Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Desire and Deserve

R EINVENT Y OUR C AREER Attain the Success You Desire and Deserve

By

Susan Wilson Solovic

Franklin Lakes, NJ

Copyright 2003 by Susan Wilson Solovic All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press. REINVENT YOUR CAREER EDITED BY KRISTEN PARKES TYPESET BY STACEY A. FARKAS Cover design by Cheryl Cohan Finbow Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 www.careerpress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Solovic, Susan Wilson. Reinvent your career : attain the success you desire and deserve / by Susan Wilson Solovic. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-56414-682-0 (paper) 1. Career changes. 2. Career development. 3. Success in business. I. Title. HF5384.S64 2003 650.14—dc21

2003046283


To my mother, Lucille Wilson, who passed away on July 4, 2001. You will always be my best friend and inspiration.

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Acknowledgments

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’d like to thank all the people who contributed to this work. As with everything in life, nothing happens in a vacuum. This project would not have been possible without those individuals who took time to share their stories and expertise. I’d also like to thank my team who assisted me along the way: Laura Schacht, Jane Ward, Dan Demko, Shera Dalin, Audra Shanley, and my husband, George Solovic. A special thanks to Mary Quigg, who opened her incredible and vast library of resources to me. Without your efforts and your belief in me, this book could not have been completed. You are all my shinning stars.

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Contents

Introduction .................................................................... 9 Chapter 1 ...................................................................... 13 Reflection and Introspection Chapter 2 ...................................................................... 25 Are You at Risk? Chapter 3 ...................................................................... 45 Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive! Chapter 4 ...................................................................... 67 Survival Skills Chapter 5 ...................................................................... 89 Protecting Yourself: The Nuts and Bolts of Career Transition Chapter 6 ..................................................................... 101 Getting Back on the Horse Chapter 7 ..................................................................... 123 Living Authentically in an Unauthentic World Chapter 8 ..................................................................... 161 Age and Gender Factors

Chapter 9 ..................................................................... 173 The Lure of Entrepreneurism Chapter 10 ................................................................... 197 Revved up Retirees: The Great Second Chapter Chapter 11 ................................................................... 211 Words of Wisdom Index ........................................................................... 215 About the Author ......................................................... 221

Introduction
9

Introduction

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ife is full of possibilities. That’s a belief I have held all my life. I have never been one to get so locked into planning my life that I couldn’t easily change direction to take advantage of a new opportunity. My undergraduate degree is in history and political science, and when I graduated I had difficulty finding a job. So I applied for a teaching fellowship at a university and decided to pursue a master’s degree in political science. To help pay the bills, I took a receptionist job with a technical training school called the

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Reinvent Your Career Broadcast Center. I grew up in a rural community in southern Missouri and I had what we fondly refer to as the Swamp East Missouri twang. It sounds much like a heavy southern accent although not as gentile. I dropped “ing” endings and my vowel sounds were nasal. Extension cord became “igstinsion card.” So there I was, answering phones for the Broadcast Center with this horrendous accent. Some of the instructors at the school decided it was time to teach me to talk. They put me in a room with a tape recorder and made me pronounce “how now brown cow” so I could learn to make nice round vowel sounds instead of nasal ones. In many respects, I felt like Eliza Doolitte in My Fair Lady. It was a long, hard battle, and there were many days I felt like giving up. But eventually with the support and mentorship of my instructors, the effort paid off. I successfully rid myself of the accent. A corresponding result was that I fell in love with journalism. It had always been a secret desire of mine to be a news anchor. In college I worked at a small television station doing the weather. My problem was that I hadn’t known how to go about making my dream a reality, but now it seemed possible. I decided to turn down the teaching fellowship and try to land a job in television news. One of my instructors helped me put together an audition tape and within two weeks I was anchoring the news for an NBC affiliate. Those were the days! After a couple of years in the “biz,” I was recruited by Southwestern Bell Company (SBC). At the time, I was young and had no idea that it was difficult to land a job with such a good company. I also didn’t realize that I had a special skill set they needed. The company wanted to create a video-magazine as an employee communication tool and of course they needed someone with television skills. When I was offered the job and the salary (which was more than twice what I was making at the time), I jumped at it exclaiming, “I wouldn’t know what to do with that much money!” I spent a few years working for SBC. Then, the entrepreneurial bug bit me and I wanted to strike out on my own. Because, in addition to my video responsibilities, I had been doing advertising and public

Introduction
11 relations work for Bell, I founded Wilson and Associates—a boutique PR and advertising firm. Unfortunately, at the time I knew very little about business planning and running a business. As a result, my business failed. It was time to find a job with a consistent paycheck. My civic and charitable work had introduced me to a number of high-ranking executives with large companies and I decided to leverage those contacts. Soon I found myself working as manager of public relations for a Fortune 100 company and attending night law school at the same time. I quickly climbed the corporate ladder to become the vice president, director of marketing—the first female executive in my division. Obtaining a law degree had been a life-long goal because I believe in the importance of education. However, I never really saw myself actually practicing law. Therefore, instead of pursuing a legal career when I graduated from law school, I decided to stay in my current position that I really liked. Then the company I was working for was sold to another entity and I saw the handwriting on the wall. It would only be a matter of time until the old team—my team—would be replaced by a new one. So I resigned and decided to try my hand at practicing law. As it turned out my decision to leave the company was a smart one because within a couple of years, most of my former colleagues where downsized and looking for new jobs. While I loved law school, as I suspected, I did not adapt well to the practice of law. It wasn’t a good fit for me. I worked with many clients experiencing a divorce or employment discrimination and it was emotionally draining. Time to move on—to reinvent my career, again. That’s when I realized I had a special gift—the gift of communication. I became passionate about helping others see their potential and follow their dreams. Particularly as I watched so many of my friends invest their hearts and souls in a job, only to be unceremoniously tossed aside. They were traumatized and devastated and I wanted to help them see that they can do anything and be anything if they are willing to sacrifice to reach their goals. The world is full of possibilities.

