The principle of lay people taking important strategic decisions and holding lead professionals to account has a long and illustrious pedigree in British public life; it applies to police authorities, primary care trusts, local councils as well as schools. However, influential voices have been raised over recent months about the suitability of governing bodies to lead schools in the twenty-first century. Some head teachers have recently revived the complaint that governing bodies treat them like football managers subject to dismissal at the first run of poor results. This paper explains what effective governing bodies do that adds value to school leadership, explores the factors which impede effective governance and shows how they can be overcome. Head teachers working assiduously to establish effective partnerships with their governing bodies are a key part of the solution. The author celebrates their good practice and shows how this helps their governing body to help them lead their schools.