Getting Fired Can Be Great
How to get over it and make it work for you
Welcome to the latest entry in The Captain’s Log. You’re in good company with thousands of fellow entrepreneurs and innovators who have subscribed!
I’m your host, Bob, and my mission here is to share personal, behind-the-scenes stories of ups and downs from my career leading tech startups and corporate innovation.
I write to make you think, smile, and discover a shortcut to success or a trap to avoid.
Here we go…
It seems like every day I log into LinkedIn another friend in my feed announces they got impacted by a layoff. It’s starting to feel like the new normal.
There hasn’t been anything close to “lifetime employment” in our lifetimes. It probably happened to you—or will happen before you hang up your spurs and retire. (We can still retire at some point, right?)
Despite its new normalcy, being cast out of a company hits us in deeply personal ways. Our evolutionary mental programming is full of fear of being shunned by our tribe. We feel like failures, we’re embarrassed to share the news, and most companies treat us like lepers on our way out the door.
From over-eating to depression, we’ve got a LOT of bad evolutionary programming that doesn’t fit today’s working world. In reality, getting fired might be the best thing that happens in your career—and life.
You might even find a way to get yourself fired to elevate your career. Let me explain with some stories…
Think of Your Health
It’s two weeks ago, and I’m in Las Vegas for an industry conference. As my team and I review the day over cocktails at a sponsored event, we strike up a conversation with a woman we had not met before. Her name is Susan.
We each share a little bit about our backgrounds. Susan explains that she is new to this company—joining after spending 17 years at her previous firm. This previous firm is well-known in our industry as a very old-school, non-digital business. It was never a great place to work, but it got even worse once a private equity firm acquired it. We ask Susan if the rumors are true, and she confirms, “The CEO is a monster.” She shares a few examples that back up the claim.
Now, I can’t help but ask provocative questions, even to people I’ve just met. I’m truly curious about people—and I’m always looking for stories to power these posts. (I’ve got permanent bruises from where my wife kicks me under the table when I do this. But I forge on for your benefit, dear reader.)
I gently ask, “Why did you stay there so long?”
Susan takes a deep breath and answers:
“I feel like I missed the move to digital marketing a long time ago and stayed with this company because I was afraid I would fail if I tried going elsewhere. I didn’t think anyone would want me. But getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
She describes how her network helped her land this new job in a strong, stable, digital role. Susan learned quickly and took advantage of her skills that have never gone out of style, like inspiring a team and building trusted client relationships.
Here’s the thing: You will die much sooner than you want to.
Life is far too short to spend most of your day doing work that you dislike for people you dislike working for.
A toxic work environment will shorten this life. A constant flow of stress hormones—among other issues—weakens your cells, and countless studies show that work stress ends lives early. It also makes the days you are alive feel awful.
Get out while you still can. At a minimum, do it for your spouse and/or children, who also feel your unhappiness, and make some of it their own.
And don’t just try to go numb to the pain. I remember my first corporate job, which was exciting at first and then turned into a bureaucratic fight for rungs in the promotion ladder. I thought, “If I stay in this job, I will have to give myself a lobotomy so that I don’t care.” Lobotomies are no longer elective surgery, but alcohol and drugs are readily available to dull the pain, again crushing so many lives in the process. Dulling ourselves might quiet our minds for a bit, but it turns us into the walking dead.
Remember: You have skills and friends to help you. Try to get out early when things go bad (see below). If you are let go, remember that the doubts and depression are natural, but so many better opportunities are out there for the taking.
You are not a failure. You are strong. You just need the right setting to succeed.
Make Layoffs Work for You
You might even engineer your own exit from a company to free yourself from the pain with some extra cash in the bank. This is the advanced setting of layoffs, but it’s pretty easy once someone shares the secret, and you screw your courage to the sticking place.
