18 Ideas to Avoid Becoming a Ghost While Between Jobs

July 31, 2009 By 4 Comments

My recent post, “Ghosts of the Economy-Casualties of this Silent War” offered a sobering look at both the personal and societal impact of the economic situation. The comments from the readers were fascinating and in some cases, even more haunting than the post itself.

While the crystal ball that I use for forecasting is horribly foggy, my gut tells me that even as the economy begins to turn the corner, job growth will range somewhere between non-existent to painfully low and slow.  This bodes poorly for the millions of displaced professionals unaccustomed to being on the wrong side of the employment roll.

Real World Insights from Some Displaced Professionals:

I had a chance to chat with a number of recent and not so recent additions to the ranks of unemployed professionals, and to a person, they reported experiencing a range of emotions, most particularly, an uncomfortable feeling of helplessness, and in one case, an increasing sense of futility.

The individuals also agreed that the fight for economic and mental survival is a two-front war….taming the internal demons and turning what one described as creeping lethargy into action.

We discussed coping strategies, and here’s the list of very compelling suggestions offered up for anyone uncomfortably thrust into the role of formerly employed. If you or someone you know is dealing with this challenge, you might want to pass the ideas along. (Note: I’m not a job search advisor, so these strategies are above and beyond your nearly full-time work to find employment.)

Strategies to Avoid Becoming a Ghost

  1. Physical labor is good…but, you can only work on the house or yard for so long. Get it out of your system in the first few weeks …set a deadline and then get back to work on professional pursuits.
  2. What I Did on My Summer Vacation: sooner than later, establish a strategy that will allow you to comfortably explain what you accomplished/did/learned that showcases your capabilities. The suggestions were great.
  3. Write something and publish it: write an article, write a book, start a biz or proff’l blog, write guest blog posts.
  4. Exercise your brain…a lot: Take or teach a class
  5. Get current: update your credentials through courses and CEUs.
  6. Read everything you can get your hands on about the latest and greatest in your field.
  7. Be heard. Guest speak. Opportunities abound in classroom and association settings.
  8. Get current with technology. If you do not understand Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn and RSS, then it’s time to catch up.
  9. Volunteer. There are many that can use your help.
  10. Keep leading. Apply your management and leadership skills to a big project at a nonprofit, your church or one of the schools in your community.
  11. Stay goal driven: set goals for tangible output…i.e. two blog posts per week, one article etc.
  12. Investigate a life change. A number of people are so fed up with the risk of a corporate life that they are interested in taking their risk a different way…through franchising or by doing something entrepreneurial.
  13. Work out. Fitness supports mental health. Work out daily to burn stress and improve sleep.
  14. Coach or cheer. Take in your children’s events and feel great about being there!
  15. Thank your spouse/significant other often. Oh, and stay out of their way. No moping around the house.
  16. Network, but learn to recognize the difference between constructive and wasteful networking.
  17. Choose your coffee buddies carefully: don’t hang out too much with other unemployed professionals and when you do, keep the discussion positive and forward looking.
  18. Find a kindred spirit or two and hold each other accountable to moving forward.

The Bottom-Line

This one’s going to hurt. The days of hundreds or thousands of applicants for a typical opening are not going to end soon. A healthy frame of mind supports action and vice-versa. Remember, this too shall pass. Since none of us no how long however, waiting is not an option. Keep moving and stave off your metamorphosis into a ghost. You’ll come out of this a different, and perhaps new and improved professional.

Filed Under: "To Do" List, Career, Crisis Leadership, Professional Growth Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Did Anyone Get the Memo on How to Act During a Slowdown?

June 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

You don't have to look hard to learn about the impact of rising fuel costs, including layoffs, plant closings, cutbacks, service reductions, fare hikes and new user fees.  These headlines and many more just like them blare from the tv and radio or jump out at us from the front pages of our morning newspapers.  However, what really amazes me is how hard you have to work to find examples of companies and leaders that received and read the memo on surviving, improving and even prospering during periods of economic difficulty.