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Reinvent Your Career If you believe in yourself and your abilities, there is never an ending—only new beginnings. You must keep an open mind and be willing to take risks. An open mind is much more receptive to opportunity than a closed mind. While this is a trait that is often a genetic mindset, it can indeed be learned. Learning to be aware of your gifts and see opportunities can help you reap incredible rewards. My hope in writing this book is that you get in touch with your soul and create your own new beginnings—that’ll you’ll take control of your life rather than let circumstances or other people control you. If you can do that, you’ll achieve the success you deserve and desire. It’s never too late to begin living the life you want to live. But you owe it to yourself to start today.

Reflection and Introspection
13

Chapter 1

Reflection and Introspection Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it. —Maya Angelou, poet

Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Career?

T

o begin the journey of reinventing your career, ask yourself these questions.

1. Am I doing what I am doing today because I don’t know what else I would or could do? 2. Am I in the money trap?

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Reinvent Your Career 3. Do I feel good about what I am doing and whom I am doing it for? 4. Do I have the balance and integration in my life I want? 5. Am I willing to make substantial changes in my life to grow and to learn? 6. Do I know what my life’s passion truly is? 7. Do I truly know who I am? 8. Do I understand my personal definition of success? 9. Do I stand on my personal values regardless of the situation? 10. Do I feel undervalued in my work? If these questions are troublesome for you, you are not alone. It takes some real soul searching to answer them confidently. There are a lot of us who are living our lives on automatic pilot. As human beings, we go through the motions day in and day out, and we try to convince ourselves that everything is okay. But sometimes there is a nagging feeling inside us that tells us something isn’t quite right. There is a void we can’t explain—an emptiness. Rather than address it, however, we ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t right and you owe it to yourself to examine your feelings—to be truthful with yourself. Take time to question your own story. Is it really your story or the one you have made up because it is the “right” thing to do or it is what someone expected you to do? I spoke with a woman at the end of one of my seminars who sadly told me she no longer knew what she was passionate about or what she really wanted to do with her life. She explained that at one time, she had a strong sense of self and she was clear about her goals. But over the years, little by little she had lost that sense of purpose as she gave up more and more of herself to be the person she thought others wanted her to be. Near tears, she confided she felt confused and empty.

Reflection and Introspection
15 It’s easy to lose sight of our passion as we get caught up in the daily routine of life. We all deal with a variety of roles and corresponding expectations, and so we often ignore going after what truly makes us happy. I explained to this woman that it was understandable that she was having difficulty getting in touch with her passion and that she should let that be okay. She should give herself the time and permission to explore her desires and get to know herself again. With patience and introspection, she would learn where she wanted to go with her life. But it takes courage to be that honest with yourself. There are countless stories of people who have graduated from medical school to please their parents, or people who have spent years in a particular career because they felt obligated and afraid to try something new. Kathleen Thurmond was one of those people. A college student in the 1960s, she was pushed into a traditional female field of social work. However, at the various agencies where she was employed, she migrated toward administrative roles because it seemed like a more natural fit for her. “In 1993, a misdiagnosis of breast cancer marked a turning point in my life. I had to evaluate what I really wanted to do,” Thurmond explained. “There was a part of me that always liked business so I decided to take a shot at running my family’s business.” Thurmond’s decision was timely given the fact that her father’s health was failing. She stepped in and became president of Best Washington Uniform and Linen Supply, Inc. in Long Beach, California. It has been the right decision for her. From my own career experiences, I can say that all of us have bad days on the job, but there is a big difference between having a bad day and having a bad fit. For example, after leaving a high-paying position with a Fortune 100 company, I took a lower level position and significantly less in salary to join a rapidly growing, privately held entity. Almost immediately, I recognized I had not made a good choice. The nascent company lacked leadership and professionalism, and I had difficulty adjusting to the new culture. After giving it a six-month trial,

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Reinvent Your Career I tendered my resignation, but my boss countered with a rather large pay increase. I acquiesced, and continued trying desperately to fit in. Another three months passed, and I realized I was about as comfortable in the situation as I would be in a sleeping bag filled with fleas. So once again, I handed in my resignation and my boss came back with the offer of an additional pay increase. I explained to him that money wasn’t the issue. I didn’t feel valued or respected at the firm. Furthermore, I found the work unchallenging and not intellectually stimulating. These things are more important to me than any dollar amount. Your life is your own creation and it is the only life you get. Throughout the years, I have seen so many people who have chosen to maintain the status quo, regardless of their satisfaction level. They are afraid to take a risk and follow their passions. Nothing is written in concrete. Change is good and you have the power to change your life. Give your soul a wake-up call. Take time to introduce yourself to you. In order to reinvent your career, you have to have a complete understanding of who and what you are. The saddest situation for any of us is to pass through this world simply going through the motions. In the following chapters, you’ll learn career survival strategies and tips for grasping the reins and controlling your own destiny. You’ll benefit from expert advice and you’ll hear stories from people just like you who have been through career transitions, and who have not only survived, but are thriving. So can you. Whether you are currently unsatisfied with your present position, reevaluating your personal priorities, facing a downsizing, or looking to create a second chapter of your life in retirement, you’ll learn how to reinvent your career—creating the life you desire and deserve.

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. —Joseph Campbell, author

Reflection and Introspection
17

Reinventing “YOU, Inc.” The new economy is about reinventing how business is conducted— in every single job, in every single corporation. There’s a revolution going on, and we have to rethink every relationship within the company and beyond. —Peter Solvik, senior vice president and chief information officer, Cisco Systems, San Jose, California If companies are constantly rethinking, reinventing, and re engineering, why doesn’t the American worker do the same thing?

