Inner Excellence: Tearing Through the Job Transition
From Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., 4/22/2010 10:23:51 AM
She’s smart, she’s hard-working, she’s experienced—and she can’t believe that at the exact moment she was supposed to be at the peak of her career, she’s having to “reinvent” herself.
If this sounds like you, you would be well-served to tune into a free two-day Encore Career TeleSummit for Women 50+ hosted by Lin Schreiber of RevolutionizeRetirement.com, one of our neighbors in cyberspace, on April 24 and 25. This, and many other issues related to making the transition to a new, more meaningful means of livelihood in the present economy, will be addressed by 12 experts, including yours truly, who has the 5 p.m. EST spot on April 24. REAL Powered by Humana is a sponsor of the TeleSummit. Click here to register!
One of the first people I hope will sign up to attend is my friend Joan. Throughout the course of her long, successful career as HR director of a major firm, Joan let nothing stop her, not even losing her job at 58. When she called to tell me about her company’s downsizing, she was remarkably upbeat.
“I’ve already put calls out to all the friends I’ve made over the years, sent my resume to all the competitors and have set up temporary office space in a corporate business center. I’m going to run this transition like a job and according to my timeline, I should be re-employed within three months.”
I didn’t hear back from Joan for awhile, and when I did, it wasn’t good news. Five months had dragged on, with no prospects in sight.
“What more could I have done?” she asked when we finally reconnected. “I did every single thing I could think of.”
For our generation of super-charged women, the last thing any of us wants to experience is loss of control. We were shot out of cannons, competing first in school then in the workplace against the largest, best educated generation in history. Refusing to accept gender discrimination, we won new ground for women industry-by-industry, position-by-position. Ironically, those who have had the best run, and the least insurmountable obstacles, can often be least prepared to regroup emotionally and spiritually after losing their job.
My advice to my peers, and what Lin Schreiber and I will discuss during my TeleSummit interview, is this. When you’ve done everything you can think of, used every arrow in your quiver and contacted everyone you know, you still have one more thing you should do—and probably should have done in the first place. Grieve.
You’ve got to allow yourself the time to feel your anger, sorrow and disappointment. You’ve got to give yourself the opportunity to rethink your career and life choices, and to allow yourself the space to rebuild your spirit on a solid foundation.
Do this, plus when the time is right, use every tool in your kit, and your new means of livelihood will grow organically from enriched soil, watered, in part, by your tears.
The upcoming TeleSummit is designed specifically for women who want to (or have to) work in retirement, but want more meaning, money, and authenticity in their lives. Other featured experts include Betsy Werley, Executive Director of The Transition Network and Jeri Sedlar, best-selling author of Don’t Retire, REWIRE!