I would argue that it is more about having the power to make a big difference
The biggest difference I ever made was while working for a big established 10k+ employee firm. The smallest was while working for 10-15 employee startup.
I can’t speak for larger companies, but classic organizational theory is that there are three levers of influence in an organization - relationship, expert, and role. I’ve found it much easier to leverage relationship and expert power at smaller companies than larger companies. I insisted on a nice sounding title when I was brought in to lead a project at a large company just for that reason. I needed role power.
I insisted on not having a grand title at a small company because I thought it would lead to resentment and I knew I could leverage the other two levers.
Yeah, most small businesses are impacted far more by overall market forces than they are by local competition. Even at large corporations in big industries though, individuals talk across companies. A lot. I've heard of major product launches from major companies in a fiercely competitive market because one CEO had lunch with another CEO and they shared their plans with each other. It's usually in the context of "This is what we're doing and we think we can beat you."
At the end of the day, even CEOs of large companies are only hired guns. They may be in a position later on down the road where they need a senior executive to run a charitable foundation, be a board member on a company they invest in, or to take the reins of their company when they retire. Always remember that there is the person and the role. The role gives them power, but the person is more valuable.
For sure. Big industry names don't assimilate; they mold their environment to what they know (and they usually bring other people with them who come from the same place). Because of their clout, few will dare to disagree with them.
It is amazing how quickly a company's ecosystem can change when you bring in a big name from a different environment.
Successful companies are mostly that due to having made the right business decisions, these come mostly top down. You can have a million workers, but if they don't have great leadership they'll produce basically nothing of great value.
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