Reorganized Out of a Job

— December 18, 2016

I was in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, sitting in my Equinox, on the phone with one of my co-workers, discussing our game plans for the week.

All of a sudden I get a calendar notification on my iPad. I click to open the calendar invite scheduled for 1:15pm and it’s from our HR Manager. I expand the details and read that the president of our division is also on the notification.

I ask my fellow employee if he received a notification and he said “nope…oh wait I just got something for 1:30pm.”

We finished up our conversation as the sales rep I was meeting just pulled into the parking lot.

My mind was running and I’m thinking one of two things are going to happen at 1:15pm.

1. We are being restructured and rolled into the greater organization.
   
2. We are all being laid off.

As I compartmentalized my emotions and thoughts, I walk into the store with the sales rep with the goal of securing incremental floor space and or new display space for our products. In the midst of our small talk, he asks if anything is new at our company. I divert the conversation back to looking for the right decision maker so that we can focus on the task at hand. I didn’t want to bog down the sales rep with what might happen with me. I also wanted get on the same page with the sales rep with the sales story we were going to share with the decision maker.

Knowing that I was tight on time and considering it sometimes takes a half an hour to track down the right decision maker, I couldn’t afford any distractions. Luckily for us we were able to find the correct decision maker rather quickly. Our conversation revolved around service and sales which led us right into our selling story. Within a few minutes we were able to secure a 1/2 pallet of 12/12 Bottles for 2 weeks right at the end of the beer aisle.

I helped the sales rep with his normal duties at the store, stocking shelves, rotation, and checking out of stocks. As we walked out of the store I thanked the rep for his time and made my way to my car for the Conference Call.

Conference Call Time 1:15:

Due to confidentially and other legal restraints I can only share with you that I, along with many others were reorganized out of a job that day.

In the midst of all of this change in the past couple of weeks I came to realize that there are a few things that I’ve focused on that have helped me deal with this event.

1. Put Things in Perspective Real Fast

Losing your job is not bad or terrible news.

You want bad and terrible news? Imagine your kids dying or dead, you’re wife or another family member is terminally sick, or you wake up one day in the future, realizing that you pissed your life away never pursuing that which you always wanted to do, because you were too scared to fail.

I didn’t wake up looking forward to losing a job that I loved.

But I’ve been knocked down before and have gotten up. Losing a job I loved and was passionate about is just another bump in the road in my journey.

2. Don’t Get Emotional

I can scream, complain, and cry, but at the end of the day it won’t change the fact I was reorganized out of job.

Getting emotional can lead to making irrational decisions and saying things that won’t help you during or after your employment.

And if you say or do something stupid you may…

3. Don’t Burn Bridges

…burn bridges that could be there to help you down the road.

I’m grateful for all of the experiences that I’ve gained at my former employer. I understand that being reorganized out of job was a business decision and not a personal decision based on my performance. So there’s no need to take it out on HR or anyone at the company, because I may run into one of those folks down the road and they can either help me open a door or shut it in my face.

4. Network

I try to stay in touch with as many people as I can. Whether it’s my fellow employees, customers, or people I don’t know yet.

If you don’t have good networking skills, you need to develop them.

In this day in age its easier than ever to stay connected with people via social media and your smart phone.

If you don’t have good social media skills, you need to develop them.

You’re network doesn’t have to be HUGE; it just has to be influential.

5. Stay Productive

I’m going to have some extra time on my hand. Outside of the time I’m spending networking or looking for new career ventures, I need to keep myself busy and so should you.

I’ve been keeping myself occupied with a few things, house remodel, working out, creating content for my YouTube Channel, and spending time with my kids.

What will you do to stay productive?

6. When One Door Closes, Many More Can Open

It sucks that I lost a job I loved.

It sucks that I won’t be around some of the amazing people I’ve worked with.

It sucks that that I was right in my thoughts a few months ago that we were going to be restructured and out of a job.

There are many more things I could let you know that suck with me be reorganized out of job, but that won’t do you or me any good.

There are other possibilities that can present themselves that I wasn’t paying attention to before. What those possibilities are right now, no one knows. And that leads me to my last point.

7. Get Clarity thru Self Awareness and Be Happy.

If you want more doors to open, you need to know what doors you want to open for you.

And I have to give all the credit in the world to Gary Vaynerchuck when it comes to Self Awareness. Too often you and I are busy doing things to please others at the expense of pleasing ourselves.

If you’re not happy with where you are in life, figure out where you want to be. And there’s no better way to understand where you want to be, than to understand who you are, what you’re great at, what you want to do, and what you suck at.

If you don’t know what you want.

If you don’t know who you are.

If you don’t know what you suck at.

And if you don’t know where you want to be in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years.

How do you expect your next job or career to make you happy?

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