Here’s What Happens After You Take The Package

Exactly ten years have passed since my time standing on the GE “Meatball” logo during sales meetings. On February 18, 2008, I took a separation package which provided me with an opportunity to leave a job that I truly enjoyed. Forced out by a couple of truly horrible, horrible bosses. A pair of real douche bags.

I wasn’t able to figure out their ‘con’ until a few months after the severance package ended when I received an email with the answer from an unlikely source. I had learned that one of the douchebags directed an order entry clerk not to key in orders for several of my sales reps, thus missing forecasts and sales which resulted in the underperformance of individuals and me, their sales director. Underperformance helps justify a reduction of some headcount without too much involvement from legal. I wasn’t too upset about getting forced out, just in the manner in which they did it.  They used and discarded several people on my team to undermine my region’s performance.

At the time, the entire “reduction of force” and their reign of incompetence was documented in real time over an eleven-month period on an industry blog.  The documented story was eventually removed by, what everyone assumes was a threat from a building full of conglomerate lawyers warning the blog owner to take down the documentary. I wish it was saved as it would have been a fascinating case study for a Business School class on the dynamics of org structure during a “cleansing” of perceived troublemakers and “underperformers”.
The horrible, horrible bosses met their demise a few months after my departure. For me, that industry blog was an early case of the power of social media exposing toxic managers which finally caught the attention of someone in the position to do something about it. The HR team that ignored this reign of toxic waste also met their demise. Karma and justice prevailed for the 30+ people affected, months after the fact.
Ten years later, people in my inner circle will occasionally comment on that unfortunate net that I got tangled in. I marvel at how quickly a decade has passed, which seemed to go by faster than my recollection.

The days are long, the years are short.

Highlights of my twenty-year run at Pharmacia/Amersham/GE accomplishments were captured in my goodbye email that took weeks to craft. After that email went out, the phone calls and emails expressing sadness, shock, and more importantly, support came steadily.  Mrsfromthebachrow took note of everyone who called and collected all of the emails in response to my corporate execution. Turns out it was well over two hundred emails and notes from phone calls which she put into a binder.  After I reviewed the list, there were two names conspicuously missing. People, who I thought I was close to. They never called, emailed, or chatted on LinkedIn or Facebook, not even to this day. The only excuse that I could make up for them is that they might have been thinking:  thank goodness it wasn’t me. Either that or they just didn’t care.
I experienced a valuable life lesson that I continue to pay forward today.

Bottom Line #1.
I learned that you know who your friends are when you are in trouble. ( I wasn’t really in trouble, just out of a job.)
Whenever I learn that someone is job hunting, I make it a special point to support them in any way I can. Even if it’s as simple as calling to lend an ear or passing on job leads.  Job hunting, like managing relationships or your network, is not a linear process and in many cases, a lonely process.

I was looking forward to the time off which I called my “open-ended vacation”, which was a sabbatical.  Turns out it was the first of two. The intention was to take a year off and get off the hamster wheel and out of the rat race and re-calibrate.  Escape velocity had been secured with a decent separation package and my efforts to pursue what now is being referred to as FI today. The FU money in hand made for an easy decision.
For the first few weeks of my sabbatical, I visited friends and former direct reports in other parts of the country. I even went down to New Orleans to attend an industry trade show to catch up with a previous boss and to make a few new connections in real-time. These were therapeutic road trips on my dime and time.  The time also allowed me the time to decompress and develop my story of why I was out of a job.

During most job interviews, the question always comes up as to why you left a previous job.  It could be a telling response on how one handles conflict or circumstances of a job loss. The answer must be truthful while telling a story that demonstrates competence, strength, resilience, and motivation.  It took me a few networking meetings to finally craft a professional explanation for getting “sacked” that would satisfy the question that many VP-level managers would identify with almost instantly.

Bottom Line #2.
“I lost my job the same way I got it.  A new president was hired to make changes to the organization and they brought their team in to execute those changes.”
This is exactly how I got this sales director position back in 1998. When I first got this job, the advice that I received from a C-level manager was that this job would end the same way and to make the time count. I believe I honored that advice over the ten-year period.

Bottom Line #3.
One of the tools on how I secured that job competing against ten more qualified people can be found in a previous article.  I also used this tool to secure the two jobs after the one written about today.

I lasted roughly ten weeks during my sabbatical.  I spent some of my time on household projects like building a basement media room and redoing the master bath with the help of a true tile artist/craftsman. (Caution, glass tile in the shower area is beautiful, but  it is tricky to cut and install the fragile tiles without cracking.)
I also spent time exploring different career tracks that ended up as dead ends.  I did apply for a marketing job at Playboy Enterprises when they were headquartered in Chicago. I was thrilled when I received a rejection letter in the mail that had the Bunny logo on the return address and the letterhead.
Applying for jobs on Monster.com went nowhere.

Anyway,  I was completely unprepared for my plan to take a year off. I got spooked because I did not have enough to do or enough outside interests that could keep me engaged during “business hours”.  Also, people in my age demographic at the time were working and Mrsfromthebachrow had her things to do besides trying to entertain me during the day.

Bottom Line#4
Don’t retire from something retire to something.

After week ten, I focused my job search on Linkedin and was getting some good traction and was having discussions with a couple of headhunters.
I came across an interesting sales management position and had scheduled to fly out to interview with the company.  While I was doing my research to prepare for the interview, I came across a statement on their website that made me cancel the interview.  It was a scientific supply company that was privately owned and had a statement on its site that credited God for its business success and opportunities. Hmm,  I don’t think I can compete with that, so I better move on.

I did end up at a small biotech supply company the day my GE severance package ended. Now, isn’t that convenient, what a stroke of luck in the timing department! This little company proved to be a safe harbor for a couple of years and a place to use my skills, learn new technology, and develop and sharpen my marketing skills.  Little did I know that all of the previous networking activity would later create an opportunity that improved with age.  But first, I wanted to send my youngest off to college and take my second sabbatical after three years.

Bottom Line #5.
Active networking on Linkedin helps you dig your well before you are thirsty.  It may not be your first connection that you can help or that can help you, it’s 2nd and 3rd connections that provide the most promising leads and job openings.

Do good work for your current employer while you take care of your present self by spending less than you earn and developing your financial plan. Your future self will thank you.

Comments are appreciated while minding the public domain.

Photo  1:  On the phone taking the package.
Photo 2:  Cleaning out the home office.