the organisation behind Childline, a role he took up in January 2025. He previously spent over six years as Chief Executive of the RSPCA. There he led a governance overhaul that cut a board of 28 to a professional board of 12, turned around a planned £26m deficit, launched the ten-year strategy Together for Animal Welfare and oversaw the charity's first rebrand in more than 50 years. Before that he was Chief Executive of Relate. With more than 20 years in the voluntary sector, Chris is Trustee and Co-Vice Chair of NCVO and The Charity Awards judging panel, as well as holding the Institute of Directors' Diploma in Company Direction. Raised in Corby, Northamptonshire, he was the first in his family to go to university. In 2025 he was named one of Attitude magazine's 101 LGBTQ Trailblazers. _ Grit in the Boardroom is a bi-weekly podcast where Erika Eliasson-Norris sits down with the best in business for executive interviews. She and her guests explore corporate governance beyond the sealed doors of the C-suite. As Governance Assessor for the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, the largest public inquiry in UK history, Erika Eliasson-Norris is helping shape accountability, governance reform, and corporate oversight across the UK. Beyond Governance provides on-demand company secretarial support, governance advisory, and governance training to boards, Company Secretaries, and General Counsel. Beyond Governance help organisations strengthen governance, manage risk, and support critical projects without the need for permanent hires. Learn more here: https://beyondgovernance.com/