Layoffs and Unemployment Can Be the Best Thing to Happen to You.
The United Auto Workers (united for what? I wont answer that.. just yet) today said that there are “enough sane people” left in Washington that they are certain the government will eventually loan GM money. Let’s hope there are enough sane people left in Washington that they convince the White House not to override the Senate’s decision today. After all, we are supposed to still be a democracy.
Now before I get the email bashers saying that I'm anti-worker and don’t care about people being unemployed, let me just stop you right there. You’re right. But not for the reason you might think. Being unemployed can lead to great things.
The reason is simple – I’ve been unemployed - both intentionally, unintentionally, and “unintentionally intentional”. The world doesn’t end. Life can in fact actually be better than it was before. Anxiety can (and probably will) set in; but more learning takes place in the end and doors open IF you create opportunity. In fact, I believe it’s the only way that many people, myself at one point included, realize the truth – that working for someone else isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and the only real job security any of us have is that which we make for ourselves. Even if you do want to continue working for “the man”, it might just be time to get a kick in the pants and do something different, re-educate, re-tool, learn a new trade or work for someone different anyway – fear is an amazing motivator. The only way for me to explain why the bailouts wont work and why people shouldn’t be afraid of being fired, laid off or anything else that happens along the way is to describe my own experience, so that is what I will do.
My “long” years in Corporate America (by my definition, they were far too long) were spent making someone else rich so I could pay my rent/credit card bills/car payments and eventually mortgage(s). I was left unintentionally unemployed during my very first venture into the Corporate world from “safe academia” (an on ground institution with a dual faculty appointment in a place where no one ever got fired) into a company that was exciting, fun, and just far enough away from the place I grew up. I had a blast for a bit with a terrific boss that taught me many lessons; a fantastic team I led who were easily all ten-plus years my elders (and loved open debate), and a jackass “President” that knew absolutely nothing about running a business. Starting to sound familiar? I cannot compare him to Big 3 CEOs because I don’t know those guys (although it is ironic they’re all from Michigan). But I knew this guy – Ken Kozminski – looking back I realize just how stupid this coward was. He ran a company called IPC Communication Services; I ran the Information Tech Departments in the Western and Eastern regions. I was their only IT Director to ever create a profit center out of IT (and bring on new clients for them because of our IT capabilities), and I had a blast doing it. Unfortunately, IPC was a part of the Journal Communications Family, and Mr. Ken was rather protected and insulated from his stupid decisions by the good ole’ boys network. He was a wuss (I'm being kind), which is worse than stupid. He came in, flew under the radar, laid off the entire Western Region because of poor management decisions dating back years, and flew back to Michigan before the shit hit the fan. He was the epitome of what I never wanted to be. In the 60 or so days my respected boss and I had there, we spent it finding our team member’s jobs – and ourselves jobs – and we moved on. I took some of my team with me to the next position; he took some with him – we were ALL better off – although demoralized and anxious. The way in which he threw those hard working people under the bus, many of whom would have given anything to save that business (and tried), was pathetic and disgraceful. But what happened for us all? Forced change led to a better job; some people even met their future spouses at their next company -- and forced change will lead to something better for everyone else if they give their job search their all and put everything they have into it – including the auto workers. No one is protected from dumb management, or greedy union bosses. Unemployment here was definitely unintentional.
My disdain for stupidity (and lack of leadership) grew just a bit; and I was still very young, working on a master’s degree. I began working for a homebuilder in Southern California and landed a great job with a lot of flexibility and another absolutely fantastic boss. I was quite content there; I had a fabulous team, did a ton of traveling, had the support of the best in the business, and integrated at least one new business every 30 days somewhere around the country – life was good (this was during the heyday of the building boom). Until - one day, that boss became the fall guy for a pathetic Chief Financial Officer, and I watched him go down with only his dignity remaining. His team literally mourned; they trusted him and it was now our job to explain why the rest of the team was safe – and keep morale up. In this business, the CFO owed a favor to the CMO, and in came – another idiot – a friend of his – to take over the role of CIO. This idiot wanted to make changes – primarily to my team – while he knew nothing about technology (he was an accountant). He needed to lighten the financial load, and what better way to do it than by cutting the people out that keep the systems running? Ultimately I told him where to stick his stupid ideas, and so the attitude began to develop just a bit further. I wasn’t going to watch this happen again and I flat out refused to make the changes he wanted. With a few weeks I found myself out on technicalities just like my former boss, and nearly everyone on my team got “laid off” anyway. This was the unintentional unemployment thing yet again – somehow I thought he might think it was cool for someone to stick up for what they believed. Boy was I wrong. He wanted his wishes turned into orders, which I refused to do.
