Governance Isn’t a Meeting; It’s a Muscle

The strongest organizations don’t just talk about governance, they practice it, every day.

Organizations often talk about governance as though it’s an event, a recurring meeting on the calendar with an agenda and a few action items. But governance isn’t something you schedule. It’s something you build.

Real governance shows up in the everyday decisions, in how priorities are set, how exceptions are handled, and how consistently teams do what they say they’ll do. It’s not the PowerPoint deck from last quarter’s review; it’s the muscle memory that develops when accountability becomes a habit, not a check box.

The problem is, most governance efforts stall because they start with structure instead of purpose. They define committees, roles, and reports before defining the behaviors that make governance meaningful. If people don’t see it as valuable, they won’t flex it, and muscles that aren’t used quickly weaken.

The strongest governance models I’ve seen aren’t built on rules; they’re built on rhythm. They create consistent touchpoints where teams reflect, recalibrate, and reaffirm their commitments. They make it safe to surface challenges early instead of pretending everything’s fine until it isn’t.

When governance works, it feels less like oversight and more like integrity in action. It’s the organizational equivalent of “doing what you said you’d do.”

So what does flexing the governance muscle actually look like?

• Reviewing platform metrics and deciding what action to take, not just displaying the dashboard.

• Revisiting process owners quarterly to confirm if responsibilities or workflows have shifted.

• Holding release retrospectives that focus on what changed behavior, not just what shipped.

• Rotating facilitation roles so governance isn’t owned by one person or team.

• Asking, “Did we do what we said we’d do?” at the end of every governance meeting, and being honest about the answer.

• Celebrating when governance prevents chaos, not just when it fixes it.

Because meetings come and go.
But muscles, the ones you train, stretch, and strengthen over time, they’re what keep you moving forward.