“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
and I’d like to think I hustle!
Feel free to fast forward to the header to the “They Have Landed” at the bottom to see what I will be doing, but if you like a story, then read on!
The long walk down the hall.
In the beginning of October of 2009 I was in quite an unfamiliar place. My position leading a Corporate Training and Development department had been eliminated. I found out on a Friday. I left later that afternoon. It was not too hard to pack and leave the desk I had spent a few years in. The reason it wasn’t hard: (1) I was in charge of the budget lines and P&L (2) which gave me insight into my department and the companies situation. (3) As a result I had started packing boxes inconspicuously for about 5 months. I knew things were getting tough as in every part of construction and manufacturing. I had the information in front of me as I received the monthly budget reports. As I have said to many of my colleagues, while I hoped for the best and that nothing would affect my job, I wasn’t blind. I understood that there was a strong possibility that I would be gone before the year was out. So when my boss walked me into her office and gave the news, I was fortunate enough to not be as surprised as I may have been 1 year previous. Before the day was out, I had closing conversations with my boss, my dotted line boss – the CEO, and a few others. I obtained referrals from the people that mattered.
If you have no plan, then you have no plans.
I had prepared. I was now like many people who had found themselves with no job and now on a 20 minute drive home that felt like an eternity. Five months before this drive, my family and I had sat down and looked at our financial situation. What came into the household and what went out. For years we had a monthly budget. I would enter in and adjust everything from salaries and contract income, to the expenses of diapers, food, credit cards and extra curricular activities. Ultimately this gave me out profit and loss of the household.
This time, when reviewing the budget, I added another column to help calculate the salary of $0.00. It helped to give a true picture of what the coming months could look like. What sacrifices we would have to make and helped to light a fire under my butt to try and shrink the time-line as much as possible. I was working on my MBA and paying for it out of my own pocket which made matters a little tougher.
The one thing you can’t let go of…
In order to stay sane, there has to be something you can enjoy and not allowed to get rid of. My wife and I discussed this. In order for us to function she decided on her one thing and I decided mine. My one thing would be golf. Outside of family and my network, golf continued to help me think strategically, not take things so seriously and hold my tongue (not always, but I tried) in what seemed initially to be tough-to-face challenges.
Just because you are not working, does not mean you don’t have work to do!
I remember colleagues at my last job, making statements like “so what are you going to do now?” or “are you going take a break?” My response was exactly this: “Hey, just because you are not working, does not mean you don’t have work to do!” I believe this. In the almost 10 months that have passed I have created what I think is a strong personal footprint, a heck of a good site in ReThinkHR.org, been asked to speak at various groups and have received a great handle on Social Media and how it can work for me. Most of all I have made a lot of good contacts, built a new foundation of relationships with new colleagues that I would have otherwise never had a chance to meet.
The thing about an Opportunity
You can’t always wait for opportunity to knock. If you did, who is to say it would ever stop by and even deliver. There are times when you will need to create an opportunity when none exist. Look underneath when it is not traveling on the surface. You may even have to gain access without permission. I mean really, how often do you ever get anything worth having if you were only allowed to ask for permission?
‘They’ have landed
So the whole point of this is to let you know that THEY have landed. The position… Leadership Development Consultant for a Midwest, full service Document Management company. With over 2900 employees across the United States, I will be working directly with the CEO, Executives, Directors and Mid-Level Leadership. I will oversee the development, coaching and identification of talent within the organization, create programs to increase organizational capability, and help to identify emerging leadership for the organization. I will also attempt to use social media within the company in the way we deliver and interact for learning and leadership. This is the simplest way I can explain a very detailed and not as simply stated job.
I am ready and sincerely excited for the challenge. The level of investment and energy that a company takes in ensuring not only the health of its products and services, but also the health of the people providing those opportunities is something I take to heart. To actually talk with executives within an organization and receive a consistent response is greatly refreshing. Especially in these times.
No Ego Involved, sincerely
I say THEY have landed not to be egotistical. I firmly believe that my own abilities and strengths are assets. There are a few reasons my search was long (even longer than I expected).Regardless of these reasons I always believed that what I have to offer is just as good or at times better than what a company could offer me. You have to have confidence in times like these. That, a good attitude, and a willingness to laugh at the hardest and most difficult times. I still plan to take part in many of the activities I have been involved in over the past months. For those of you who just came across me recently, get use to me… I’ll be here for awhile!
It will be hard to get rid of some things. Especially if what you hold in your hand, when trying to make a decision, has been with you for a few years or more. That planted geranium that you bought and placed in the corner when you first started. The old picture of your anniversary and employee of the month certificate. Maybe it is a desk calendar that holds the writing of some important project or number (while the date is from 3 years ago or older). Regardless maybe it is time for you to clean it all out, make a decision on what you need to keep and what needs to go.
