Two decades ago, British bank HBOS was the darling of management consultants because of what was then perceived as inspirational leadership by the bank’s senior executives. The bank grew rapidly and hubris quickly set it as executives played God with borrowing customers who had found themselves in difficulties.
A recently leaked investigative report written in 2013 by a Lloyds Bank official shows how wrong most people are when they judge performance with headline figures without delving deeper into the culture of an organisation.
Sound governance is not mandatory only for businesses but applies to other non-profit organisations and indeed for public administration.
According to this report, HBOS top officials covered up a £1 billion fraud that saw bank officials forcing distressed…