A Friend’s Story My friend Janet waits patiently for me in the bar of our favorite restaurant sipping a glass of Merlot. As usual, I am running a few minutes late for our monthly chat. “Girls’ night out” is something we both look forward to as a break from the day-to-day hassles of our challenging careers. Eagerly, I rush through the door equipped with my usual arsenal of excuses for being late, anticipating Janet’s feigned frustration accompanied by a warm smile and a big hug. But today, Janet’s demeanor is somber and subdued. Her vibrant eyes are dead with a sad, far away look. Something is seriously wrong. Not knowing how to react, I perch myself on the barstool next to her and jokingly say, “Okay, so I’m a little late. What’s with the doom and gloom routine?” She hesitates momentarily, then lifts her head and stares out into space. In an eerily morbid tone she says, “My company is being sold, and I’m out of a job. They told us this afternoon.” I couldn’t believe it. Janet is one of the most successful people I know. She’s a brilliant marketing director. During her nearly 25-year tenure with her company, she rose to the top of her department.

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Reinvent Your Career “I’m devastated. I gave my all to that company. How can they do this? It isn’t fair. What am I going to do now?” she asks. “I’m too young to retire, and where am I ever going to get another job like the one I have now, particularly at my age?”

The New Reality Most of us know someone like Janet. Her story is not unique. She is a newly initiated member of a growing fraternity of talented individuals who have dedicated their lives to their careers only to be tossed aside like a used tissue. More than 50 percent of working Americans know someone who has lost a job in the past 12 months, and that number continues to climb. The loss of jobs since March 2001—the date many refer to as the beginning of the current recession—remains the worst in almost 20 years. The employment decline has been deeper than it was at a comparable point in the so-called jobless recovery of the early 1990s, according to recently revised statistics from the Labor Department. The economy has lost more than 2 million jobs, a drop of 1.5 percent, since the end of the first quarter of 2001. Ironically, layoffs have continued despite the resumption of economic growth more than a year ago. The decline was 1.3 percent at the same point in the business cycle a decade ago (“U.S. Economy in Worst Hiring Slump in 20 Years.” New York Times [Feb. 6, 2003]). According to most researchers, the jobs being eliminated today will never be replaced. We are living in a world where the term job security is an oxymoron. Yet 73 percent of people believe they are not at risk of losing their jobs. It’s like the old joke: What’s the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is when your neighbor loses her job. A depression is when you are out of a job. Too many working Americans continue to live in denial, and denial is a dangerous state of mind. Failing to acknowledge the realities of your situation can have a disastrous result. Imagine trying to cross the street at a major intersection without looking for traffic. You might

Reflection and Introspection
19 get lucky and make it across without an incident, but most likely you are going to cause an accident and possibly be hit yourself. The business world has gone through a major transformation where the old rules no longer apply, and it is time to recognize that fact. You have to look both ways and understand clearly what’s going on before you can take control of your life and make career decisions that are right for you. As a society, our first introduction to the concept of downsizing came in the mid- to late-70s when we heard managers speak of “trimming the fat” or “running lean and mean.” Since then, we’ve watched companies restructure, reengineer, regenerate, reenergize, and rejuvenate to adjust to a rapidly changing marketplace. Minimally, 60 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have restructured in the past several years. Others have laid thousands off as the red ink on their balance sheets forced them into bankruptcy. Plus, millions of people lost jobs as the bottom fell out of the dot-com industry, which was followed by another wave of pink slips due to a recessionary economy. But the real betrayal of the American worker is the arrogant and egregious conduct of the egocentric, self-absorbed, greedy executives who led their companies into bankruptcy while assuring the thousands of employees and stockholders that everything was just fine. As a result, many hardworking individuals found themselves with portfolios filled with stock that was less valuable than a paper towel. For decades the American worker enjoyed a paternalistic relationship with his or her employer. There was a strong belief that you could find a good job, work really hard, climb up the ladder, and eventually retire with a gold watch and a healthy pension. You only changed jobs if you found a better opportunity. Termination meant you must have done something terribly wrong or you weren’t a good performer. Whatever the rationale, you became branded with a scarlet letter—an L for loser. This is not the case anymore. Americans have had a love/hate relationship with their work. In our society the word work conjures up negative emotions. Something is work when it’s an exhaustive, stressful, tedious effort. Work isn’t

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Reinvent Your Career fun. It’s something we “have” to do. Ironically, most of us admit we’d continue working even if we didn’t “have” to. Furthermore, many of us grew up in environments where there was a value placed on obtaining what was considered a “good” job. There was never any talk about passion. A job was a job—you didn’t have to particularly like it. A job provides financial security—the ability to take care of and raise a family. Daughters (particularly those of us in the Baby Boomer generation) were often encouraged to marry young men that had a “good job.” Paradoxically, regardless of what kind of work we do, it is how we define ourselves. It provides status in our communities—a means of measurement. As author Al Gini notes, “Not having a job means you’re a person without salary, stuff, or status.” Among 45-year-old-plus workers, work is such a central part of their lives that it plays a larger role than romance in shaping their feelings about themselves. In fact, 75 percent of respondents to a study conducted by the AARP agree that the inability to find a job would damage their self-esteem more than the inability to find a mate or personal relationship. Therefore, it’s not surprising many of us find ourselves stuck in unrewarding, dead-end jobs—trapped by the golden handcuffs or a fear of not being able to replace what we have. And it should come as no surprise that 78 percent of us say we would quit if we had a better offer. We make tradeoffs. We consciously choose to give up a certain amount of control over our own lives in exchange for the trappings we believe are important. These decisions are based on learned behaviors, which our society teaches us, not something inherent in our personalities. Therefore, it stands to reason that the loss of a job, whether voluntary or not, is the loss of who we are and how we present ourselves to the outside world. A career transition is traumatic and unsettling because it shakes the foundation of our very existence. “One of the things you miss when you lose a job is the personal relationships with the people you work with. They are like family— you spend a lot of time with them—you really miss the relationships you have developed over your tenure. You can never underestimate

Reflection and Introspection
21 the size of that loss,” explains corporate executive, Bob Wiesler, who spent 10 years with a company, only to be downsized as the company transitioned to a franchise-based organization. But let’s get real: it’s only a job, not the end of the world. Undoubtedly, it creates turmoil and difficulties, and jeopardizes your personal financial security, but it’s not a terminal illness. Things could be worse, so put it in perspective. Depending on your personal situation, the loss of a job can be as small as a speed bump, or as large as a mountain, but you can conquer either one. Work is a means to an end. Where, how, and who you do it for should be controlled by you, not an external force. There is a great line in the modern-day Cinderella story, Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts’s character, Vivian, says, “We say who. We say when, and we say how much.” Vivian understands the importance of controlling her own destiny. Concentrate on your own personal skills and what you want to do, not on a particular employer. Who says work can’t be fun? Why can’t you earn a living doing something you love? You can if you are willing to take charge or your life and obtain the success you deserve and desire.

