Who are the Real Business Performers?

A business owner told me a story the other day…

“After I was in business a few years, a large corporation made me a terrific offer to come work for them. I left my company in the hands of my manager, and accepted the offer.”

“A friend who works for a large corporation said ‘You will do a great job, but you will fail. You just don’t understand the politics.'”

“A few years later the company ran into some difficult times. We knew that cuts would be coming. I was unconcerned, because my team, despite being in the smallest market in the region, had generated 70% of the business that year. Two of us had produced twice as much revenue as the other eight employees combined.”

“So I was completely unprepared when the regional executive called to tell me that they were cutting one employee to save expenses; me!”

Fortunately, he still had his business intact, and returned to it successfully. Like many entrepreneurs, he is of the opinion that his performance wasn’t recognized or appropriately appreciated in a larger environment. The majority of business founders I know left a job because they felt that they could do better on their own.

So small business owners as a group see themselves as the performers, the ones who make things happen. They look at corporate executives and say “What’s the big deal about doing what you are told, and following the rules for an entire career?” Small business owners are the first to rant against outsized corporate compensation. Why should companies pay millions of dollars to people who have never missed a paycheck, and only been asked to create their own solutions without support or guidance?

I also know some corporate executives. They have climbed a tough and competitive ladder. At every level, they faced off against other talented, educated, ambitious employees who wanted the same promotion they sought. They see themselves as the winners, the best and the brightest, who have been honed in an unforgiving gauntlet.

Are the best and the brightest really more likely to be in the small business world or the corporate world? Are they just different kinds of people? Is it just luck or circumstances that sets them out on one path or the other? I’d like to see your comments here. Please identify whether you are an executive or a business owner, or if you have been both.

I’m also posting this discussion on our Linked In group “Small Business Owners Knowledge Knetwork.”