My career is in Human Resources
and my first introduction to layoffs occurred in the
mid 1980's when I worked for the Miller Brewing
Company. Never in the history of this illustrious
company had we conducted salaried layoffs, and it
was perceived as letting go of your closest friends
and family members. It was horrible, and for
hundreds of people it forever changed the meaning of
the expression, It's Miller Time.
The first layoffs were
accomplished with a high level of secrecy, and also
the greatest respect and dignity. It started in the
morning, and a warm and inviting lobby that offers a
bar and beer taps was suddenly quiet as a funeral
parlor. People passed each other in the halls
without establishing eye contact because you might
learn something you didn't want to know. If someone
said, Hello, how are you? The awkward response might
be, Why are you asking, what did you hear?
One at a time, the affected
employees were advised by their supervisor, allowed
to collect their things and say goodbye to friends.
Next they were escorted to the HR department where
we advised them of their benefits, remaining pay and
next steps. Then we walked them to the door. We were
instructed to be swift, firm but caring. When it was
over, we then laid off members of the HR team who
had just helped to let go of the others. We
anticipated this might happen.
As the layoff was occurring, I
remember sitting at my desk and waiting for the next
person on the list to show up. Usually you knew the
person and could anticipate how they were going to
react, but it wasn't always as you anticipated. What
allowed you to establish a connection with them was
the fact you might get the axe yourself by the end
of the day. You never knew, so you felt like you
were in this together. It actually helped to ease
the pain.
Eventually you developed a
preference for which reaction you wanted a person to
have, sort of like switching channels on TV. What I
liked most were the people who saw this as a
springboard opportunity to finally escape a
declining business situation, transform their life
and career, finally do something entirely different,
move to a warmer climate, start a new business,
write a book, or even take a much needed vacation or
sabbatical from working. It was amazing the
possibilities some of these optimistic people had
already dreamed up with such short notice. It was
like they were anticipating the layoff and already
had plans. Many of them actually commented they felt
sorry for the people who were left behind. Rather
than waiting around any longer for something bad to
happen, they were regaining control of their life
and career, and it felt good. After meeting with
several of these opportunistic thinkers, I was
already dreaming what I might do, and was almost
hoping to get laid off myself.
What kept my feet on the
ground and head out of the clouds were the
occasional people whose lives seemed completely
dependent on just the Miller Brewing Company. They
couldn't imagine life after Miller and were stuck in
the mindset of "why me, why now, why not someone
else, what am I going to do, what do I tell the wife
and kids, I don't even have a resume, I'll never
find another job like this, I just bought a new car,
how do I pay the mortgage, I've got two kids in
college, or I don't think I can make it through the
day." You couldn't help but feel sorry for these
people, and sometimes worried. We were instructed to
watch for difficult cases and to connect them with
the appropriate resources that were on standby. What
you wanted to do was pair them up with the upbeat
person who just left and felt like they couldn't get
out of there fast enough. But that would happen
later.
The next day we had arranged
for an outplacement provider to speak with the
entire group and to discuss a wide range of
transition topics. Most people were still in shock,
but on the third and fourth day, people were
commiserating with each other, talking about how
their layoff was handled (comparing scars), and
about the people they were sad to leave behind and
what might happen to them. You could almost sense
the transformation that was happening, and it was
good. It was obvious that the opportunistic thinkers
had hit the ground running, and you could easily
assume they would land much faster. This wasn't
always the case.
What distinguished the people
who landed sooner or with something better was not
necessarily their positive attitude before the
layoff. Although that helped many people to
initially endure a bad situation, it was a person's
developing positive attitude and sense of purpose
after the layoff and whether they could sustain it.
Many people had to get through the initial shock,
adjust and regain their composure, and then deal
with their situation. The people who had a more
difficult time ultimately landed jobs as well, but
it took them longer because their positive attitude
and purpose were slower to develop.