Doing What You Want to Do and Loving It There is only one success…to be able to spend your life in your own way. —Christopher Morley, author Change is the basic premise of today’s business environment. Yet as workers we have not adjusted to the new realities of the marketplace—a global, 24/7 environment where the complex challenges

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Reinvent Your Career businesses face are daunting. Businesses can no longer rely on historic perspectives and business strategies if they are going to survive. In order to compete effectively, companies need skills and innovative ideas. Some of the best decisions companies make are when they bring together a diverse group of individuals to analyze a problem and come up with a solution. The business world needs creative thinking skills. Many companies are so desperate for this type of innovation that they hire firms such as BrightHouse: an Ideation Company. BrightHouse maintains innovation as the rule, not the exception (“Innovative Model.” Entrepreneur [Sept. 2002]). According to information on its Website, BrightHouse explains that it solves traditional business issues in unconventional ways. They do so by utilizing a team of creative thinkers from varied backgrounds and areas of expertise. Frequently, companies get bogged down in layers of management, processes, and bureaucracy. That opens the door for outside consultants who enter with a fresh approach and an understanding that there is never just one right answer. That’s an idea you can’t get from a computer. Given this need for innovative approaches to business strategy, there is no greater asset to a company than its human capital. Your creativity can help define the winning strategies of your company. Your communication skills can help build and nurture customer/ client relationships. Your personal experiences, expertise, and unique abilities can help identify solutions to complex problems. You are your own business enterprise. Your inventory is your talent and ability— skills that can’t be programmed into a computer. Accordingly, you have much greater control over your life, your career, and your destiny than you realize. It is time to invest in yourself, not in a particular job or company. “We no longer live in an era where you are in one job for the duration of your career. You have to be flexible and willing to move. Even the best run the risk of being downsized,” says author Linda Wheeler.

Reflection and Introspection
23 The key is to adopt an independent, not interdependent, attitude toward your career. “Personally, I think we tend to put too much stock in the particular company we work for. We should put more stock in ourselves and the work that we do, rather than who we do it for,” explains downsizing survivor Bob Wiesler. “I was hired by another company a few months after being terminated, but it was still hard to let go. You look back and ask, ‘Why did they do this to me?’” Now is the time to embrace your personal values and change your feelings toward work. Like business owner Dennis Benson says, “It has to be good. It has to be fun. It has to be profitable. When it stops being fun, do something else (Fast Company [May 2001]).”

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Are You at Risk?
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Chapter 2

Are You at Risk? It is not real work unless you would rather be doing something else. —J.M. Barrie

Are You a Pink-Slip Candidate?

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he simple answer is yes you are—if you have a job that is. No single person is indispensable to an organization. Even the owner or founder of a company is at risk. Boards can wield tremendous power and oust even the most unlikely. “In my company, we’ve reduced 50 percent of our U.S. workforce in 18 months and 40 percent worldwide. We’re seeing layoffs in countries like Malaysia

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Reinvent Your Career that rarely see downsizing,” says human resource professional Tom Stiffler. Okay, now that you understand you are at risk, you owe it to yourself to stay alert. As my mother used to say, keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. You must be a realist and face the situation head on. Recognizing the precariousness of any employment does not diminish, however, the concern over any career transition. We spend more time with the people we work with than we do with our families and friends. Work often forms the basis of our social lives, and so even when our job is less than fulfilling, we hang in there because that’s where we are connected. The thought of transitioning to another job or career path can easily scare us to death because, in part, we are losing our social support system. If you have ever gone through a transition you know how hard it can be. Everyone promises to stay in touch, and for a while you make a valiant effort, but people get busy and you have less and less in common so soon the relationships fade. It is even more difficult if the transition is involuntary because former coworkers often feel uncomfortable and unsure of how to relate to you. “Don’t put all of your emotional eggs in the work basket,” cautions John Izzo, author of Awakening Corporate Sour: Four Paths to Unleash the Power of People at Work. “During the boom times, it seemed natural to look for fulfillment at work—after all, that’s where you spent 95 percent of your time. But now is a great moment to take stock of what else is important to you.” That’s difficult when a job, a title, and a paycheck define who you are. For 20-plus years, Lillian worked for a telecommunications company. She was extremely unhappy in her position. When her employer began doling out early retirement packages, she prayed for eligibility. Finally the long-awaited day came when her supervisor offered her a package. Instead of feeling happy and relieved, Lillian was devastated. Suddenly she realized how much she relied on her work for her identity.

Are You at Risk?
27 Similarly, after 17 years with a financial services firm he had helped grow from its infancy, Dan Demko had risen to the position of chief managing officer. He had reached his apogee with all the trappings of a top executive. A few years later, an acquisition transpired and new owners with their management team stepped in. It wasn’t long before he learned he was being cut from the team. “I sensed it was coming so I had a little time to prepare myself mentally for it. But it was still difficult. I felt displaced—not worth a lot. I was hurt personally,” he explained. Demko’s feelings are not atypical. Unfortunately, in today’s business environment, almost everyone will experience a career transition. No matter how hard you work, how committed you are, how young and energetic you are, or how seasoned and experienced you are—you are replaceable and dispensable. But that doesn’t diminish your value and your need to invest in yourself. “Once their decision is made, that’s it,” says Larry Ochonicky, who, after 16 years with a large brewery, was forced to take an early retirement package. “There were other areas of the business they could have used me in, but they didn’t choose to do that.” Your best defense is a good offense—be aware of your surroundings. You certainly don’t want to be blindsided when your employer says adíos in the manner experienced by Andrew Lopresti, a graphic designer from Northern Virginia. Lopresti says he was terminated after a very favorable review. “I thought I was going to get a raise,” he said (“10 Layoff Red Flags to Watch out For.” USAToday.com). Likewise, Kristine Jannuzzi says she never saw it coming. She gave two weeks notice at her job at Juilliard for a new position at an Internet company. She started work on Monday and continued her training on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she was told the company was closing its doors for good, and that she was laid off effective immediately. “I was in complete and total shock,” Kristine recalls. “This was before dot-coms were iffy. At the time it was a big blow. I felt like a fool. I couldn’t believe I left a good job for this.”

