My Layoff Story
A few weeks ago, I was out to dinner with a friend who is a manager in the automotive industry. While we were enroute to and ordering dinner that evening, he was on and off (more on than off) working through a work issue that arose afterhours. I smiled to myself reflecting days supporting manufacturing and service and was chuckling to myself about some of the crazy stuff I’ve seen. I had a few of my biggest humdingers in mind when he was finally able to hang up the phone for good and tuck it away.
After ordering dinner, and drinks now in hand, I was in the mood to exchange war stories and asked him what his most challenging crisis had been. He was quiet for a few moments reflecting on his 30 years of experience and what he shared was not what I was prepared for in that moment. My mind was ready for recalls, supply chain shortages, large scale hard to detect manufacturing defects... And then he dropped the mother of them all – layoffs. He said laying people off when the economy tanked in 2008 was his most challenging professional situation.
I was speechless.
For two reasons. First, I was in shock that my leadership coaching self had not anticipated a non-technical challenge (I’m blaming the bourbon). Second, I was laid off in the economic downturn, too, and it was an experience I will never forget.
To this day whenever an authority figure asks to speak with me about an undisclosed topic, my stomach drops. My boss once asked me to “stop by his office sometime today. No rush." While I was 99% confident I was getting a promotion, my body still flipped that switch triggering that same feeling from fifteen years ago when I was asked to join my boss in HIS bosses office. “Sometime today” needed to happen now to calm my feeling of nausea.
Some time after that dark day, I reflected on what that must have been like for my boss. Him sitting with the knowledge of what he had to do over the whole weekend. I felt for him and what his experience must have been like. And now for my friend opposite me at the table. That's just it, it is not the technical or areas of expertise that are the most challenging. And that is not what I talk to my clients about in coaching sessions. We discuss the personal challenges in leadership working with, supporting, developing, motivating, and giving feedback to other humans. My clients want to do it better for a more positive outcome for all - personally and professionally.
Layoffs are happening as we speak; companies are looking for volunteers offering buyouts. I’ve shared my personal story with a few former colleagues that have recently been laid off. Regardless of which side of the table you find yourself, these are some of the most difficult moments you may face in your career.
Losing a job or laying off employees brings emotions akin to grief. There is undoubtedly a sense of loss. Do take time to process your emotions and feel all the feels. Coaching can be beneficial to help navigate a transition in your career or getting your team back on track after a significant change or upset.
After I received the devastating news and collected my belongings, I was pretty stoic until I encountered my mentor who had tracked me down and the tears started rolling. I pulled myself together enough to drive. And I drove straight to my husbands office that happened to be closer than home and dialed is cell number over and over again until he answered and came outside so I could deliver the news in person. It was long enough ago that I cannot provide specific details and timelines of how quickly I turned job searching into a full time job in a competitive time in the middle of an economic crisis. Though I do recall the emotional tides that accompanied it.
Whether you are on the delivery or receiving end of a lay off there are gifts. One gift of having been laid off is being a more empathetic leader. While a furlough is not the magnitude of a layoff, when it was my time to deliver the news to my associates, I had an appreciation for the range of emotions that my team members could be experiencing. My second gift is that I also know that at on any given day it's possible that someone in my organization has had some form of traumatic work experience (like being laid off) that I don't know about and it is impacting their focus or performance. Modeling myself as a human and sharing challenging career moments has empowered employees to step forward and share rather than suffer in silence.
As a leader, the idea of finding a “gift and opportunity” in delivering such news and becoming short handed may feel far off in you are currently in the thick of it. And you may also be dealing with the shock of the situation. How do you shift back into action? What opportunities are there to strengthen connections and bonds with the team? An opportunity to redefine or get clarity on updates to roles and responsibilities? I am not advocating simply finding a silver lining and moving on pretending that nothing happened.
This is one of the many reasons I became a leadership coach. There is no flowchart or handbook for the dynamic challenges you face and decisions you make that directly impact other humans while being human yourself. It is important to keep in mind that these moments that feel monumental like layoffs in the large scope of things move into the highlight reel of storms you have weathered. When we face these challenging moments, there are gifts of knowledge, inspiration, and action that can be derived that fuel forward momentum and growth.
April’s free group coaching topic is Increasing Leadership Resilience. Your ability to adapt, support, and motivate others is what leadership is all about. Resilience is an essential leadership skill in the face of significant challenges. More information and registration here.
