When small is career beautiful

For more executives, it‘s no longer a résumé minus to scale back from the power and perks of big organizations to run a startup WALLACE IMMEN
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Once you‘ve swung a big bat in the major leagues, should you jump to the minors?
Until recently, very few senior executives would consider it a wise career move to shift from the power and perks of a big, established company to the challenges and risks of leading a small startup.
But John Maduri discovered what a growing number of executives are finding: A smaller organization can offer the opportunity to move to the top faster and, in the process, gain new career experience.
"It‘s a very different game. I describe it as owning my own destiny," says Mr. Maduri, who became chief executive officer of Barrett Xplore Inc. in the fall of 2005. A startup partnership between a U.S. private equity group and family-owned holding company Barrett Corp. of Woodstock, N.B., it provides satellite Internet and wireless communications to rural and remote communities.
In his previous jobs, he worked for telecom giants as an executive at Rogers Communications Inc. and, more recently, as executive vice-president of Telus Corp., where he led billion-dollar business units with thousands of employees.
Barrett Xplore, by contrast, is "tiny," he says, with a staff of just 200 and a budget measured in the millions, rather than billions.
But Mr. Maduri, 45, knew that his aspirations to be a CEO might take years to achieve in a huge corporate hierarchy. By taking the helm of the small company, he saw the potential to be more directly involved in steering it to success.
"There‘s a sense that we in the senior management team own this business -- and it‘s not just because there are stock options. It comes from realizing that what we do day-to-day determines what this company becomes. The attraction of the opportunity to create our own destiny and corporate culture is pretty powerful," Mr. Maduri says.
Increasing numbers of top executives are feeling that same attraction to smaller companies, career experts say.
A few years ago, most executives weren‘t interested in moving from a large company to a startup because it was perceived as a step backward in career growth, says Valerie Spriet, an executive recruiter with Egon Zehnder International in Toronto.
Now, she says, more than half of big-company execs she approaches for a senior role at a small company are willing to look at the opportunity. Many still back off when they realize the move would sharply reduce the budgets and resources available to them.
"But a growing number of executives are at a time in their career that they say they are looking for an opportunity to revive their competitive drive and get a sense of personal involvement they may be missing by working with a giant corporate bureaucracy. Heading a small company is a change that can help them get out of bed in the morning," Ms. Spriet says.
While in the past, it might have been a minus on your résumé to have scaled down from a giant to a startup, now it can be a plus. Employers recognize that it shows initiative, enthusiasm and a sense of adventure, adds Jeff Rosin, managing director for Canada for executive search firm Korn/Ferry International. "We never hesitate to approach high-calibre talent because you never know when they might be receptive to a move to a smaller organization."
Mr. Rosin finds it‘s not salary that‘s the attraction. "The lure is the excitement although, invariably, there is an offer of equity in the company. It‘s a matter of ‘if you help us grow, we‘ll make sure you are rewarded.‘ "
The trend does represent a shift in attitudes toward career growth, says Chris Laubnitz, Toronto-based partner in executive recruiter Caldwell Partners. "Younger executives, in particular, are no longer seeing themselves as lifers, and they see smaller companies with less bureaucracy as a way to fast-track their way into the senior ranks."
Mr. Laubnitz points to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study in 2003 of graduating students around the world that found that money ranked no higher than third place among their lists of reasons for choosing an employer, with opportunity for training and development ranking second.
The No. 1 reason: potential for career growth.
Another survey by Allbusiness.com, the Web based small-business guide, found that 79 per cent of executives at small companies derive more satisfaction and reward working in a small business than they would in a large organization.
The reason? The 1,000 executives polled cited less bureaucracy, the ability to get results more quickly and more flexibility to be creative.
As for the appearance on a résumé of a step down to a small organization, "there is a growing acceptance among employers that it shows you are willing to take a risk, so good for you," Mr. Laubnitz says.
But big companies are anxious to keep their talent, "so small companies must work hard to sell candidates on their passion and vision and get them to make the leap," says Minto Roy, president and chief executive officer of career counselling and recruiting company PCMG Canada in Vancouver.
