Governance Institute’s Effective Director Course in Fiji

(Originally Published by The Governance Institute of Australia)

Pacific Aviation Leadership Training in Fiji

One of the Governance Institute’s flagship courses, the Effective Director Course made its way to Fiji in February, as part of the third installment of director training in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation program.

For four days at the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, directors from Fiji and the Solomon Islands exchanged ideas, refined their skills, and built lasting connections under the expert guidance of facilitator and Governance Institute Board Director Debora Jackson.

The training is focused on contemporary board structure and practices to improve the confidence of Directors in exercising their duties, making decisions, and developing a strategic outlook for their aviation or tourism organisation.

Executive Director of the Australia-Pacific Partnerships for Aviation James Ramsaey said the program’s goal is to drive economic growth by strengthening the enabling environment for aviation in the Pacific.

‘One of the most practical ways to do that is to improve governance planning and decision-making in some of the key aviation organisations like airports, airlines, regulators and governments,’ he said.

‘When you are promoted to board director, you don’t necessarily get training, which is why I think this course has been extremely useful for new directors and for experienced directors looking to refresh their skills.’

‘We’ve been really pleased to see aviation and tourism leaders from across the region sharing their insights, and we hope that continues.’

Building Skills and Confidence for Pacific Aviation Leaders

In 2024, 27 participants from Kiribati, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga and the Marshall Islands received board governance training in Brisbane and Canberra as part of the program. Another 16 have now graduated from the course, ready to put their newly honed skills and refreshed knowledge into practice.

Seini Nabou, Fiji Airways Board Director and Chair of the Risk Sub-committee said taking time out to have conversations with other board directors – especially women – was invaluable.

‘It’s been good to have free-flowing discussions with other board directors and Debora has been a really fabulous facilitator,’ she said.

‘We were also very lucky that we had colleagues from Solomon Islands aviation sector and two of them were women. Hopefully, it will entice more women leaders on boards so that we can come together and then elevate the standards of board excellence.’

Women Leaders Driving Pacific Aviation Leadership

Eroni Puamau, Tourism Fiji Board Director said the course provided him greater understanding of how to work collaboratively among directors with diverse perspectives.

‘One of the learnings I really valued from the Governance Institute course has been the interaction with other serving board members of other state-owned boards,’ he said.

‘It’s been really invaluable for me in terms of just learning different perspectives, learning different viewpoints, and understanding that a board is really a collection of diverse opinions and perspectives that really are important in terms of how we can work together in forging forward to a common purpose of decision-making, for the benefit of the destination, for the benefit of the organisation that we serve.’

He said establishing new networks and relationships with other directors has given him a broader community with which to share ideas and thoughts going forward.

‘Because when you have that relationship, you’re able to then use the experiences, use the context that we’ve developed from this course, especially in areas where there are blind spots, to really get a wide balance of opinions. I think an important aspect of board leadership is to be able to have the confidence to really ask and get opinions from a wider audience than what we perhaps are used to.’

Practical Tools for Pacific Aviation Leadership

For Areau Hivu, Solomon Airlines Board Director, the practical guidance that the course offered was of utmost importance for her role.

‘Especially on the board charter, the induction policy. We don’t have any policy on induction, so it’s a really good guide for us to go back and put what we learn from the training into the organisations we represent.’

Experienced board director James Sowane, who is on the board of the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji, said he gained a better understanding of how to be an ethical and effective director.

‘Just when you thought you knew quite a lot, you pick up some gems,’ he said.

‘One of the topics that would be a big takeaway for me would be managing conflicts of interest. How do we record it and how do we manage it at every ongoing board meeting? That’s a big issue for directors in Fiji.’

A standout element of the training was the mock boardroom scenario. Not only was it about learning to manage issues but also learning to manage different characters that were role-played,’ James Sowane said.

‘Sometimes you see yourself in other characters, and it gives you an opportunity to learn how to manage boardroom dynamics.’

Applying Pacific Aviation Leadership Skills

Board Secretary for Tourism Fiji Asinate Ledua said she was enthusiastic about the opportunity to receive proper training in how boards operate.

‘I’ve learned so much and there’s so many things we have done. Five of us came from the Tourism Fiji board and we achieved a lot,’ she said.

‘We’re looking forward to our next board meeting because I’ve told them we are getting things changed!’

If you or your organisation are interested or developing practical tools to be an effective director, head to our website (The Governance Institute of Australia) for more information about the Effective Director Course.

If you’re interested in Pacific Aviation Leadership click here to learn more about P4A.