Now I was really sick and tired of watching the little guy get pummeled. Thinking at this point I’d chosen the wrong field and should have been an attorney, I was thankful to begin my next new job with a masters and the beginning of my PhD (making progress on at least one front)– moving on yet again to another business. It was okay – because life goes on. I had a mortgage to pay and did everything (to quote a CFO I interviewed with) short of “parachuting into the offices of the companies I wanted to work for” to move on – and most importantly – up. This is what all of those facing unemployment today will have to do in this economy. Parachute into the companies you want to work for… or better yet… give them a one finger salute.
So I moved on.. again…– great job – well respected company that, purely out of the respect I have for a few people that still work there, I won’t name (today anyway – same goes for the aforementioned). Good boss, we made great headway.. then in came another moron about 8 months after I was hired who had no clue how to run a business – in fact I found out later he lied about most of what was on his resume. He tried to damage mostly all the little guys (my theory is it made him feel good) – particularly those that he felt threatened by – and particularly a “woman who wouldn’t get a PhD on ‘his watch’” – I did the same thing and told him where to put his ideas, only with a lot more attitude (all 5’4” of it), and within weeks, had a severance package. This was unintentional intentional unemployment – an oxymoron I know – but I had already known the risks of saying “absolutely no you are not doing this” to a jerk on a power trip, so I knew what I’d be facing (along with several other personal things occurring simultaneously that took my anxiety to another level). Trust me, you can survive unemployment. But.. the team was spared, because I told human resources what this guy was doing, what he had really done in his former life (along with the associated proof), and he was promptly fired. I was glad to be given the title of martyr by several team members that had their jobs saved as a result.
I took my resume to yet another company, CB Richard Ellis in Newport Beach. I enjoyed a short year there, made friends for life, and worked for a person with a good heart. He wasn’t always the best manager and couldn’t make a decision to save his life, but his heart was golden and that was what I needed.. something to remind me that not all people suck at the core in business.
After a year or so at CB (with a perfectly fine job), I decided to become unemployed again – only this time, intentionally. I had started a business that was gaining in strength (starting it part time while working in corporate America, something I recommend to entrepreneurs) and I wanted to give it more of myself. About 3 years ago, I realized I didn’t need Corporate America – I needed my own sense of self worth and the knowledge that no one could screw me anymore. Several of my colleagues did the same thing. I believe we are all happier now.
What’s the point of all of this? The UAW workers will be fine. The millions of people (if in fact those aren’t just scare tactics) that will lose their jobs if the auto companies go under will be fine. Those unemployed today will be fine. Many of them may just need the kick in the pants to do something else and may find it was the best thing that ever happened to them. Every time I’ve been fired, unintentionally or intentionally, it led to far greater, better things. The key is to not be afraid to risk it all. No one taught me this, but I know it is true.. from experience, and from consulting with so many people in this situation that got through it and wound up better at the end. Life can be better if you take the road your brain fears most.
2 comments:
Desperation tends to make people do a lot of desperate things. Nobody is exempt. People are desperately seeking financial stability and the same sharks who got them into the financial predicament they are in, are the one feeding them this loop holes. In every creed and culture, there will be people who would either try to make the most of a situation or use the situation to make the most. Nobody is exempt. Does it mean they are right? No. It only means they are desperate. And we really have to look at WHY? Why are people so desperate that they would compromise their integrity just to get that sense of security that they lost... Because this is what's happening. When a family, is seeing their life's investments dissipate into nothingness, face the possibility of foreclosure or even bankruptcy... the breadwinners are not sure if they'd have their jobs in the morning and a financial pimp, comes along and flashes them possibilities... desperation makes them embrace those desperate measures.... nobody's exempt. To each his own.
If not before, Americans understand the true meaning of failure better than most. They see the most powerful, most stable, most connected and wealthiest companies FAIL. They see the stock market almost CRASH. They see the economy crash. They see the housing market crash. They see people's houses being auctioned off just next door. They see good businesses going out of business. They see good employees losing their employment. They see good investments gone up in smoke. They see good credit go bad. They see good people do bad just to keep their heads above the water... people are SCARED that their basic human needs may eventually not be met. But they have not yet grasped what failure means to them and what can be extracted from the failure experience.
Imagine walking down the street, on your way to the store and you slip on a banner skin that someone else carelessly dropped there and you feel yourself falling. Come on, the first thing we think off when we're faced with that sort of compromising situation is how to break the fall because we don't want to fall - and certainly not for the world to see. In that moment - in that split second - whether we realize it or not, it really does not matter what our hair looks like, or our face, or what color underwear we're wearing and if it matches our shoes... we're thinking about breaking that fall. And it is in that moment, that we may grasp at straws, our hands will clasp the first thing that can stabilize us without realizing what that is... our instinct in that moment is to break the fall. And American people have been caught acting in that moment. So many people feel as if they're falling... and they simply were not all prepared.