That makes it increasingly common for candidates to be able to negotiate substantial equity positions, along with perks and benefits.
"Smaller companies are saying to CEOs and CFOs, we can‘t offer you the $200,000 you want, but we can give you $100,000 and an equity of 10 per cent or more in the company that will give you a return in three to five years," Mr. Roy says.
"That ownership of a piece of the pie is attractive, especially if there is a vision that if you work hard, the pie will become much bigger. "
But money and a piece of the action aren‘t all. While Mr. Maduri did negotiate an equity position, what really clinched it for him, he says, was the company‘s willingness to be flexible about where he was based.
Mr. Maduri was uncomfortable about moving his family away from Calgary, where they‘d been living for more than five years, so as not to disrupt the schooling of his son, who was 16 with one year of high school left, and his daughter, who was 12. Any move to another big company he knew would probably require a relocation.
Barrett Xplore, however, allowed him to continue to call Calgary home, although his country-wide operation does require a fair amount of travel to head office in Woodstock, N.B., an hour‘s drive northwest of Fredericton, and meetings in Toronto and Edmonton, where the company has offices.
Would he go back to a big company again?
"There are times when I‘m flying to a meeting in economy class and eyeing the big seats in front and remembering that we flew nothing but business before," Mr. Maduri says.
"It might be easier in a big company, but ultimately, being in a small, fast-paced business is intoxicating. It sharpens the senses and creates a level of focus and creativity and commitment to staying on top of your game that doesn‘t exist when you are running a large, established business unit," he says.
"When you combine it all, there is not a minute in which I can say to myself I‘m bored or that this is the same old stuff I did last week.
"There‘s absolutely no doubt in my mind that this experience has made me a much stronger leader."
Making the move
If you‘re ready to make the transition from large corporation to a smaller organization, here are some things the career pros say to keep in mind:
Curb your ego. You‘ll lose a lot of the trappings of the corporate world, such as a big office and business-class plane tickets.
Ask questions they don‘t ask you. Startups rarely have the money to hire a recruiter, so they‘re often vetting candidates themselves without much experience.
Get perks in lieu. Cash is tight in a startup, so salary offers may be small. But other benefits, such as longer vacation time, concierge services and family care are ones the company can add relatively inexpensively.
Be upfront about risk. Be sure to lay out in a contract what‘s expected -- and what will happen if the position doesn‘t work out.
Know yourself. Assess your emotional and intellectual ability to be able to handle the challenges of starting from scratch.
Fight for recognition. A lesser-known company won‘t be as well known so your calls may not get answered as quickly, and you‘ll have to work harder at establishing your new identity.
Smaller isn‘t simpler. The issues you‘ll face at the top are just as complex in a small company as a large one -- and you may not have as many options to solve them.
The blows are harder. A setback in a big company may have only a minor impact on the bottom line, but in a small company, a single regulatory change or lost client could threaten the survival of the business.
It‘s more personal. Small companies are more like families than bureaucracies. It‘s important to get to know the personality quirks and individual approaches of the principals in the organization.
Teamwork more critical. With limited resources, it is important to have a team with a lot of ideas and willingness to give and take.
Wallace Immen
STEPPING DOWN: BENEFITS AT ALL LEVELS
It‘s not just at the most senior executive ranks that there are benefits to be had from stepping down to a smaller organization.
Ali Spinner used to work at one of the Big Four accounting firms. While she enjoyed the job, she found it too limiting to have to specialize in a single practice area. "I was becoming too focused, and I didn‘t want to pigeonhole my career," she says.
So when an opportunity opened in 2005 to become tax planning manager at RSM Richter LLP, a smaller firm, she decided it was time to make her escape.
Now she is working on a much larger variety of practice areas, from tax and estate planning to insolvency and risk management.
Of course, there are things she misses. "Working at a big firm is a security blanket," Ms. Spinner says. "You can tell anyone in the world I work for a big firm and everyone instantly recognizes the name and there is a connection." There were also more opportunities to travel.