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Reinvent Your Career Looking back, Jannuzzi says she sees a conversation she had with the head of the company just prior to her start date could have been a warning sign for her. He contacted her directly to explain that there were changes pending at the company. The board had not approved the company’s operating budget and while she still had a job, her position would involve less travel. How do you know when you might be the next one to get the pink slip? There are some telltale signs. Pay attention.

Uninvited to Meetings Kevin Siegfried had been with a German bank for 18 years. He started in Frankfurt and subsequently took international assignments, which landed him in Canada and eventually the United States. Then he was asked to return to Dusseldorf, Germany, in a marketing capacity and help build a cooperative effort between two divisions—the equipment financing and commercial credit units. In his new position, he assumed he would be the intercultural connection and help create a Pan-European marketing plan. Strategy meetings ensued, but none of the Europeans, including Siegfried, were invited. “Meetings were taking place which I quickly learned about, and I wasn’t invited. They were meeting very early in the morning and they didn’t tell me. They talked about current customer relationships and credit policies so I was in the dark,” he explained. In an effort to make the best of his situation, Siegfried tried to solicit customers on his own, but it was difficult not really knowing or understanding the plan. “The exclusion from certain meetings and being cut off from information, I knew something was going on. I didn’t know what the outcome would be or how long it would take, but I knew it was coming,” he said. “At first you think it is simply a mistake. Then you realize you are being specifically excluded and it makes you angry and hurt,” he adds.

Are You at Risk?
29 Entrepreneur Kamran Elahian founded a company called Momenta Corp. to manufacture pen-based computers. According to an article in Fast Company magazine (January 2002), the company went through $40 million in a period of three years. Clearly, disaster loomed on the horizon. Then on April 1, 1992, Elahian walked into work and found his board holding a meeting he knew nothing about. And it was at that meeting that the board voted to oust him. “I put three years of my life into that company,” he says. “I felt like I’d lost my child. I went numb (“Starting Over.., and Over…. Fast Company [Jan., 2002]).” If you find others in your department or work group are being invited to meetings, but you aren’t, it should be a good clue that something’s up. When a company marks someone as the next to go, he or she quickly gets cut out of the information loop.

Relationship Change—the Big Chill Sharon and her boss always had a great relationship. He gave her the responsibility and the authority to get her job done, and she made sure that she met his expectations. Slowly she began to see a change in his attitude toward her. He ignored her and he no longer supported her in front of his superiors. Their daily chats were reduced to brief encounters in the hallway. Confused, she tried to talk to him about this change in their relationship, but he brushed her off, blaming it on the stress of a new project he was working on. When he called her into his office to show her a new organization chart for her department that didn’t have her name in a box, she was speechless. “I stared at it for the longest time, searching for my name. Then he said, ‘As you can see, there isn’t a place for you.’ I couldn’t believe he could be so cold. I was stunned and absolutely crushed,” she explained. Sharon’s boss’s change in attitude should have been a big red flag. Most people don’t like to let someone go—particularly someone they have worked with for a long time—so they begin to distance

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Reinvent Your Career themselves from the individual. Believe it or not, for most people, it is psychologically difficult to face those whom they know are the next in line for a pink slip. Marissa Hunter, former Works Manager for a fabrication company said that in hindsight, her boss must have known the company was going to collapse. “We used to have a terrific relationship and he included me in meetings, asked my advice. Then, over a period of a few weeks, everything dramatically changed. Shortly after that, he sent me a text message telling me I no longer had a position, and the company folded. He moved on to his next venture,” she remembers. Having managed and executed three rounds of emotional layoffs during a horrible industry recession, Nigel Bunt, managing director of a U.K.-based company, says with each one he watched talented people lose their jobs; people who would have prospered under different circumstances and in a different economy. “Often it isn’t the people, their work ethic, or anything else—it is simply the economy. The worst part is telling those that you’ve worked with for years that they are going to lose their jobs. It is a dreadful task and I’m sure that as I knew people were at risk, I avoided conversation because I didn’t want to be insincere—to speak to them kindly one day and tell them their job was being eliminated the next,” Bunt explained. So if you find yourself getting the big chill from a once warm working relationship, don’t be paranoid, but consider getting yourself positioned for your next move.

You Can’t Do Anything Right You’ve always been an outstanding performer and your last performance appraisal was excellent, but suddenly you can’t do anything right. Your work product is criticized and your contributions aren’t appreciated. Barry Nettle had been with his company for nearly 30 years and for most of his tenure he had run a regional office. His walls were

Are You at Risk?
31 covered with outstanding performance awards in recognition for consistently solid results. Then he started getting reprimands from his boss over minor, petty issues. “At first I was confused, but then I realized what was going on. They wanted to get rid of me so it really came as no surprise to him when they finally told me I was out of a job. The difficult part for me was the company’s decision to retain lesser performers,” he explained. Kevin Siegfried experienced a similar scenario. “My performance reviews were great, but then I got blocked. I had a lot of customers with whom I had outstanding relationships and yet no matter how good the business deals were that I brought to the table, they got rejected. I couldn’t land any business no matter how good and I was told I couldn’t be successful. I was given one month, and I knew the countdown was running,” he explained. “They tried to blame it on performance, but it had become a self-fulfilling prophecy for them because they weren’t going to allow me to succeed.” Always a top performer with the company she had been employed by for 20 years, Lynn Luznicky was shocked when her career landscape changed overnight. Because of some health concerns, Luznicky decided to cut back her work hours a little to something more standard and reasonable. Her decision did not have an impact on her performance as it continued to be top notch. Nonetheless, she was put on probation and eventually offered a severance package. “It was communicated to me that the package was based on my acceptance and if I didn’t accept, my pension and package would be in jeopardy. So I took the package,” she explained. You never know when the tables will turn. So keep in mind that a great performance review today doesn’t mean a thing in the long term.

