Age vs. experience: fixing on the ideal blend and balance boards may need some youthful representation to provide an important mix of perspectives, but there is no greater value directors provide than offering sound advice to the CEO--and that comes from years of experience.

• Author: Kramer, Larry
• Position: BOARD LEADERSHIP

I'LL NEVER FORGET my 50th birthday in April of 2000. At a surprise roast my CBSMarket-watch.com staff gave me a framed front page of Marketwatch.com with my entire professional life summarized in three bullet items:

* Youngest Metro Editor ever at the Washington Post (31 years old).

* Youngest Editor of a Major Metro Daily (San Francisco Examiner, 35 years old).

* Oldest Internet Executive (Marketwatch.com founder at 45).

I thought to myself: What just happened? How was it possible that I could go from being "the kid" in one industry to the old man of the next industry, with nothing in between.

It was a trick of the times. Going from an industry about to enter a death spire to one that was barely born taught me that age was relative. And in the long run, as much as being young helped me in the newspaper business, being on the older side probably helped Marketwatch.com survive the Internet crash that was just unfolding at the time. In each case, being on the opposite end of the age spectrum helped me.

What we really bring

Should boards have more age diversity and not be filled with a room full of people over the age of 60? It's a great question. At least it makes us think about what each of us, as board members, really brings to a board.

Since I am comfortably sitting on the fence--I am 60 and I've been serving on and chairing boards for more than a decade--I'm at least at the right point in my life to ask the question. So I did ask several board members and CEOs I work with.

As I look back on every job I've ever had, I realize that if I knew then what I know now, I would have done a better job. Not that. I'm unhappy with how everything has turned out: I really don't have a complaint. But it would appear that as my career advanced, I kept learning.

"There is no substitute for sound advice that comes from years of experience," says David Pecker, chief executive of American Media Inc. and a CEO who has had his share of boards to work for. But, he quickly adds, "By the same token, companies need fresh ideas to thrive and it may require a younger sensibility to embrace those ideas. I guess the ideal person would be someone, regardless of age, who combines both those attributes."

We go through stages in our working lives. We start at the bottom, learning a little about everything. As we advance up a company ladder, we focus our knowledge tighter. We become department heads, and specialize on what our department does. Then, suddenly, in order to advance to the...