Sometimes getting fired is a gift. You are miserable because you and your new CEO have different visions and no matter how hard you try, you can’t see eye-to-eye. Getting fired gives you time to walk in nature, climb mountains, get on the elliptical every day and do the things you know help restore you to good thinking. It’s also the easiest way to get access to your severance package.
If you’ve been fired, just remember: You’re not alone. As Dr. Howard Kirz once told me, “As a physician executive, it is not a matter of if you will get fired, but only when. When it happens, you will have gotten yours out of the way.” Larry Tyler, CEO of the executive search firm Tyler and Company, says, “Have a good cry, tell your family, take two weeks off and then start your job hunt.” He knew one person who kept pretending to go to work every day because he would not admit to his wife what had happened. While it is more comfortable to be looking for a job when you have one, it is very difficult to have the time to do a methodical, well thought-out search. Use your newfound time wisely.
Recruiters and hiring organizations know this happens. You are not damaged goods. Now, if there are three firings, they are going to think you are the problem. Try not to take it too personally, although I have never exactly understood that phrase. If something happens to me, it feels personal. But try hard to look at it as the best business decision for the organization. You were miserable with the new regime, even if you didn’t want to admit it.
When I was 24, my husband of two years left me. I cried and cried and cried. My mother said, “Someday I think you are going to see this as a gift.” It was the best one he ever gave me. Without this setback, I never would have had the good 40 years with my second and present husband. I didn’t have the nerve at 24 to leave on my own.
It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Don’t view getting fired as a failure on your part. It truly is an opportunity.
