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Indeed, we live in turbulent times. Endless Corona, war and a possible recession are on the agenda. Not surprisingly, businesses are struggling with VUCA – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

In such a period I hear a lot about restructuring, downsizing and shifting responsibilities to more central decision-making units. Jobs may become more vulnerable or even obsolete. What to do if you are one of those managers who have been made redundant? This article is for you. Here are some tips that you may find useful.

If such a thing happens, we often start to blame ourselves, our self-confidence takes a serious hit. “What did I do wrong? What could I have done better?” Or we see ourselves as a victim: “Look what they did to me, I was a loyal collaborator for many years”. It can also happen that you start arguing with your former employer in court because you feel badly treated. Either way, it’ s business as usual, the job is gone. Accept this.

After a time of mourning and wailing, which is perfectly normal, you have to start asking yourself what the opportunity for this change might be, even if it seems hard to do. Maybe it’s something I got tired of at my old job, a frustration or a longing for a “real job” that challenged me or had more purpose. Explore this question of opportunity and be totally honest with yourself. You all know the metaphor of the glass that is either half full or half empty; this applies here too. Your choice …

A new adventure may be waiting for you. I’ve worked with many managers on their calling and purpose at work. Remarkably, we rarely dare to ask this question. If you do, you may discover things you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t had time for. Or, in some cases, my clients realize that they haven’t really made a free choice about their career, that they’ve been pushed by parents and conditioning. Maybe “getting fired” gives you that sense of real freedom for the first time. How do you feel about rethinking your life, about starting over? I remember the case of a top manager who got fed up with the corporate world and wanted to do something on his own: open a restaurant. Even though times aren’t easy, he doesn’t regret this decision to break free. His whole family supports him.

Be aware of your comfort zone that has often made you often dull and lazy in some way. There is no doubt that we all like things to be comfortable, salaries to be high and lives to be easy. But nothing lasts forever. Instead of complaining about what’s gone, be grateful that you had it for so many years. I often talk to my mother about World War II, when she had to flee her home, which had been bombed, and build a new existence. I realize time and time again that we take things for granted and, in fact, we are not so open to change really, aside from emergencies.

Trust in life. Indeed, this is probably the most challenging part. How can we trust in something we don’t know? It is funny that we do trust life every day and don’t realize it: every day when you go to sleep, you trust your system to carry you through the night, that all the liquids in you work, and that you will wake up the next morning. Even breathing happens without your intervention. Do you wonder every night if you will wake up the next day? No! The same attitude should be adopted with everything that comes up in life. Maybe losing your job has a deeper meaning? What is it trying to tell you?

The human species has the capacity to think and reflect, but this is not an advantage if misused. We can learn a lot from nature that surrounds us, it doesn’t know intellectually what this trust in life is, the question seems completely absurd. It is the embodiment of it.

Take some time to spend in nature, to feel the vibe of a forest or the sea, don’t overthink or analyse, just feel. Good ideas often come when the mind is calm.

Dr. Michael Schroeder

michael.schroeder@linarson.com

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