But she has discovered other compensation in working with a smaller employer. One of them: getting to know co-workers better.
The family feeling started from the first day she arrived. "When I pressed the elevator button for the floor the office is on, people who saw it said: ‘Oh, you must be Ali. Welcome aboard.‘ "
She expects the move will also put her on a faster track to promotion.
In a big firm, advancement to senior positions is based on strictly defined rules about number of years worked, she explains. "Here, you advance when you are ready to advance and as soon as you are able to move on you do.
"You still have to be great at what you do, but you have a much bigger say in how your career moves along."
Wallace Immen
附上mr6的感言，他说的很多我赞同，就不加读后感了
加入小公司，重新掌握人生方向盤
最近讀到一篇加拿大的華爾街日報Globe and Mails的文章，讓我尤有感覺，它題目也以倒裝句法取得很好，令人琅琅上口，叫「When small is career beautiful」（這裡、這裡有不必付費的版本），一周以來，「Small is career beautiful」這句話一次又一次在耳邊響起。這篇文章在討論的是，許多高階主管從大公司的經理、副總、總經理一路爬上去，旗下管了好幾千個人，最近卻開始喜歡跳到「小公司」，當個「校長兼撞鐘」的CEO；不只CEO，從主管到基層人員，許許多多優秀的人才也開始外流到「小公司」。為何？這篇文章訪問一些人下來，得到的答案是「可以掌握方向盤，開往成功」(directly involved in steering it to success)。
這已經不是一種勇氣或反骨，也不是因為小公司可以領較多的股票一次發財發得過癮，而是一種「方向盤就掌握在自己手中」的感覺。
搭著這個感覺，今天將這兩個月的徵才工作做個總結。這些日子的點點滴滴值得回味，不只因為終於找到一批很有爆發力的創業伙伴，也由小處看大處，由自己的小經驗看大現象，從小小的徵才活動一窺台灣軟體產業人才狀態，再從台灣軟體產業對映出整個全球年輕人職涯的趨勢變化。
在徵才的過程中，技術人員方面，從求職版到自己用各路找來的，一共有四、五十人次左右，對這幾十個人過來面試，無論是資深還資淺，無論名校或專科畢，無論有留學還是沒留學，我都只給一張潔白的紙，考他們同樣的題目：「把一個array的內容整條倒過來，原本在第一格的東西變到最後一格，原本最後一格的變成第一格」，再補充一句：「不必求運算效率，只要趕快寫出來。」