And it's ok to fall but the first time you do, it really does not seem this way. But once you learn how to rise from a fall, and that one can rise from a fall then the next time may not be that traumatic. But the first time is scary. But for those who have fallen and learned to rise from a fall and to do so with style and grace, then they know better. They know it is possible. They know how it's possible. They go brave. They take risks. They even let them selves fall, because they get a high off rising even higher than they were before. Some people, watch things happen; some people look on but they cannot see. To each his own.
Success is a personal thing and it is equally relative. You said there can be no real success without the opportunity to fail but I beg to differ. Success is too relative. Some people succeed without failing and other succeed because they have failed. The definition of success is a personal thing; it is also relative and not absolute. Some people get it all without taking any risks and some people get nothing because they took no risks. Some people get it all because they took all the risks. Some people take all the risks and get nothing. This too is also relative and not absolute. To each his own.
Now when it comes to smoking and quitting that powerful addiction. You can give a guy a pack of cigarettes and expect him to quit. Just because you do not give him a pack of cigarettes does not mean that he is going to quit either. It's up to the guy to make a conscious effort to quit and to resist temptation, and to take the necessary measures in order to accomplish the goal so that when you give the guy the pack of cigarettes, his will to quit motivates him to give it back to you and say "I rather the patch, I'm trying to quit; thank you but no thank you". We can lead a horse to water, but we cannot make him drink. To each his own.
Now that we have tackled all of the above, let me now address the real situation in brief. BofA, took the $25B and then laid off 35,000 for that sense of security; tomorrow looks so uncertain and they want to maintain their position. Is this right? Who's to say. They are in that moment. The tax payers unfortunately are not the decision makers. Many taxpayers opposed the war, but the decision makers made their decisions. Many tax payers want the Governor R. to Resign, but he's still there maintaining his position. Many tax payers wanted the price of gas to decline, but the decision makers made the termination. Many tax payers want the government to bail them out of their financial dilemmas but the government is bailing out the auto giants and other well connected Goliaths too - hard luck David. These tax payers, elected these decision makers because they believed in their power to make good decisions - those that would serve the greater majority. Some decisions are good; some decisions are not. Some people are good, some people are not. Some things are good, some things are not. Some food is good, some food is not. It's life. When we make choices we take the risk that thinks may turn out how we want or it may not. To each his own.
We have to look at this crisis as if its chicken pox. We just have to let it take its course and remember to keep our hands clean and do not scratch lest it leaves permanent scars. In the interim, we empathize and support each other; it's happening to us and its happening to our neighbor...
But to each, his own...
For some, easier said than done...
Yes unemployment is "survivable" and so is any crisis actually. It's easier to survive unemployment when you have an education and marketable skills - and even one or the other (it depends on demand and supply as usual). But demoralization is not as easily surpassed. For some it is quite a feat - especially when they become unemployed (intentionally or not) during the ages of 35-60. It's harder at that point to get another job and harder at that point to go from employed to self employed - especially when the fear of not making it is crippling on so many different levels (spiritually, emotionally, psychologically...).
Sometimes fate slaps us in the face like the doctors used to slap babies at birth so that they could take that first breath... and come into their own... and live. And in some regions of the world doctors still do this. But in all regions of the world, at some point either reality or fate slaps us in the face and suddenly, we wake right up and smell the coffee... suddenly we know what to do and how to do what we are supposed to do in order to live... At other points, neither fate nor reality asserts itself and we remain clueless. We are get consumed by the limbo and the conflict and the confusion enveloping us and we digress... we fall behind... and sometimes we stay behind. It happens more often than we expect. But it happens.
For some the world does not end but for some, they do not realize it. For others the world as they knew it does end but they embrace the beginning of their new world as they would rather it. Life is so similar to accounting. Where there is a credit, there is a debit. Where there is a debit there is a credit. Some see, some do not. Some hear but they don't listen. Some learn but they do not grow. Some grow but they do not learn. Some want but they cannot have. Some have but they do not want. The list goes on and on and on. Life's experiences again are all relative. Leadership styles vary. Some are effective and some are not. Some leaders make good decisions and some do not. Some employees take lessons from their bad experiences; some do not. Some apply lessons learned to improve their lives and some do not.
As I said in previous comment posts, embracing fear is a choice. We can choose to fear or face our fears. If we face out fears, we realize that it is ok to fall and ok to fail once we don't stay down or fall behind but rise and move forward... if we embrace our fears then we may simply cripple ourselves and stay in that desperate moment for that moment. It's a personal choice. Again, to each, to each, to each his own.
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