This not about discussing if aged executives have a tougher way to go to get a board seat or that younger people have better and modern skills. It is about a realistic judgement if age matters. 

Experience is a big plus of longer serving executives. Experience comes from exposure to business situations and challenges in different roles over time. But experience although comes from the past and it needs to be evaluated if the patterns can be transferred to the future. Depending on the position, it can be discussed if the new executive needs 5, 15 or 25 years of relevant experience which influences the age of the relevant candidate set.

Understanding latest trends and changed consumers behaviors may be something younger position holders can bring to the table. It may be a plus on the decision matrix if you are a digital native with deep knowledge on social media to run a young consumer driven B2C business. These skills are more likely to be present at younger candidates but it can be a false quick assumption, so a check is important as there are really great B2C executives at different ages.

The company culture may as well be a factor as an aged executive may not work well in start-up culture where the average age is below 30 years. At least it may be considered a higher risk to choose an elderly executive. 

The work life balance requirements have changed between generations. Baby Boomers were used to work long hours to achieve their goals; the job in many cases had come first and results would pay out in career development. Today work-life balance is rightly far more important and younger generations may not accept to take a role where work-life balance can not be achieved. The perspective on how to master a top position can different between the generations.

All the soft factors for choosing a candidate like empathy, strategic thinking, leadership skills can be achieved at almost all ages in business life. This will not make a huge difference. It is more about looking at the relevant skills for the role.

Perspective may be most relevant. It makes potentially less sense if you hire a 60 year old board member who intends to retire at 64 if you build up the future leadership of a company. You may well ask this person to join the advisory or supervisory board to coach younger executives. But if you are in a transformation phase like a tough economic situation where you need to act fast, this person could be the right choice to act from experience quickly and with high confidence. Going for the next decade leadership team your target age is more likely in the 35-50 year old target group. Having enough relevant experience and time in business to make a long term difference.

Diversity is important to great teams and will drive performance and innovation - no question. Age is just one of the criteria of diversity. Having a good gender and ethnic mix is something every company can achieve but is this really true for age in every boardroom.  Age is much more depending on the challenges and goals ahead to choose the right candidate to lead your business. Restructuring, raising money or selling a company is nothing you can do perfectly without any experience.