Foreword

Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generate all—100 percent—of net new jobs in North America. Counterintuitively, perhaps, large firms do not. They mostly either merely replace existing jobs, or they reduce jobs through automation and outsourcing overseas. IBM, Boeing, Microsoft, and 3M are not producing new jobs and new employment.

But those businesses on Main Street, in the suburban malls, and on the exurban campuses, are. These firms are often closely held, and some are in the same families for decades. Some are start-ups with stars in their eyes. Some are franchises and local outlets.

All of them require a particular kind of care and feeding because they can't afford to make major errors; a small business could be sunk by a half-million-dollar mistake, whereas the likes of a Prudential or Pfizer would hardly notice a ten-million-dollar mistake. Family dynamics—from cousins on the payroll to children who need a college fund—play a role in investment far different from the considerations of a senior manager at Hewlett-Packard or Merck.

“Small” doesn't mean “easy.” There are fewer resources, more intense competition, greater technological issues, and, most of all, far greater challenges with people, from motivation to retention, from lack of opportunity to poor performance. As a consultant for more than thirty years, I've found that smaller businesses have greater challenges than their larger cousins, with a far shorter life expectancy.

Thus it's more than refreshing—it's salvation—that Jim Grew, one of the foremost authorities on SME performance and profit in the country, has found the time to record his insights, experiences, and resultant advice in The Leader Architect. I know of no other work that comprehensively and authoritatively examines the professional and personal challenges of leading a successful small business in these volatile times.

Read this wonderful book carefully. This architect sheds light on your surroundings, constructs a solid foundation, and enables you to enjoy the house you're building every day.

—Alan Weiss, PhD

Author, Million Dollar Consulting, Threescore and More, and more than sixty other books