The Company Pep Rally You may remember in the pre-scandal days of Enron, CEO Kenneth Lay reassured the employees at a companywide meeting that the

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Reinvent Your Career company was healthy and doing well. The video clips played over and over on the news. Companies often try to put a positive spin on things to keep employees from panicking. But be wary of over-the-top cheerleading. Deutsche Financial Services, a division of Deutsche Banc, hosted a first-class kick-off party for its employees shortly after the first of a new year. The event was held at a Ritz Carlton and the objective was to get everyone energized, excited, and pulling together as a team. Employees were treated to lavish gifts including a commissioned piece of framed artwork. The final price tag for this gala affair? You can only imagine. Immediately after this sophisticated soiree, the layoffs began. “They started shutting down branch offices all over the country. Those of us who attended the meeting barely got back to our offices before they started closing branch offices. It was just an unbelievable situation as far as I’m concerned. You had to wonder why we were there and why did they get us all excited. Someone needs to explain to me the logic of having a kick-off meeting prior to what became known infamously as the ‘kick-out’ meeting,” said one of the attendees whose 20-year career with the company ended one month after the noted event. “You also have to question why they spent all that money on gifts, meals, and accommodations. Maybe if they hadn’t spent that money we would have gotten better severance packages or it might have saved a few jobs. People began to think in those terms. It no longer was appreciated and it actually became a negative.”

No Career Path One surefire way to get a sense of whether you have a future with your current company is to ask about your career path. Although not as arbitrary and defined as they once were, most organizations can provide some career-path guidance to employees in terms of the types of positions he or she should hold in order to achieve their goals. If your path suddenly seems blocked by boulders, you should be on guard.

Are You at Risk?
33 This is something I know firsthand. Having started as a mid-level manager in public relations with a Fortune 100 company, I was fortunate enough to experience excellent growth both in responsibilities and financial rewards—rising to the executive ranks. However, the company was very deliberate about requiring everyone to have a career path. As a nonoperational employee, I had reached the top of the ladder. To go any further in the company, I was told I needed to get field experience. So I decided to begin the process of transitioning out of headquarters into the field. My goal was to run one of the branch offices so I’d get the necessary experience to move back into a staff position at a higher level. A couple of prerequisites were required. All candidates for operational positions were put through extensive aptitude testing. Also, I’d have to complete some additional training courses to learn about the systems used in the operations area. Not only did I complete the training, but I also scored extremely well on the aptitude tests. In fact, I was told I ranked in the top 5 percent of all candidates who had completed this battery of tests. Job opening after job opening came and went. I was never considered. When I queried management as to why I wasn’t selected, the explanations were less than forthcoming. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wasn’t going to advance. I had hit a dead end. I came to grips with the reality of the situation and began to look outside the company for other opportunities.

Responsibilities Reduced Having a little extra free time at work is nice, but in lean times it should be a big red flag. George had been the senior financial officer of a large company for 20-plus years. When a new management team took over, his areas of responsibilities were slowly cut and his direct reports were shifted to other managers. Eventually, his boss asked him to consider a demotion or a move to another area of the business. Unable to mutually agree on an opportunity within the company, George’s boss offered him a severance package. The game was over.

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Reinvent Your Career If you have extra time on your hands, be proactive. When there are no new projects coming your way, instead of twiddling your thumbs or shuffling papers, use the time productively. Initiate a project or offer to help someone who is overloaded. Don’t be shy in asking for additional work. Meanwhile, start polishing your resume and thinking about your next chapter.

The Revolving Door If there seems to be a mass exodus, particularly from the top management ranks, keep in mind these executives might know something you don’t. It can be like the domino effect: When one falls, they all start to go. Jeff Millman knows that all too well. As a financial executive in a profitable division of a Fortune 500 company, he felt quite secure in his career and position within the company. But when the chairman abruptly died, the executive offices suddenly became a revolving door. Apparently, there was no contingency plan or strategy in place for a successor and the climate within the company became chaotic. Executives were leaving in droves. During this period of massive turnover, another company was able to buy enough stock to take control and bring in a new regime. When the new president took over, he began shaving people and divisions. “Our division was highly profitable and I never dreamed we were at risk,” says Millman. “It was a complete shock and we all found out about it at a dinner our division president organized. He brought the entire team together and made the announcement with dignity and grace,” remembers Millman. “He told us, ‘As of 10 a.m. this morning, none of us has a job.’ He thanked us for our hard work and said he was sorry. I remember thinking to myself, ‘This just isn’t possible.’” That night the group polished off some $5,000 worth of alcohol and racked up an $8,000 overall tab. The next day, after eating and

Are You at Risk?
35 drinking themselves through the shock of it all, Millman remembers them all staggering into their offices to collect their personal effects. “When you are working for a growing company and performing well, it is rather devastating. And when someone decides to close something viable down—it’s very tough,” he notes. So if your office building starts to feel like a ghost town or you think you need nametags when you come to work, start asking questions. Go to your supervisor and initiate a frank discussion. He or she may not be able to tell you all the particulars, but may provide you with enough information that you can make an educated decision regarding your own future with the organization.

