In a down economy, stick with a large company
“When I was thinking of leaving my job to start the company I now own,” says Andrew Nieman, co-founder and managing principal at Arro Labs, “my then boss told me that, in a down economy — and we were very admittedly, at the time, in a down economy — the smart move is to stick with a big company.”
This is a commonly held belief. People typically assume there is job security in a big company and that large firms are better able to weather economic ups and downs.
“You generally think of them as having less inherent risk, and it’s a safer career move to stay there,” says Nieman.
With the benefit of hindsight, though, he sees that this assumption is false and that the advice, if he had listened to it, would not have served him well.
“Big companies are forced to make harsh, often shortsighted decisions,” he says. “Whether it’s to move the stock price or satisfy executive KPIs you didn’t even know existed. That means you might be swept up in a layoff round of 2,000 people without explanation.”
Eliminating staff — especially key decision-makers — is brutal at a small company. They think hard before cutting loose key roles. Those people are core to the operation of the organization.
“You’re safer at a small company when times are tough,” says Nieman. “You likely have a closer relationship with the final decision-makers, your impact on the company is more apparent to everyone there, and it’s easier for management to envision the harsh reality of life without you. A company will feel the impact of pulling one person out of a 20-, 50-, or 100-person organization more than from a 25,000-person organization.”
Always have the final word
“Early in my career I was counseled to ‘always have the final word’ in any decision,” says Raviraj Hegde, SVP of growth at Donorbox. “The idea was to establish authority by having my voice be the loudest and, ultimately, unquestioned.”
This advice might stem from a belief that leaders should always appear decisive and confident, he says. But it didn’t go well for him. With this advice in mind, he found himself inadvertently shutting off input from team members and losing valuable, diverse perspectives, ideas, and solutions. None of this served his goals or those of the company.
“It finally dawned on me that great leadership isn’t about having the last word,” he says. “It’s about facilitating a team culture where everybody is comfortable contributing. As I turned my attention to open communications and team-member empowerment, our outcomes started to improve — as did our team dynamics.”
