Moment of Clarity – Fending Off a Layoff

Moment of Clarity

A client of mine recently had a very distinct moment of clarity.

A moment of clarity is when some major shift happens in life, maybe someone dies or becomes ill, you lose a job or you get a divorce. Alternatively, the event could be something positive like the first day of your dream job. Either way, it completely alters your perspective on life in a moment.

The future you saw for yourself changes and, suddenly, you can’t believe that the niggling issues that have been plaguing you (the ding on your car, your annoying co-worker, etc.) bothered you so much.

I have written multiple posts and articles about moments of clarity:

• Moments of Clarity – Asiana Flight 214 – When Asiana Flight 214 crashed upon landing, David Eun snapped a few pictures as he left the plane and tweeted them out within minutes of the crash. His comment, “surreal.”
• Make Moments of Clarity Turning Points in Your Life (Forbes) – I wrote about how a near fatal bicycle accident changed my life and how to process these moments of clarity.

For my client, who I will call Susan, her moment of clarity was about fending off a layoff at the very last possible moment.

Layoff Announced

In the spring of 2014, the employer of one of my clients announced they would be further restructuring the business. Everyone knew this would mean layoffs. In an effort to be transparent, it put everyone on edge. Everyone was stressed.

In early June, my client was told that her position was eliminated. UGH! I wrote about this at the time in a post called Surviving a Resource Action – A Different Perspective.

This came as a shock…and a relief. It was announced—the verdict was in. It was time to move on. Well….

After the Announcement

She analyzed who got laid off, and what she discovered was that she made a poor political decision during a previous restructuring. Almost everyone in Susan’s organization who lived in the US was let go. The organization was essentially eliminated. It was not her, but her entire organization.

Susan was given approximately three months to find another job internally. The key point was that she was within a few months of her pension vesting. Extending her employment just a few months mattered.

Recovery

Susan was given a gift. She had nearly three months to recover. The stress of the job and the impending layoffs were killing her. Her health had deteriorated due to the stress. The gift was she was out of there!

She now had time to rest and recover. She took advantage of this time to exercise, take some classes, volunteer and get her emotional state centered.

Next Steps

Susan applied for several jobs within her current function. She had a couple of interviews, but her heart was not in it. We have all been there where you applied and interviewed for a job you really did not want. She was not hired.

Susan did a lot of soul searching. She talked to many people from her past. She soon discovered the path she wanted to take. She wanted to return to Learning and Development.

She had multiple discussions with people who left her current company. Several were happy with working contracts and consulting. They asked her to join them. They thought highly of Susan and really valued her skills!

It is nice to be wanted!

Susan worked with me on what it would take to incorporate her business and change her mindset into one of working for herself. That shift in her mindset was critical. Going from being an employee to self employed is not a simple mental process!

Three weeks before she had to either find a new position or be expelled with a severance, an opportunity appeared in the Learning and Development Organization. She applied, interviewed, and got the position! She fended off the layoff at the very last second.

Moment of Clarity

Susan learned the following:

• She never wanted that kind of stress again. She gave too much of herself to the job—to her own detriment.
• She found a path that she wanted to take. It was her choice!
• People respected her and wanted to work with her!
• Her new position could be short lived, but that did not matter. She had a clear path.

Susan made the key shift in her mindset that she would no longer be a victim of corporate decisions. This was a huge change and would never have happened if she were not given this gift, the gift of time to reflect.

It was a true moment of clarity.

Have you had a moment of clarity?

Marc Miller  

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