然後，我出去倒一杯水，三分鐘後回來，看看桌上那張紙。你可以相信嗎？居然有四分之一的面試者，還是一張空白的白紙。對方自己解釋：「啊，抱歉，我還在想最棒的解法。」但我不會再給機會，圓場一下就將對方打發出門。一段程式有千百種寫法，有好有壞，但一個寫程式的人連loop都還沒開始寫，連variable都還沒開始開，已經不是創造者的思維，可見他應該沒有寫過大量的程式，沒有寫過「自己的程式」。這些日子來應該都是在改別人的code或是編製著非常簡單的邏輯。看到這樣我不禁覺得惋惜，從前學程式的人，人人都是腦筋靈活的創造者，但曾幾何時隨著程式語言的進步，寫程式的漸漸變成「作業員」，只是在一個大產品的一個小小的生產線，人腦只是在代替一些機器無法做的小動作，寫程式變成只是一份「工作」。當這些高手面對一張什麼都沒有的白紙，竟然沒辦法在上面盡情奔灑。
同樣的事情不只發生在寫程式這檔事上，還有其他的工作亦然。我想問問，在這個島裡正在努力工作的年輕白領職業人，多久沒有那種「創造」的快感了？多久沒有像那篇文章說的，把那個人生方向盤，牢牢的掌握在自己雙手之間？
台灣各大學每年訓練了這麼多高科技尖兵，目前卻全部跑到三種地方：
第一，上市大廠。大廠可以拿配股拿紅利，假如是國防役尚有道理，但台清交全國排名前10%的畢業生真的覺得自己只值這麼幾張股票呢？在硬體大廠搞軟體，身為配角，自主性低，今天你做audio codec，哪天整個被hardware solution整個取代掉。幫別人寫driver，做了五年就這麼幾條簡單的邏輯換來覆去；做支援的更慘，明明是會寫程式的戰鬥人員卻變成後勤單位，甘做小螺絲釘也要擠進大廠。最好的狀況就是內部創業，但鴻海的沛鑫、台塑的台塑網，可以盼到幾個？大部份的軟體人才的人生被電子業的大機器給掌握住，成立螞蟻雄兵，等到必須離開它時，它也不會特別照顧你一人，你只是好幾千人中的其中一位隨時可被取代的小員工。
第二，外商。外商是老外的外部單位，所有掌控權更是在海外，整個部門無聲的說掰掰，就算最後榮升到了董事或總經理，也要戰戰競競的回母公司述職。萬一母公司和另一家公司玩親親、合併成一家公司，還得和幾條街遠的另一個外商總經理搶那唯一的新公司總經理職。這樣的職涯在和親友換名片時，對方一聲「哇，你在xxx工作！」可能讓人稍感安慰；可以放外國式假期時也想起外商的好，但放完假，還是得繼續每天花一半時間在工作上面，而這份經歷現在愈來愈不稀罕，每間公司在全世界都有幾千人擁有一模一樣的名片、title與經驗。
第三，自己接案。自己接軟體專案是獲利頗豐的辦法，但永遠要聽客戶的話，問題是客戶往往都是電腦白癡，接案的人卻得為了區區八萬、十萬而言聽計從。這次面談的求職者，許多都拿出一系列的「個人作品集」給我看，有的人的作品之多，竟要分兩頁才能全部列完，但這麼多作品有什麼用？我請對方上網秀出最滿意的作品，卻發現只是某某政府單位做的網頁，問他有什麼功能？就是留言版、登入而已，整個網站看起來一點都沒有出奇之處，還沒畢業的大學生就做得出來了，但這些人才卻花了十年做三十個這樣程度的作品。但他說，不不不，別小看這個網站！它可是合乎盲障系統！這個可是合乎CMMI Level 2的水平！（後來才從某位資深人士那邊發現，CMMI這件事在台灣很重要，因為這樣才能接政府或大廠的專案）
至於「小公司」呢，則永遠被大家排在最後一個順位。
能活在世界上，每一個生命都是奇蹟。工作的時間佔了這難得生命的二分之一以上，大部份的人沒有生到好家庭，一輩子都要貢獻大量的私人時間給工作、給公司，但現在，其實每個人都有機會可以在工作的同時，也雙手掌握著自己人生的方向盤。但，「小公司」依然不敵大公司。在大家眼中，小公司有很多不盡理想之處，譬如許多人過來我們這間「小公司」面試，皆是才華洋溢的技術人員，但深談之後卻告訴我，他們的職涯目標，就是希望把這一身的技術甩掉，慢慢淡化，慢慢轉成一位「主管」。有的人就是因為這個原因，他不希望在小公司，因為小公司一定叫他什麼都做；小公司就只有十個員工，一定是扁平化組織的設計。我當場就反問幾個問題：萬一，十年後所有公司都是扁平設計呢？萬一，十年後大家發明了一個輪流主管制呢？有某位在大型網站工作過一年的年輕人，一過來就對我們這間小公司獅子大開口，意思是說，在Ｙ！一年，就可以當我們家總監了：「我要月薪20萬，想幫你建立一個teen。」我想，先把N和M念清楚再來吧。
