Once my boss at MegaCorp was fired, I figured I'd be on the chopping block at some point. I was a Senior Director at the time, and my new boss, the COO, was under attack from restructurers above him.
It was the worst year of my career. Every meeting, every email was full of insinuations and all of the worst form of Machiavellian corporate traps. I spent the year planning what I'd do next, reviving old contacts, coming up with a plan to go out as a freelance consultant (I'd pretty much soured entirely on office politics) and examining my financial options.
I really wanted to quit, but the salary would never be matched again, and I wanted to get severance to buffer my transition. I consoled myself that every two weeks I'd be paid for another two weeks, and waited for the phone call to meet with HR.
That call came as i was debarking from a plane on a business trip. "Can you pop up to the HR Director's office?" "No, I just got off a plane 500 miles away. Can we meet by phone?" "Uh...I'll tell her...I guess we can reschedule..." Later that day, I heard the COO, my boss, had been removed.
I couldn't have been more prepared, in every way. I'd even created a financial plan for the order in which I'd liquidate assets, should I never be employed again. Figured it would be 5 years of zero income before i'd have to radically change my lifestyle.
Next morning, I got on a return flight, headed straight to the office, and called the HR Director. "Hi, I'm here. You wanted to meet?" She sighed. "Come on up." I had a brief meeting with her in which she said, "You may have heard the COO left yesterday. We're restructuring, and there's not a leadership position for you." "Okay." Took my envelope with papers, was accompanied back to my office.
Part of my year long preparation had been to remove any personal items I really cared about, along with regular backups of my hard drive, contacts, work documents I'd want to access later, etc., so it only required a few minutes to collect the last bits I had left.
It was such an incredibly liberating day. Drove home and posted messages on social media that I was available for consulting. Got my first 6 week contract before my 4 months of severance was even complete, and have been working at this since.
It's been nearly a decade since I've had to give or get a performance review, and conference calls are largely a thing of the past.
NOTE: That day of being laid off was extremely telling. I got many calls and messages of support, several of which led to opportunities that resulted in clients for a number of years. But there were a couple co-workers who either didn't contact me at all, or who did, but were clearly sniffing for mean-spirited gossip ("Are you going to have to sell your house?" "What was your spouse's reaction?") It was satisfying to hear about the downward paths taken by each of the negative nellies. I don't miss that place!!
It was the worst year of my career. Every meeting, every email was full of insinuations and all of the worst form of Machiavellian corporate traps. I spent the year planning what I'd do next, reviving old contacts, coming up with a plan to go out as a freelance consultant (I'd pretty much soured entirely on office politics) and examining my financial options.
I really wanted to quit, but the salary would never be matched again, and I wanted to get severance to buffer my transition. I consoled myself that every two weeks I'd be paid for another two weeks, and waited for the phone call to meet with HR.
That call came as i was debarking from a plane on a business trip. "Can you pop up to the HR Director's office?" "No, I just got off a plane 500 miles away. Can we meet by phone?" "Uh...I'll tell her...I guess we can reschedule..." Later that day, I heard the COO, my boss, had been removed.
I couldn't have been more prepared, in every way. I'd even created a financial plan for the order in which I'd liquidate assets, should I never be employed again. Figured it would be 5 years of zero income before i'd have to radically change my lifestyle.
Next morning, I got on a return flight, headed straight to the office, and called the HR Director. "Hi, I'm here. You wanted to meet?" She sighed. "Come on up." I had a brief meeting with her in which she said, "You may have heard the COO left yesterday. We're restructuring, and there's not a leadership position for you." "Okay." Took my envelope with papers, was accompanied back to my office.
Part of my year long preparation had been to remove any personal items I really cared about, along with regular backups of my hard drive, contacts, work documents I'd want to access later, etc., so it only required a few minutes to collect the last bits I had left.
It was such an incredibly liberating day. Drove home and posted messages on social media that I was available for consulting. Got my first 6 week contract before my 4 months of severance was even complete, and have been working at this since.
It's been nearly a decade since I've had to give or get a performance review, and conference calls are largely a thing of the past.
NOTE: That day of being laid off was extremely telling. I got many calls and messages of support, several of which led to opportunities that resulted in clients for a number of years. But there were a couple co-workers who either didn't contact me at all, or who did, but were clearly sniffing for mean-spirited gossip ("Are you going to have to sell your house?" "What was your spouse's reaction?") It was satisfying to hear about the downward paths taken by each of the negative nellies. I don't miss that place!!
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