記事要約
多くの大企業では人材の重要性が語られる一方で、優秀な人材が大企業を去っていってしまうということは珍しい事ではない。マッキンゼー・アンド・カンパニーの調査によると、優秀な人材を会社に引き留めることができていると考えている会社は、Fortune 500 のうちたった 7% のみであった。近年では、会社を去った後の選択肢として、個人起業家として独立してビジネスを営む人材が増加している。Christopher Lochhead の Niche Down という本によると、その個人起業家の多くは、無能で会社を追い出され仕方なく独立したというわけではない。むしろその逆で、有能な人材が、自分の意志で従来の大企業におけるキャリアパスを選ばなかったというケースがほとんである。彼らは独自に強みを発揮できる領域を見つけ、一企業の枠を超えて輝くことが出来る場所として、個人起業家という道を選択しているのである。そのような重宝されるスキルを活かす環境を作り上げることに成功した個人起業家達は、より裁量権を持ち、より稼ぎ、より余暇を楽しんだ人生を過ごしているのである。
原文要約
Every large company says that their people are their biggest asset. Yet everywhere we look, we see talented leaders leaving big companies. One senior marketer left running a $300 million brand to trade stock options for himself. Another senior marketer turned down a chance to run a billion-dollar portfolio to be the CEO of a small startup. Yet another senior strategy executive of a multi-billion dollar public company left to re-start his personal consulting practice.
The facts back up our anecdotal observations. Per a McKinsey survey, only 7% of Fortune 500 executives believe they retain high performers. The Conference Board believes Europe and the United States will be short up to 18 million high-skill workers in coming years. Interestingly, this number is eerily similar to the 18 million independent workers (aka solopreneurs) that were identified by MBO Partners, which provides technology solutions to self-employed workers.
For Christopher’s book, Niche Down, he and co-author Heather Clancy interviewed dozens of solopreneurs. What is striking is that these folks were not poor performers being forced out who started their own solo businesses out of necessity. Quite the opposite: all were star performers who chose to reject the traditional large company career path. All had discovered a relevant niche they were uniquely excellent at, and that they had more upside working outside of the constraints of one large company. So they executed what we call a “personal IPO” to unlock that value. These individuals no longer have one owner (their boss/company) and instead have multiple owners. And their skills command a much higher valuation. As solopreneurs, these people have more autonomy, make more money, and have more leisure time.
