Joining the KCB Tutor Team is Terri Le Couteur, who will be teaching on the Organisational Law and Compliance module on the MSc Governance.
Terri is a Chartered Governance Professional and the Founding Director of TLC Governance, where she advises boards, executives and governance teams across listed, private and not‑for‑profit organisations. Her expertise spans multi-jurisdictions, multi-sector corporate governance frameworks, subsidiary governance, the evolving role of the Company Secretary, and governance‑related forensic review work.
Alongside her consultancy work, Terri delivers governance training for The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, contributes written materials to the Institute’s CSQS programme, and is actively involved with the Sports Governance Academy. She also delivers AI governance masterclasses, exploring emerging technologies and their impact on governance practice. Terri is a regular speaker at governance conferences in the UK and internationally.
A Fellow of The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland, Terri also holds an MSc in Corporate Governance.
Ahead of her classes, we asked Terri a few questions to get to know her better:
What originally drew you towards governance as a profession, and what has kept you passionate about it?
Growing up in Jersey in the Channel Islands, when I did, our career options essentially boiled down to three things: Farming, Hospitality, or Finance. My dad was a Farmer, so I saw firsthand just how brutal that manual lifestyle was. I definitely wasn’t sociable or resilient enough to be on my feet all day in hospitality, so finance was the natural path!
When it came down to choosing between Accounting or the Company Secretarial route, Co Sec was the obvious winner. I’ve never found numbers particularly interesting, but I’ve always loved language, interpretation, and how words shape structure. I’ve never regretted that choice for a second – Accounting would never have suited me!
What keeps me passionate after all these years is that governance sits right at that dynamic intersection of strategy, language, law, and human behaviour. It’s never static; it’s about solving real-world corporate puzzles and having a seat at the table to shape culture and drive ethical, sensible decision-making.
What skills or mindsets do you believe are most important for students entering governance roles today?
Having technical legal and compliance knowledge is your baseline, but the real game-changer today is pragmatism and critical thinking.
Because governance relies so much on language and influence rather than just crunching numbers, boards don’t want someone who simply recites rules or says “no.” They need strategic advisors who can translate complex legal frameworks into plain, practical advice: “Here is the landscape, here is the risk, and here is how we achieve our goal safely.” You need intellectual curiosity, a solution-oriented mindset, and strong emotional intelligence. Governance is ultimately a people business.
How would you describe your teaching style and approach to helping students achieve successful results?
Highly interactive, practical, and grounded in real life. I don’t believe in just reading off slides or drowning students in pure theory.
Because I spend my working week advising boards and executive teams across different sectors, I bring real-world scenarios and live case studies straight into the classroom. We unpack what happens when things go wrong, how the law applies in practice under pressure, and how to structure arguments effectively. My goal is for students to leave class not just ready to pass an assignment or exam but equipped to handle the issue in their workplace the very next morning.
What do you enjoy most about teaching governance to postgraduate students?
I love the energy and true peer-to-peer learning. Having completed my own MSc in Corporate Governance alongside professional commitments and a young family, I completely understand the postgraduate journey-I’ve walked in their shoes!
Postgraduate students bring such a rich mix of professional backgrounds to the room. I’m genuinely looking forward to getting to know everyone and seeing what they are going to teach me along the way! I love those “lightbulb moments” in class when a student connects a legal or governance framework directly to a challenge they’ve faced in their own career. The discussions are always lively, grounded, insightful and a two-way street.
What emerging governance trends should future governance professionals be paying attention to?
Two big things: AI, and the total collapse of the wall between corporate life and broader societal expectations.
With AI, tech is leaping ahead while board oversight is playing catch-up. The challenge for future governance professionals isn’t learning how AI works under the hood; it’s asking the awkward, pragmatic questions in the boardroom-like who actually owns the risk when automated systems make mistakes, and how do we stop hype from driving poor decisions?
At the same time, societal expectations have shifted massively. Boards are under intense spotlight and can no longer just hide behind financial bottom lines or formal policies. Look at the Astronomer and Coldplay “kiss-cam” scandal-a viral moment at a concert instantly turned into a corporate governance crisis involving leadership conduct, power dynamics, and brand reputation. It proved that personal conduct, ethical culture, and societal scrutiny hit the boardroom faster than ever.
Future governance professionals need to help boards navigate that 24/7 visibility-ensuring real accountability without resorting to tick-box exercises.
If you could offer one piece of advice to students studying alongside a full time job, what would it be?
Be realistic with yourself, and don’t beat yourself up!
I’ll be totally honest: when I did my MSc, I wasn’t the textbook student who did two perfect hours of study every single night. I am a crammer at heart, balancing a busy workload and leaning heavily on high-intensity study blocks.
So my advice isn’t to pretend you’ll follow a rigid, perfect timetable. Instead, focus on high-impact learning. Master the core concepts, get comfortable applying theory to practical scenarios early on, and treat your day job as a living lab where you can test out what you learn. When you do sit down to study, make those hours count-and give yourself grace when life inevitably gets busy.
