You’re Fired

A dear friend of long standing rang me up last night.  I could hear in her voice the subtle rise in pitch that was just sharp of the general melody in the conversation.  She began by telling me about her lovely evening with a friend the night before, all the while making polite pardons as she was taking the trash out with her free hand.  But just as soon as the lid closed on the garbage can, her own can of compost became clear as she unceremoniously uttered the words “I was fired today.”

The shock was still ripe and her mind was wrapping around all of the stories, as all minds do in such circumstances.  There of course, was little I could say in the moment, save tell her all of the other stories about when one door closes, or how everything works out in the end, or still how karma seems to find a way to take care of the perceived injustices.   Yes.  I could tell her all of those things and more, but in the moments when our present experience is so cluttered by the trash we are carrying, there is really nothing to say or do.  It is in these moments we each face the momentum of change despite our best attempts to believe we just might escape the compost pile ourselves.

As a general illusion of our society we seem to place such importance and strategic planning towards career advancement to the omission of what to do when we are fired.  We learn how to write resumes, how to hone our interview skills and once on the job we take courses to improve our expertise.  All of our hopes and dreams – let alone our credit card debt and finance loans – are balanced on the façade that our job is secure.

Some years ago when I was just promoted to a new level of management and the challenge of merging two diverse teams of technical advisories, I found myself wanting to make everyone feel secure and safe in their new team roles.  Yet my own career, and perhaps the onset of my decline in health, had taught me that there simply was no reason to ever believe that what we have in the palm of our hand will not blow away in the wind without warning.  As the Borg proclaimed, “Resistance is futile.”

If not futile, perhaps it is woefully ill equipped.  It was my desire back then to help my staff become leaders in change management and that included being prepared to change everything including their own career should the need arise.  I purchased a little known business management cartoon called Who Moved My Cheese and amongst the nervous laughter we talked about how to interpret corporate sign-language and how to put on our sneakers when clearly our cheese went missing.

We each witnessed so many people leaving at the consortium.  It was always a shock.  Once an entire IT department was called into the conference room and told the college had decided to outsource all technology services and that the entire gaggle of geeks would be fired that afternoon.  Ok, I’m sure they didn’t call them a gaggle, but they certainly felt like their wings had been clipped.

Of course it was not always as blatant as pack your bags you are out of here.  On some occasions decisions were made behind closed doors, and executives were given six months to a year to find a new position.  Somehow, staying around while no one else knows your pain and indeed in some cases having to train your replacement, seems beyond our ability.

Even when you know in your heart the news is coming, your head simply can’t wrap around the idea when the President calls you into her office and announces “This will be your last day.”  So for everyone who through fate or fortune finds themselves on the receiving end of the Donald Trump dictum, here are a few thoughts that may not instantly come to mind.

• Consider this an opportunity.
• Do not feel pressured to sign anything on the spot.  A few words about consulting with an attorney before signing should be sufficient if pressed.
• You may be able to negotiate a better severance package, just as you did for your initial hiring contract.
• Nothing is as it seems.
• Give yourself time to grieve and then get busy.  There may be programs to help you with lost wages, insurance and job training or tips while you are in between life’s great adventures.

Oh, and if you are the warm shoulder that a dear friend has come to cry upon … please remember to tell her how much you love her and that she has always been an inspiration to you.  It may be the only thing she remembers from the conversation.