It’s in the News News coverage of poor financial performance, the rumblings of a pending sale, or the announcement of a major restructuring should put you on alert. Believe it or not, some employees actually learn about restructuring and layoffs before any official company announcement because of leaks to the press. Tom Stiffler, formerly senior vice president of administration at ITT Financial Corporation, says he remembers finding out that his company was being bought out only eight hours before it appeared in The Wall Street Journal. “I knew headquarters would be liquidated, and I knew I would eventually be out of a job. My son was a junior at Emory University and he read about it in the paper. He called me and wanted to know if he should drop out. I said no, but I did tell him he needed to make sure he graduated in four years. And he did,” Stiffler adds. If the media do get the story about your firm before you do, don’t panic. Press reports of widespread layoffs rarely have enough detail to predict if your job will be on the chopping block. Even if there are specifics such as the closure of a particular division, you could still find yourself transferred to another section of the company. When the

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Reinvent Your Career press does publish or broadcast bad news, seek additional information from the highest-level source in the company to whom you feel comfortable talking. Maybe you’ll get information, maybe you won’t. But it’s worth trying to separate facts from rumors. Keep in mind that when the top executives issue a memo about upcoming changes, read it with a skeptical eye. Because of union issues, potential lawsuits, or the risk of losing customers, many companies will downplay bad news or report very little of substance. Also, remember early press reports can be wrong. Reporters working on these types of stories are talking to sources that may not have complete information or who enjoy releasing some details but not all. The reporters may also lack enough knowledge about your industry to grasp the implications of changes in the firm or to misinterpret how a restructuring will be accomplished. Information supplied to the media by competitors is also highly suspect and tends to inflate bad news about a shaky firm. To keep abreast of trends, make sure you read the financial press and your own industry’s trade publications. Industrywide trouble may be an indicator of impending changes within your company. When a competitor declares bankruptcy or begins layoffs, make sure your own resume is current and that you have positioned yourself as a valuable asset to the firm. You may not be able to avoid being laid off immediately, but you could buy yourself time for a job search. The trade press is especially attuned to insider information and will often publish stories that signal restructuring is imminent. In addition, if your company is publicly traded, a dramatic dip in the stock price or a downgrade in rate by analysts should make you start thinking. Another sign that restructuring could be in the works is if the CEO or other top officials in the firm start having large numbers of closed-door meetings with lawyers.

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Budget Cuts Slashing budgets is one way for companies to save money. Cutting staff is another. When budgetary decisions are made, the powers that be determine which areas are unprofitable and those are the first to be cut. Most often the cuts are on a line item basis focusing on projects and specific programs. So if your area or project is one that is hard hit by funding cuts, it should serve as a red flag.

The Consultant Consultants are people who come down from the hill to shoot the wounded after the battle is over. —Doc Blakeley, humorist There are good consultants and there are bad consultants in terms of how it affects your job. Good consultants are the ones who are brought in when times are good to help make things even better. For instance, if your management is committed to continuous improvement, they may bring specialists to tweak an existing program or assist in developing a new marketing strategy. Typically, the good consultants work to construct a long-term platform for a company. They incorporate systems, methods, and a leadership model that makes sense for the company and its goals. In general, their considerations include the cultural implications and how successful the transformation to the new norms will be. The right consultant can have a tremendous positive impact on your company’s performance. The bad consultants (not bad people, but in terms of what they do) are the ones you need to worry about. They are the ones who are brought in when your company is in trouble. Of course, simply because your company brings in a consultant, it is not a surefire sign

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Reinvent Your Career that heads are going to roll, but it might be a good time to dust off your resume. You most definitely should pay attention—particularly if your company is not accustomed to using outside resources in its everyday operations. Consultants are usually expensive and most often are only called in during a business downturn when the internal management team is overwhelmed. While consultants may or may not be the first domino in a series of changes, it is a good time to be on your toes. Put on your best attitude and cooperate. Position yourself to be an integral part of the team and an asset to the overall bottom line. You want to be seen as part of the solution, not the problem. Keep in mind that consultants are fixated on the present, not what used to be and not what is projected. They focus on what the numbers are telling them this very minute. Because the consultant is working in an emergency situation, immediate results are imperative. Once a problem is identified, the consultant creates a plan to solve it, improve it, or eliminate it. They don’t care about internal politics and they certainly don’t look favorably on those who inhibit their efforts. “How employees perform in these situations can make the difference between keeping your job or not. If you emerge as a champion or a superstar, your odds are better. If your job has been necessarily eliminated, you would have much higher odds of being offered another position or getting a better severance package if one is offered,” says executive coach and career manager, Marc Simms. “Find ways to create value around yourself in everything that you do—it makes it harder for them to let you go and it will serve you well regardless of how your career evolves.” Practice your personal selling skills. Be prepared to spend time with the consultants explaining your job responsibilities. You will want to be equipped with the evidence you’ll need to demonstrate your contributions to the company. Don’t lose sight of the fact that in most

Are You at Risk?
39 cases, when companies are in trouble, consultants are brought in to make recommendations regarding who should go and who should stay.

Business is Darwinism: only the fittest survive. —Robert Holmes

Certified Turnaround Specialist A Certified Turnaround Specialist (CTS) is often called a forensic accountant. When a turnaround team is brought in it is like an emergency room doctor trying to save the life of a patient that is delivered in pieces. “I’m just pleased if there is still a heart and it is beating,” says turnaround consultant Matt Burridge. This is the time to seriously panic. Ordinarily, a CTS team is brought in because of pressure of a third party—typically a bank or a board. This is a drastic measure where profitability (or stopgap of loss) is their only objective. “Turnaround consultants are simply crisis managers and their job is to identify and recover value. The problem often can be that this is the financial value, not the other things that are valued by management, staff, and employees. These things are obvious to us, but often missed by employees when turnaround managers are introduced to a situation,” explains Burridge. Laura Schacht, the former president and CEO of a machine tool manufacturer, remembers her company often hired consultants to address specific business issues in the past, but the CTS, she quickly learned, was a completely different animal. “We brought in a CTS when the wheels were falling off—it was a last resort,” she explained. “We were still making payments on our bank note and the bank wasn’t aware of how we were suffocating