A few months ago, I was enjoying catch-up beers with my friend, Bruce. In our conversation, he shares his progress on a startup idea that he’d been working on over nights and weekends for several months. Bruce had growing confidence that he could make it a success, but it was near the point that he had to go full-time on the idea. However, as the sole income in a two-child household, he was worried about leaving without a paycheck and health insurance.
I ask some of my usual probing questions and learn that Bruce’s company was conducting re-orgs and associated layoffs every six months. He quietly hoped to be let go and receive the several months of severance and benefits that went to the departed. Unfortunately, his company needed him to anchor a core business unit.
I let him in on a secret: You can get yourself fired.
A few months later, the company’s new CEO brought in someone from his old company and told Bruce that this person would take a chunk of his role. And in a re-org, opportunity knocks.
The next day, Bruce asks his manager for time to chat. He starts the conversation with this statement:
“This is a significant change in my responsibilities, and it seems that the job I’ve held no longer exists. I’m not OK with this demotion. So I’d like a severance package.”
Bruce’s manager has a hard time computing for a few seconds, briefly tries to push back, slumps her shoulders in defeat, and admits he’s right. Bruce got his package. The company chalked it up as a routine event. He’s happily pursuing his dream with some extra funding in the bank.
Most large companies are poor at “people stuff.” All these layoffs we see are living proof. They don’t want to fight you when you don’t want to be there. It’s painful for them, so they do what’s normal human behavior: Pay your severance and end their pain.
Sure, it takes some intestinal fortitude to go into a discussion like Bruce did. But if you plan to leave anyway, what do you have to lose? I’ve since coached two other people who have successfully taken this approach.
I Know, I’ve Been There
I’ve had to lay people off at my previous company because of my poor leadership. It’s something you never want to do again. But I’ve also managed to get myself let go from my last company. Every leader who has laid people off should experience this from the other end at some point in their careers.
I wasn’t part of a layoff, RIF, or staff reduction. I was straight-up fired, right after leading my business unit to 4x revenue growth.
Flashback to March 2020. I’m still leading a business that I co-founded and sold to a large company nearly two years earlier. Contractually I had to stay at the firm until our earnout was complete and the shareholder checks went out to our investors and employees.
I decided soon after the acquisition that I’d have to leave right after the checks cleared. While I never got any direct feedback—positive or negative, written or verbal—from the company’s leadership, I had a feeling they didn’t want me to stick around, either.
In plotting my exit, I realized I had a share grant due to vest on April 1. It was just 3 weeks after “check day,” so I figured I could hang around until then to resign.
A week before the big day I get a call out of the blue from my manager. He starts winding up a speech about “going in different directions,” and it’s awkward. I decide to let him off the hook and interrupt to ask, “Are you firing me?” He confirms, and I say “No problem, I’ll chat with HR.”
I don’t know what really went down. There was a rumor that the CEO—who himself was eventually fired—thought I’d quit as soon as the check cleared and got nervous. What I do know is that yours truly got one of those nice severance packages and vested shares.
I won’t deny it stung a little. We’re all human with this damn broken programming to push against. But looking back now, I see it as just another box on the bucket list of work+life experiences.
We shouldn’t make a habit out of getting fired, but we can turn it into something positive. If nothing else, it’s a sign that the universe sees our talents better used elsewhere. Go find that.
How we might work together…
My team and I lead Hearty, a boutique recruiting service that helps tech-forward companies hire proven talent. Our senior team of operators sources and screens, saving you time and money. When you need help, let’s chat.
Feel free to schedule time together during my Open Hours for questions, feedback, networking, or any other topic!
BONUS: Cool Content of the Week
A little something I found meaningful. You might agree…
Cal Newport is on a mission to make our work more manageable. And if you struggle with anything from short-term to-do lists to long-term career planning, his weekly podcast is a must-listen. Last week, he went deep on “Why Are You So Tired?” at work. The answer: We frequently switch our tasks at work, losing our flow and draining enormous energy as our attention resets. I’ve started evolving my approach and feel greater energy already. Your turn.