Business Family Enterprise Report - Moving From Success to Significance

You are a twentysomething entrepreneur ready to launch a new business and your emotions are running wild. You're frightened, intimated, and stressed, but at the same time you're enthusiastic and confident about what the future holds.

At this point, it's time to step back and listen to those who have been in the same situation.

It would be a foolish mistake and a missed opportunity not to value the advice, experience, and knowledge a mentor can offer. Put your ego aside; be a sponge and soak up as much wisdom as possible.

I was in this exact position prior to launching SDC Nutrition Inc. I was confident and probably a little too self-assured, but I knew I had to set aside my ego to listen and absorb as much invaluable advice as possible from my advisers.

Board directors today are more confident in their knowledge of the companies they serve and more strategic in their approach than they were in 2011, according to the latest McKinsey global survey on governance.1 They say a greater portion of their boards’ time is now spent on strategy, while they are spending less time than before on M&A. The share of time spent on strategy is even greater at private-company boards than at public companies, which tend to spend more time on compliance.

While directors now report a more complete knowledge of various company issues than they did before,2 they say their boards struggle to understand and make time to manage business risks—one of several areas where directors indicate room for further improvement. Another is the clear need for directors to spend more time on their role: the total number of days per year respondents say they spend on board work has not increased much since the previous survey. At boards where directors say their decisions and activities have a very high impact on company performance, though, respondents spend much more time in their role than others do. These directors also report using some best practices (such as resource allocation) that all respondents agree would most improve board performance.