In more than 20 years of advising business owners of private companies on hiring and retaining top talent, I’ve witnessed unique problems they face in building their management teams as they grow their companies.

In his seminal book Good to Great, Jim Collins stresses that getting the right people on the bus is paramount to building a great organization. While hiring the best people is a challenge for both private and public companies, it’s a more daunting task for smaller, privately owned companies that must compete with larger, public companies for the same talent pool. Smaller, private companies are at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to hiring top talent for three reasons:

1. Lack of large recruiting budgets to find top talent;

2. Lack of brand name recognition and prestige to woo top talent; and

3. Lack of competitive compensation and benefits packages to hire top talent.

That said, I’m about to contradict myself and argue that these hiring challenges are no longer hurdles. This exact point in time — the early years of the 21st century -- offers the greatest opportunity in modern business history for private companies to find, hire, and retain top talent. In fact, I’d wager that as a result of a dramatic and fundamental shift in the world of work, private companies are in an increasingly powerful position to attract top talent. Two phenomena are bearing out this prediction.

First, members of Generations X and Y are seeking alternative employment to large, publicly traded corporations because they are suspicious of corporate America: Not only did they grow up in a world rife with corporate scandals, but many of them experienced first-hand how their baby-boomer parents were scorched by big corporations – they’ve either seen their parents suffer the financial and psychological blows of being laid off, or watched their parents practically work themselves into their graves to obtain the corner office. In this regard, the younger generations are redefining work and what it means to them. Instead of adopting the work ethic of their parents, they are seeking a quality of life and work/life balance that go beyond monetary compensation, fancy-sounding corporate titles, and climbing the corporate ladder.

Second, in an ironic twist, many baby boomers who have been successful in corporate America are growing tired of the corporate rat race. Since many of them want to continue working, they’re turning to the private sector as a place where they can add value and have a more profound and an immediate impact on a company’s bottom line. For many baby boomers, being a big fish in the small pond of a private company is more appealing and satisfying by mid-career; they no longer have to prove to themselves that they’ve made it.

My predictions are already being supported by a recent survey conducted by Burson-Marsteller, a leading public relations firm. The survey, 2005 CEO Capital™, reveals that “64 percent of workers from around the world say that a poor work/life balance is their top reason for not wanting to become a chief executive or other corporate bigwig.” Lesley Gaines-Ross, chief knowledge and research officer at Burson-Marsteller, further commented that “recent college graduates looking for jobs say that balancing work and home is important to them and work/life balance in general is a big issue that might give [them] pause before taking advantage of an opportunity.”

As a hiring consultant to privately owned companies, this survey is music to my ears and may be the most exciting time in my career because, as I’ve said before, the opportunities for private companies to grow by hiring top talent have never been greater than they are now. Thus, I’m motivated more than ever by the challenge of helping business owners “get the right people on the bus,” so they can take advantage of this shift in attitude and mindset.

We in New England know about building great teams. We had the thrill of seeing the Red Sox and Patriots go from being mediocre to becoming world-class champions. Yet, we know how hard it was to build these winning teams. While business owners are not competing for world championships, they know a great team will help them build a better company. To this end, a business owner knows when he or she is putting a great team together, hence a great company, when the following occurs:

• The business steadily increases its market share and profit margins.

• The individuals in key management positions have strong leadership skills.

• Managers come up with ideas that not only excite the business owner but are also implemented.

• The business runs well without the intervention and most important in the absence of the owner.

• The owner sleeps well at night, knowing the essentials are being cared for.

• The owner can plan for the future and doesn’t have to constantly put out day- to-day fires.

In essence, building a great company can only be achieved by hiring great people and creating an environment in which they can thrive. Thus, the first step is to hire well. After that, greater success will come to those who make the effort to learn how to manage a top team for maximum productivity.

By sharing the Fulcrum Method™ of hiring, it is my sincerest hope that my readers will learn how to put this winning methodology into practice. While the Fulcrum Method will be expanded in the following chapters, let me first introduce you to the Fulcrum acronym and what it stands for.

• Face the hiring challenge head on

• Uncover your blind spots

• Look for Mr. and Mrs. Right in the right places

• Create a winning hiring machine

• Respect the Golden Goose: Working with Employees

• Unify your vision with your operations

• Monitor performance and provide active coaching for the First 100 Days