“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”
– Oprah Winfrey
That is no feel-good bromide. When you apply Ms. Winfrey’s quotation to today’s challenging job market it is more like an immutable truth. Just ask anyone who is struggling to find their next job after a layoff or termination.
Compound that truth with Marshall Goldsmith’s book with the prescient title, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” and you have a clarion call to executives: pay more attention to managing your career or face the consequences. For most people the layoff or termination comes when they can least afford to be without work and when they are the least prepared.
When it comes to career management and having a job loss emergency preparedness plan — an investment in their career — most executives believe, they assume, it will not happen to them. They are competent, they have consistently produced good results and they are respected in the organization. Layoffs only involve the marginal performers, they believe
Wrong.
When an organization is pressed to reduced costs, there are always competent, successful, innocent bystanders who are escorted to the front door. People lose jobs through no fault of their own.
When an organization is pressed to reduced costs, there are always competent, successful, innocent bystanders who are escorted to the front door. People lose jobs through no fault of their own.
Nine people who never thought they needed to invest in their career to prepare for the turbulent and competitive job market, engaged my firm in December. They had been laid off. Many had already been searching for more than six months and all were frustrated that they had trouble landing even an initial screening interview or that they never advanced past the get acquainted telephone call. If you stop and think about it, that should tell you everything you need to know. What worked for you in the past is not going to work for you today. Moreover, there is no evidence that the job search process will ever go back to the old way of doing things. The internet, the digital marketplace, and intense competition for the top jobs are allowing prospective employers to change their standards regarding selection. In fact, this process is only going to become more challenging.
Take a job search preparedness self-assessment — we offer a form to help you — and then think about next steps. Unless you are ready for retirement — early or otherwise — take action to learn the new rules of the road, master the skills you will need to successfully navigate this new landscape and develop an emergency preparedness plan.
The only way to mitigate the pain of a job loss is to know that you are ready to go to market. Most executives today are not.
To receive a no obligation career transition preparedness assessment, email us at Info@JohnGSelf.Com
Join John G. Self and Chrishonda Smith, CCDP, SPHR of OhioHealth for a dynamic course on interviewing skills geared for executives on Wednesday, March 25 at the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago. Online registration for the American College of Healthcare Executives annual Congress is now available at ACHE.Com.