3 Things Great Leaders Do When They Get Laid Off

In this episode, we talk about three things the best leaders do when they get laid off or experience a work transition. We share how good leaders lean into self-compassion, self-care, and reach out to their networks to get back on that proverbial employment horse. Enjoy!

A Framework for Transition

When losing a job, how can we hold the tension and how can we care for ourselves? How can we navigate transition well and learn from these opportunities when maybe it wasn’t the path we chose?

When laid off we need a framework and words that name the experience. We love the book, Leadership on the Line, staying Alive in the Dangers of Leadership by Ronald Hy Fitz and Marty Linsky because it gives a language to understand some of the organizational dynamics that are happening around us. We are able to look at leaders in different ways. It helped us understand the ways that we wanted to lead and didn’t want to lead, how we wanted to build a team, and how we wanted to respect people and treat them as humans.

The 4 Dangers

In the book, Fitz and Linsky warn of four dangers when it comes to leadership:

1. Being Marginalized – The first danger is being marginalized. Maybe your scope of work or influence becomes small and you feel marginalized. Maybe you feel smaller.
2. Being Diverted – The second one is being diverted. A diversion takes you away from what you’re really best at. Pay attention when someone might try to take you in a different direction that may not be a Strengths fit or a culture fit.
3. Being Attacked – The third danger is being attacked. This could be being attacked by character or attacked by how you are talked about or attacked by things that people say, whether they’re true or not. It then could become a narrative of what’s happening.
4. Being Seduced – The fourth danger is being seduced. This could be golden handcuffs or staying in a role for money or benefits.

Three Ways to Succeed When You’re Laid Off

Everyone has experienced a job transition before. Here are three things the best of the best leaders do in points of transition.

1. Self Compassion

During times of change or transition, the best leaders practice self-compassion. Self-compassion involves understanding a common humanity and practicing mindfulness and then kindness to yourself. Research says that self-compassion changes your brain and allows you to move from a reactive state to a more responsive one. It’s about being more comfortable with yourself so that you can respond better or show up a little bit differently. Give yourself permission to say to yourself, ‘I feel bad that I’m in this situation.’

We have found that practicing self-compassion by being able to feel whatever you need to feel, and then being kind to yourself and mindful of what’s happening, really allows people to make the transition from a very traumatic event.

 2. Self-Care

The second thing that the best leaders do is practice self-care. How do you really care for yourself? What are practices that you can put into place to start exercising more, eating better, or sleeping more? What would be best for you during this transition time? and how do you make the most of it in a moment of bittersweetness?

 3. Reach out to your people

And the third thing the best leaders do in transition is they reach out to their people. In points of transition, especially if it involves job loss, find the people that know the best parts of you. Find the people who can help you be kind to yourself and support you during a period of change. Sometimes we all need people to walk alongside us.

Connect with Us

If you or a loved one has recently experienced an employment layoff, we encourage you to practice compassion. Be kind and know that we need to be there for each other and remind each other of who we are.

Have you recently experienced an employment layoff? What helped you come out on the other side? Connect with me at nathan@leadershipvisionconsulting.com.