When small is career beautiful - Wallace Immen

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."