I wrote about this topic a number of months ago (How Good Leaders Approach a Recession) suggesting that the best leaders take advantage of business cycle slowdowns to improve their organizations and set the stage for growth as conditions improve.  While I don't recall for certain, I suspect that I might have even suggested that it is possible for truly enlightened organizations to take advantage of the situation by flogging their competitors who are acting as if a slowdown means going out of business.  If I didn't mention it previously, consider it said: You can grow and advance during a recession.

The Airline Industry: How Not to Act:

The airline industry is generating a fair amount (bad pun intended) of the air time (another bad pun, sorry!) on bad news.  Rapidly rising fuel costs are further devastating the already not-for-profit U.S. airline industry, driving the companies to cut flights, cut employees, cut planes, reduce services, hike fares, add all sorts of new user fees in an attempt to survive.  While I never begrudge anyone the right steps to deal with costs, it seems that the net impact of most of the actions is to take one of the most miserable experiences that a human can go through (next to prison) and make it worse.  In the words of one of my favorite people on the planet…"We have a plan, it's not going to work, but we're going to do it anyway."

Hey airline industry, what about taking some steps to try and do something radical like offer something that encourages people to fly.  You've proven that punishing us with horrible service, uncomfortable equipment and extra fees for luxuries like checked baggage or rescheduling our flights don't work.  Why not Tune In to your buyers and offer us opportunities and experiences that surprise and delight?  Imagine,  trying to lure customers with something positive.  Radical.

Rumor has it one of the major carriers is working on rolling out a host of incentives that focus on providing consumers with good reasons to happily fill their planes.  Southwest figured this formula out a long time ago, and in my opinion, their current commercials mocking the fees of the other airlines by showing passengers inserting quarters for things like reclining a seat, accessing the restroom or opening the overhead luggage compartment, are brilliant.   Just like Apple has single-handedly rebranded Microsoft as a clumsy, lumbering, out-of-touch company with the "I'm a Mac" commercials, Southwest is showcasing how asinine the rest of the industry is acting.

Bottom Line: Other Thoughts on Prospering During a Slowdown in Any Industry

I didn't mean to make this a rant on the airline industry, but with 1 million air miles, most on United, I've earned the right to vent just a little.  Some other thoughts for leaders, managers and concerned corporate citizens everywhere:

  • Thump your competitors if they'll let you. If your competitors are responding to a slowdown by acting like they are preparing to shrink, launch a frontal assault and seek to grab customers while the grabbing is good.
  • Give us reasons to buy, not avoid your product or service. Offer positive encouragement. If you own airplanes you want butts in seats and if you make cars, you want the same.  Help us solve our problems and offer us some good reasons to take that vacation or consider you when we need a new car.
  • Be positive.  Manage the flow of noise from your organization to ensure that it is weighted in the right direction.
  • Create experiences for your customers that "surprise and delight." 
  • Monitor what's happening in places where your customers come to buy.  (Home Depot, you lost my lawn tractor purchase last week, because no one in your store would take the time to talk to someone clearly ready to buy.)
  • Topgrade your team.  The right people make you great.  The wrong people have you punishing your customers and sewing the seeds of your own demise. 
  • Plan and act to prepare for improving conditions.  Prune your project portfolio to those that are most strategic and support them to the hilt!

My next assignment is to seek out examples of companies actually doing some of these things.  If you've got some examples, let us know.  I have to stop typing  now, I've finally reached the ticket counter and I need to pull out my credit card to pay for: the baggage fee, my flight change and my fuel surcharge.  Uh oh, the ticket agent looks angry. And oh yeah, I need a few singles for the bag of peanuts on the flight. 

 

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Good Leaders Approach a Recession

January 15, 2008 By 1 Comment

While I don’t know too many business leaders that look forward to a recession, I know a few strong leaders that do a remarkable job of working through them from a “glass is half-full” perspective.

It’s not yet clear whether we are in or heading for a recession, but the topic is on the collective mind of people in the U.S. and around the world.  If we are heading for recession, the right attitude and the right actions on your part will help your firm weather the storm and even prosper during or shortly after any period of business contraction.

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Filed Under: Crisis Leadership Tagged With: , , , , ,