小公司為何是人生的方向盤？簡單一句話：小公司可以在給你薪水的同時，讓你擔任一個很重要的「實職」，這實職不是一個頭銜，而是一個可以很清楚的表現自己能力的機會。現在二十五歲就當副總的多的是，但真正能舉出紮實成績說：「ｘ！那個某某某就是你眼前這個老子做出來的！」在大公司，這樣的表現機會五年才一次，還要東限西綁；但在小公司，天天都有這樣的表現機會。
我發現台灣去美國大學念書、畢業的資工系學生，幾乎都留在海外了，至今沒有看到太多回到台灣的。台灣薪水低是其次，最重要的是，他們表示「根本不知道回台灣可以做什麼」。看了海外的世界，他們發現，這島上沒有屬於他們的地方。在大型美商軟體公司，每一位工程師從菜鳥、升到高階，然後就會有人跑來問你，以後再升的話，要選「主管」還是「技術」的track？選了「主管」，你就是變成管這群工程師的經理，選了「技術」，你還是坐在角落的工程師；但在「技術」繼續升上去，做到「guru」、「architect」，薪水不輸給CEO，房間也不比副總裁小，而且每天都可以碰技術。我有一個住美國的好朋友，從前也很希望有日可以作「主管」，結果現在，他顯然心境有了改變，很驕傲的告訴我：「我就是一輩子做工程師了。」他目前在一個知名網路人身邊工作，以後網路人創業，他就是第二號員工。我笑說，下次到美國，他可能要開法拉利來接我了。
照人們現在計畫自己的職業生涯的方式，往往只有「三年」的能見度，現在的科技變化如此迅速，三年就整個變得不同，三年就可以讓一間看起來無懈可擊的大公司股價落底，也可以讓一個很有經歷的人馬上陷入失業危機。電視上說，現在最熱門的是生技！那我們趕快去念生技。但我們已經是二十五六歲的人，怎麼來得及轉，等到轉成又畢業了，是不是就只抓到那趨勢的「尾巴」？如果再繼續讓別人幫我們操控這個「人生的方向盤」，我們夜裡怎能睡的安穩？
我在《搶先佈局十年後》作出的最驚人的預測，就是未來台灣最熱門的行業，竟然是「跨國國際經理人」。這不是全球的趨勢，而是只限於台灣，我預測所有的大公司如可口可樂、IBM、Intel、奇異、Toyota的人力資源總監，都會通通跑來台灣；全球所有最優秀的獵頭公司都會在台灣，為這些國際公司找到幫他們管整個亞洲的國際經理人。這種預測很多人說很扯蛋，怎麼可能？但我就問，現在大家覺得「七年級生」和「六年級生」有明顯不同，但「八年級生」呢？和「七年級生」又有何不同？顯然的，西元1991年出生以後的「八年級生」正是開始大量的在幼兒時代就接受純正雙語教育的一群，這批人到了現在十年後的2017年會剛好滿26歲，也就是研究所剛畢業、投入社會工作之時。這批人中文好得可以跟大陸十億市場溝通，英文也讚得可以和母公司交流，然後台灣出生的由於這裡特殊的政治氛圍，許多人沒有太強烈的民族與國家屬地感，住哪裡都可以；加上全球華僑總數近幾年快速爆增，在陌生地愈來愈不寂寞。種種跡象加起來，這會造成一連串的社會經濟變化。
但在這個預測之下，職場會發生什麼變化？簡單，十年後，六年級生開始跨入四十歲，七年級生開始跨入三十歲，但這島上的產業可能全部外移，這些人卻還在地球村一點一滴的龜速學英語。六年級生和七年級生帶著一點點紅利賺來的錢，再加上亂七八糟的經歷及幾張過期的證照，完全打不過簡簡單單、一開口就一條長江的「八年級生」。
若沒有掌握自己的方向盤建立出個人的特色。四十歲以後，你要去哪裡？
比財富，你只是一群有房有車族的其中一位，這筆錢還不夠一輩子免工作，說不定明年股票崩盤你就完蛋了。
比經歷，你只是幾萬名同樣學經歷中的其中一人。而且履歷表一字排開，所有四十歲以上的優先被丟棄。
比實力，你在老時代的地方建立了了不起的東西，管理過千萬雄兵，但在現在新型的講求快速的公司裡卻英雄無用武之地。
但，當我們有了自信，從今天起，把方向盤握到自己手上，做法或許就會不同。我們或許可以自己拿起筆，在這白紙上畫出一幅慓悍的駿馬，以及一片璀燦的人生。