Getting fired (up)
I was attending a conference recently for the professional in my
field. An event in the conference was an panel discussion on
recession and impending job cuts. The Indian delegate on the panel
talked about layoffs in Indian context and the stigma attached to
them. Another delegate heading an Indian company furiously denied any
plans for layoffs in near future (though I am sure s/he will retract
it pretty soon).
Everyone talked about salaries going down and jobs drying up. The
atmosphere was really gloomy, until one delegate from US, who holds a
senior position in a telecom major, spoke. He recounted his own
experience of being laid off less than a decade back!
We were surprised to know that he was far below on the ladder from his
current position when he was laid off. He talked about how infuriated
and insulted he felt when the news reached him. He told us how he
walked up to his boss, who was also laid off a few months later, and
gave her a piece of his mind. Then he pointed out that lady, now
owner of a leading solution provider in my field, sitting in the
audience! They are good friends now :-).
His story was quite inspiring: how he overcame a phase of self-doubt
post-layoff to start job hunting and learning new skills. How he
learnt what he was capable of, and used his capabilities to the
fullest when the economy stabilized in couple of years. How his
getting fired led to his getting fired-up to aspire and achieve a
better position for himself :-).
I am sure lots of people went back from the conference with the hope
that however hard they may fall now, they sure will be able to bounce
back in full force, just like that delegate.
