The gene pool of directors is shallow. Companies are now under pressure to recruit from a broader base. But how do you train directors? Apart from having the right skills, what do you need to do to get your foot in the door?

For some answers, check BusinessWeek which has an interesting piece, So You Want To Be A Director, detailing some of the insights from an OnBoard Bootcamp session in Manhattan.

Skills learned include learning to Google yourself, honing your elevator pitch, getting some experience by serving on advisory or nonprofit boards, questioning the companies and boards about what they bring to the table, and making sure you're protected.

Regardless of whether or not these sorts of skills open doors, they would certainly put aspiring directors in the right frame of mind. Which is step one.

All this is important with women's progress up the corporate ladder so hellishly slow.

I have also written a piece on how the existing pool of directors in Australia have a stranglehold on the top jobs. It's a pattern repeated around the world.

Breaking that stranglehold is important for developing businesses that thrive and grow.

Why? Because expanding the gene pool is not just about diversity. When you get different sorts of people in, they are more likely to ask hard questions, absolutely critical for innovation and growth. And any company without diversity is trying to avoid those questions.