What Do You Do When Your Career Suddenly Gets Cancelled?

“I would advise all of them if they find another career, take it and do not look back.”

This statement came from a captain in a local police force. He was referencing the layoffs that had hampered the police department in a large East Coast city.

Close to 200 officers had been laid off, and according to the newspaper article, only a handful had been rehired back into their career of law enforcement.

Sorry but your career is cancelled

The New Career Mantra: Turn Every Call and Contact Into an Interview

“I worked all those years, coming to work every day, doing a great job. Each year there was a raise and eventually more responsibility.

I went home at the end of the day and came back the following day. I repeated that cycle all those years until one day, I came in and was let go.

During all those years I had received numerous inquiries from outside headhunters, but at each call was kindly rebuffed because I loved what I was doing. My resume had never been updated in all those years, and I had not interviewed in 24 years.”

Being negligent

As I listened to this call this week, I felt sad and angry at the same time.

You’ll Be a Better Leader and Manager If You Don’t Believe the Hype

She asked me to wait a minute, went to her room and came back with a piece of paper. It was a list that she had compiled of her important events that I had missed due to work commitments.

Talk about a wake-up call. The list included 22 items, from her first day at school and first soccer match of the season, to a parent-teacher meeting and a Halloween parade. And the school year wasn’t over yet.

This note was from a CEO’s daughter to her dad, Mohamed El-Erian, the former chief executive of the investment firm Pimco, who was frustrated that his daughter was not listening to him

When she gave him this note, he was initially shocked and defensive. But after it sunk in he realized that she was right. A short time later, he resigned from his job as CEO of Pimco.

Flashbacks in focus

When It Comes to Good Management, It’s All About Just Walking Around

I can’t believe this guy. He did not show any concern as to why I was leaving. He is the CXX and he had three people leave within the past month, plus me. And with all of us, there was no exit interview or anything.

When I tried to steer the conversation to the office environment, he countered as if it was all our fault. Totally clueless.

After that conversation, I to concur that one of the hallmarks of a great leader is the ability to LISTEN. If your organization is suffering withdrawal and your turnover is inching up, you should be concerned. That is a basic.

Manage by connecting

Getting Ready to Pounce When the Next Opportunity Comes

“Can you make the connection for me? I would love to get an opportunity with them based on this article.”

The other email read, “Could you send a copy of my resume over to her and tell her to “help a brother out.”

Friday is a day for me to connect back to the U.S. with requests like the one above, follow-up, and meet new people. But sometimes I get a little perturbed with the level of request and the cluelessness of the people making it.

Granted, I do know a lot of people and I am always willing to share my network with them. The problem is that sometime the requestors do not realize is that this is the major leagues. This career conundrum is a serious business.

Are you really prepared?

What this means is that every job you apply for is one you need to aggressively compete for — and in order to compete, you have to be prepared.

It Takes the Right Talent Mix to Get the Culture Thing Right

“No the manager was cool, it was just that I could not survive in that culture. I had to get out.”

We have all heard the phrase that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Well, hearing that had me thinking.

Yes, this makes sense. I quit Martha Stewart Living because the culture had changed dramatically. I loved the people, but the toxicity at that time was a bit much. I walked out with a job in sight.

It has become more and more apparent that the key conversation in the executive conference room needs to be about the culture of the company. In some of my recent meetings, I talked to senior leaders who are focused on getting the people thing right. I would advise any organization that you ignore this at your companies risk.

Strategic thinking is more than the business

So, What Did You Learn From Your Last Workplace Setback?

“The truth is, everything that has happened in my life, that I thought was a crushing event at the time, has turned out for the better. You learn that a temporary defeat is not a permanent one. In the end, it can be an opportunity.”

This was a statement from one of the wealthiest people in the world, Warren Buffett. It is also a very true statement.

When we stare defeat in the face, it sometimes frightens us. It completely shakes up our equilibrium, but eventually, we will realize that it all worked out.

Your response determines your trajectory

We have all had those stumbles in life where it seemed like the end of the world, when we were so devastated. Looking back on my life I have come to the conclusion that your response to a setback will determine your trajectory.

The Question If You’re in a Bad HR Organization: When Is it Time to Go?

I have encountered numerous HR professionals recently musing about the difficulty of doing their profession in an organization that could care less.

They read, they discuss where HR is headed, but in their current space, it is light years away from where it should be.

They want more, they dream of more, but they get no more.

After one blog post of mine, someone wrote to me about the frustration she faces. After years of toiling in the transactional nature of her job, it is at a point that she wants to pull her hair out.

When we see the writing on the wall

Her dream and focus is on how HR could really help the business, whether it is in talent management, strategic workforce planning, or tying the HR to the larger organizational goals. However, her manager loves the transactional aspects and does not want to touch the strategic aspects.

If You’re Building Your Brand, You Can’t Escape Your Capabilities

“She said that she remembered me from my last job. I remembered her but did not think she even knew who I was since she was very senior to me.”

As I listened to this conversation the other day, it just confirmed what I always tell everyone. It’s this: someone is always watching your work. By watching, they are creating a vision for you and the brand of you — how you work, what you deliver, your attitude, and the list go on.

Regardless of how you feel about your work, even if you know you are no longer going to be there, always do top-notch work.

We all grow in different directions

As our career expands, you notice that people you worked with over the years have expanded their roles into other companies like tentacles.

Your cube mate today could someday become VP at another firm. Your prior manager could now be heading up a great project at another strong brand. The goofy guy down the hall could be heading a startup.