Prof. David Deakins, Director of the NZ Centre for SME Research at Massey University, provided some great insights this week. He rightly pointed out that small businesses can have a huge impact on the economic development of a nation. He singled out entrepreneurs as having an important role to play.

As I see it, Boards also have a big role to play. First, they can serve as a useful foil for an entrepreneurial founder, particularly when it comes time to create plans, assess opportunities, and monitor performance objectively. Second, Board members have networks and they can (and should) access resources (funding, people, products) in ways that the entrepreneur may not be able to. No doubt there are many other ways Boards can help, but these are two that spring straight to mind. The challenge for Boards is to own this proactive role, and not to just sit back on monitor performance.

Deakins points to the upcoming ICSB conference in June. The SME growth topic will be explored further. I've registered. If you have an interest in growing small business into the next generation of large enterprises, perhaps you should consider attending as well.

A very interesting article appeared over at law.com this week. The author, Catherine Dunn, asked whether governance boards are prepared for the rising tide of young directors (particularly those from the ranks of the so-called "Millennials"). Ms Dunn noted that younger people think differently, have different motivations, and ask different types of questions (than older people).

Dunn's article provided a deja vu moment for me—because over the past six months I've been asking established directors and CEOs what they think about the appointment of young directors to Boards. The response to my informal survey? Generally, the people I spoke with said that calls for younger directors need to be carefully tempered with the need to retain experience. Every time an older director is replaced by a young director, 20–30+ years of experience is removed from the discussion and decision-making process (the wise old head).

So, it is good to have the vitality of youth and the good questions they ask, but this needs to be balanced with the retention of experience. A balance which is difficult to achieve in my view! How can this be best achieved? 

Earlier this week I attended a dinner function with 16 others, to hear a well-regarded Director and Chairman share his thoughts and experiences about leading the Board of a high-growth company. Amongst some great insights, he suggested three areas that Boards of high-growth companies need to focus on closely:

• Capital: Boards need to ensure the company has sufficient capital to fund its growth plan. Otherwise, growth will be limited by available funds, and that inevitably means slower growth, and may mean important market opportunities are missed.
• Capability: Boards need to ensure the company has sufficient people capability to execute its growth plans. That means recruiting a CEO capable of leading the company effectively, both now and in the future. It also means encouraging the CEO to recruit high capability people into key roles, lest the growth of the company outstrip the manager's ability to execute.
• Culture: Driving growth is often hard work, so everyone needs to be on-board. The Board needs to ensure (through the CEO), that everyone is working to the same goal, and that they are signed up to an agreed set of brand/company values. People who can't sign up should be given the opportunity to "get off the bus".

Sounds easy on paper! What do you think?

We live in a busy world. Most of us have a lot going on in our lives, particularly our work lives. Daily, we seem to have more to see and more to do. And through our wireless devices, we are "always on" and constantly checking in—even when we are not at work. Superficially, this commitment to cause sounds good. But is it as good as we think?

As life speeds by, we are all at risk of  being swept along with it. But an excessive focus on work and success can lead to significant compromises in other areas, particularly in our personal lives. And that can be unhealthy.

Leslie Perlow, Harvard Professor and author of Sleeping with your Smartphone, recently wrote a great article on how to overcome this addiction to success which is played out through our mobile devices. She offers some practical tips that will enable you to devote more time to your personal life and become more productive in your work life. I commend this article to you. It'll only take 5 minutes to read. If you are game enough to try Leslie's suggestions, I'd love to hear how you get on—and I'm sure she would be as well!

Three significant events happened this week.

• On Tuesday, we proudly witnessed our son graduate from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours. Tim is a member of the cohort of 2011, the so-called earthquake cohort. He has endured the trials and tribulations of the Christchurch earthquakes, and we are convinced he and many others are stronger for the experience.
• On Wednesday, ANZAC Day, we remembered those New Zealanders and Australians that fought for freedom in wars in faraway places. Many returned, but many young lives were lost. Lest we forget.
• On Friday, we received a large package of information relating to our daughter's AFS student exchange. Megan leaves in mid-August to live in Belgium Flanders for 12 months. The experience will change her life, as it changed mine when I participated on an AFS exchange to USA in 1979-80.

Together, these events reminded me of our responsibility as parents and adults to prepare the next generation, and to provide them with space to make their contribution in life. We all owe it to our kids and those that follow to give our best to this task. How will you prepare those you influence to become significant contributors in the world?

Some very interesting articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review recently—articles about motivation, meaning and habits. These articles caught my eye because they were very different from the usual diet of (very good) economic, business and leadership articles. The majority of HBR's articles can be categorised as "tools and techniques that readers can apply to improve their business". In contrast, these articles focus on the person—on improving one's self and one's contribution—and they are just as applicable in the boardroom as amongst the wider workforce.

That's right, directors are not immune. These articles are relevant because we seem to be living in a world where selfish motivations take precedence over "community good". I wonder how many corporate failures could have been averted had the characteristics described in these articles been apparent in the boardroom? Perhaps the global financial crisis and subsequent recession may have been averted as well?