Bottom line, it was how a
person felt that determined how soon they acted and
what they did. They acted on their emotions caused
by what they were thinking. Favorable thinking
resulted in feeling better and delivering better
results faster. Unfavorable thinking resulted in
feeling not so good, and the outcome was
procrastination or mixed results.
It's twenty years later, and
after working now with tons of people in transition,
I've seen this happen repeatedly. I cannot think of
one person who was previously unemployed or lost
their job that did not find another. It was like
there was a job reserved for each of them, and they
didn't have to worry. If only they could have taken
a pill and woke up later to find they were already
settled into a new job. This was impossible because
whatever happened was the direct result, not of
their circumstances, but how they thought, felt and
acted regardless of their circumstances. Their
circumstances were always secondary to their
thinking and fulfillment of their purpose.
I refer to the people who get
this as the advantaged. They function with a mindset
that is made content by control of their emotions to
get what they desire. It's an optional state of mind
that enhances your ability to think clearly, feel
better, make better choices, deliver better results,
and to endure regardless of your circumstances, even
layoffs.
But realize this has nothing
to do with the power of positive thinking that
assumes you'll get what you want by thinking
positively. Get real. Wishful thinking has nothing
to do with it, particularly if you're purpose is to
keep putting food on the table. It's about the
proven fact that people act on their emotions caused
by what they think. You still have to get up, get
moving, and get it done, and what causes you to do
this most effectively and with greater resolve is
how confident and committed you feel. This begins
with how and what you were thinking. Was it about
the hurdles, or the goal line?
From my experience, the
advantaged were always the ones who despite their
layoff, reasoned to recognize the agreeable middle
ground. They chose to see the good in the bad, the
rainbow, silver lining and light at the end of the
tunnel. Rather than waste time needing, wanting or
worrying, they imagined already having their
purposes fulfilled, and they leveraged their
resulting contented emotions to think clearly and to
act with greater resolve to achieve the results they
desired.
Because everyone's purpose was
different, they each had different thoughts, but
generally speaking, they were thoughts that did not
ask why me, but inspired feelings of joy, optimism,
excitement, enthusiasm and gratitude, and they went
something like this:
- Things are looking up and
already I'm feeling better and better.
- This enables me to
finally do what I've always wanted to do.
- Thank goodness this is
over and I am getting on with my life.
- How exciting to think
what is going to happen next.
- Is it possible to skip
the group meeting because I have things to do?
- Now I can do what I've
always wanted to do.
- I can see already how
this is turning into something really great.
- This is happening just in
time. I can't believe this.
- I'm free, thank God I am
free at last.
- There's a purpose and
reason for everything, and I'm excited to learn
mine.
- I am certain about what I
want next and can already see it happening.
- I am fully engaged to do
what I must to get it.
- Want to bet I land a
better job than what I had?
- I am capable of doing
what's required to get whatever job I want.
- I feel confident the job
I want is right now looking for me.
- My thoughts are focused
positively on my purpose only.
- I can sense that other
people I don't even know are ready and willing
to help me.
- It's amazing how this
seems to be fitting nicely into my plans.
So you see it's not the layoff
that opens the door to creating a brighter future.
It's the meaning you assign to the layoff or
anything else that happens, and also your
predisposition to reason and recognize the agreeable
middle ground, and it enables your contentment. Not
everyone chose to see it this way, but later wished
they had.
The advantaged realize that
satisfaction is illusive, unreliable and sometimes
beyond their ability to control or afford. They live
contentedly in a beautiful but imperfect world with
beautiful but imperfect people, and they're not
expecting everything to go their way. But this
doesn't mean they can't control how they think and
feel in order to have and enjoy the life and career
they desire. They reason to recognize the agreeable
middle ground, and doing so gives them more strength
and advantages than most other people could ever
imagine.
Copyright 2007 by Jeff Garton.
All Rights Reserved.
Jeff Garton is a career coach,
author and VoiceAmerica radio host whose background
includes a career in HR with the Philip Morris
Companies. He also leads the campaign to retire job
dissatisfaction. For information, and to join the
campaign, please visit
http://www.careercontentment.com.
