Dealing with Layoffs, 10

All strategic planning first has to come from strategic thinking. And here are 4 things you require in order to launch a good working strategy.

1. You need a time of solitude. A quiet time experience if you will. Intervals of solitude.

By the way, it is important to remind yourself that solitude is not loneliness. Solitude is a chosen form of isolation; it is good for you. It provides you with the necessary dimensions of space and time to figure things out, to work things through. It is good to be alone but it is never good to be lonely.

2. You will need friends. You have to get visible, tangible, audible human support–to help you fend off loneliness as you try to get to know yourself, plan a strategy to market yourself, and then stick to your plan, without losing heart, as you work through the implementation stage of a well-planned strategy.

3. You need focus. A financial services manager in California put it briefly and simply: “Getting a new position is my responsibility, and working to that end calls for dedication, innovative thought, and persistence. Personal networking is extremely important. I’m preparing a larger nest egg in case it happens again. Finally, I’d advise others: don’t be bitter or vengeful.” This will surely affect your next job and sometimes the damage becomes an irreparable part of your character.

One piece of advice. Do not bad mouth your employer or your company even if they deserve it. There is no such thing as a perfect business organization and similarly there is no perfect employer too. The problem with bad mouthing is that it indelibly forms a permanent shape in your character and you bring it with you wherever you go.

Job interviewers always sense this and they begin to rationalize. At the back of their heads they will say, well, if you were not satisfied with your previous employment then what made you stay with them anyway? Second is this. If you have the destructive capacity to spread poison all over the place, then what would stop you from doing the same to your new employment the moment you’re not happy with the way things are being run.

4. You need to have a healthy sense of perspective. How you react to the current situation, NOT THE SITUATION will determine your rate of future success – or failure. Understand the following:

You were not responsible for the job loss. There’s absolutely no one to blame for what happened. The economic crisis is upon us. Change is upon us. Things will be more difficult from here on so if you have the habit of blaming yourself, then stop this foolishness immediately.

Next, understand that failure is not fatal. It is not a permanent stumbling block, it is a stepping stone. Remember that failure is an event – not a person. You’re simply out of a job that’s all, you’re not a failure. Just because you don’t have a job now does not mean your worth and value as a person has been diminished.

Let me end with a special thought courtesy of Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women,” who was encouraged by her family to try to find work as a servant or seamstress. “You put your trust in God. Submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Because you and God can set a winning course. Hang on to those goals and dreams – even if no one else does!”

Remember:
Walt Disney was once fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas.

Thomas Edison’s teacher said he was too stupid to learn anything.

Albert Einstein’s teacher once remarked that Albert was “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.”

Leo Tolstoy, author of “War and Peace,” flunked out of college and was described as “unable and unwilling to learn.”

The father of world-famous sculptor Francois Rodin said, “I have an idiot for a son.” Henry Ford went broke five times before he succeeded.

Beethoven’s teacher called him hopeless as a composer.

There’s only one thing I ask of you before we finish this series with our concluding part tomorrow. That a few years from now, your name will be added to this list so that you will be used by God to encourage someone else too.