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Reinvent Your Career under our other debt. My attorney and accountant recommended we bring in the big guns while we still had choices to make, so we did. Unfortunately, because of the expense of it, they had to come in and make changes fast.” “It was devastating to morale. They had less tact and compassion for people than a pair of serial killers. They didn’t take any history into account and they cut people that we couldn’t do without in the long term,” she added. Every day became life or death for all of the employees. “It wasn’t based on knowledge, skills, or anything of merit. It was all about how we could cut the most overhead and quickly sell, break up, or liquidate enough to get their fees paid,” she explained. Even if you survive a CTS, you may not want to be part of the company that remains after the cannibalism is over. Often, things change so radically and there is so much devastation in the wake that you may want to consider whether the new company is where you want to be when the storm is over. “Our company didn’t survive. In fact, I often think it was the CTS team that we used that propelled us to the unfortunate demise of the company. I regret being forced to take such dramatic steps and still fail. It is sad when a company gets to the point that outsiders plan the funeral and dispose of the body,” she notes. Companies that rely on turnaround specialists are typically in deep trouble. Take a personal inventory of your situation and consider whether it is time to look for greener pastures. The stress of living through a turnaround, even if you survive, can be demoralizing and downright ugly.

New Management Mergers, acquisitions, buyouts, and consolidations are commonplace today. All bring a new team of managers and a new company culture. If you are part of the acquiring entity, you have a better shot

Are You at Risk?
41 of keeping your current position. If you are part of the old regime, start looking because the writing is on the wall. Your tenure may be short. When Niki Michaels’ company was acquired, she remembers being told, “The mode of operation right now is to keep your head low. And so I did do that to some degree and to some degree it was successful, because I hung in there a lot longer than many of my colleagues.” “I tried to blend, if you will, to being a part of this new team, and it just wasn’t meant to be,” she adds. “Initially there was a honeymoon period. The new management didn’t want to disturb anything, and I guess there was a false sense of security that because they really didn’t know much about the business, they’d keep us in place,” explains George who also experienced the scrutiny of a new management team. “Then, slowly things started shifting and the new management team began to structure the hierarchy so the old team reported to the new management’s players. They made an announcement that they were going to look for new officers, but the current officers would be considered candidates. It was a joke. When they tell you that you are a candidate for your existing job and they are going to look at outside people, you’re out,” he explains. “It’s just a polite way of saying you’re toast.”

It is my profound belief that a man or woman who rises up through the hierarchy of a corporation must justify his or her position every single day. They must also be in a state of perpetual anxiety, the healthy anxiety that makes one reject complacency. —Jacques Maisonrouge, senior executive, IBM Europe

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A New Floor Plan A move to a new facility or the redesign of an existing space can give a company the opportunity to clean out the closets as well as their employee base. Stephanie Raye, a supervisor with a financial services firm, experienced this firsthand when her company decided to consolidate a number of its divisions under one roof. Some key people didn’t make the move. What struck her as most troubling about the situation was the fact the individuals found out that they weren’t going to have a job when they managed a sneak peak at the new facility’s floor plan. “There wasn’t a space for them on the new floor plan. And that was rather a shock to them and a lot of people who worked with them. They were very key people. I think it was very difficult for them,” she says. “Some of them were very angry. It was just the way in which they found out was certainly not a good way to handle it,” she added. If you see any of these signposts, don’t try to rationalize or ignore them. Take them at face value. These signs should grab your attention and caution you that there may be trouble ahead. While no one wants to believe they may be the next one to get the ax, being cognizant of these common indicators can help you make better career decisions. Losing your job is bad enough. There is no need to compound the situation by allowing yourself to be blindsided and unprepared.

Pink-Slip Signposts
You are no longer invited to meetings.
There is a change in relationship with your superiors.
Once a star performer, now you can’t do anything right.
There’s a little too much cheerleading.

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The door is shut on your career path.
Your responsibilities are reduced.
There is a mass exodus from the top offices.
It’s in the news.
Budget cuts rule the day.
The consultant comes in.
A Certified Turnaround Specialist is hired.
There is a new management team.
There’s a new floor plan and your name’s not on it.

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Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
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Chapter 3

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive! “The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” —George Bernard Shaw

Protect Your Current Position

A

re you seeing some of the warning signs that your job could be on the line? Is there any thing you can do? Make no mistake; there aren’t any guarantees that your personal performance will have any impact in a downsizing situation. Many times decisions on job eliminations are based on numbers, not people. “After watching the process in my company, I realized that decisions were made, not necessarily on

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Reinvent Your Career your performance, credentials, or your reputation within the company. A lot of people who were let go were people who were such an asset to the company. I was extremely puzzled and disappointed at some of the decisions that were made. Even when you do everything right, bad things can still happen,” explains Niki Michaels. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t feel totally helpless. While there aren’t any surefire strategies you can employ that will prevent your termination if your company is being downsized—good, smart performance can’t hurt. And the sooner you start, the greater your odds will be. “You can’t just turn the switch on and say, ‘Okay, I’ll be good now,’” warns Debra Cohen, director of research at the Society for Human Resource Management. Your goal should be to make yourself as indispensable as possible.

The Perennial Pessimist I’m certain many of you work with someone who fits this description. These individuals are the ones who are persistently negative. They are resistant to change and always perceive the glass as being half empty instead of half full. Their constant complaining is irritating and kills morale around the office. Ask the perennial pessimist to do something beyond the scope of his or her responsibilities and you’ll get a roll of the eyes and an “It’s not my job” response. Fortune magazine career advice columnist, Anne Fisher, suggests instead of worrying about possible changes in your organization, you should begin worrying about the effects of your negativity on your career. Taking the role of the chief complainer puts you in a bad light and moves you to the top of the list of pink-slip candidates. In tough times, everyone feels the stress. Remember, when you choose to think negatively and focus on everything that’s going wrong, then you’ll most certainly get negative returns. It becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. Do your best to keep a positive attitude and be a

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
47 team player. Go with the flow and look for the good aspects of your work and your coworkers. Remember, managers look for people who are willing to tackle extra responsibilities when there are reductions in staff. Demonstrate flexibility and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Your boss and fellow employees will thank you for it. And if it gets so unbearable that you can’t cope, focus your energy on getting out—not taking everyone down with you. Cynicism within an organization is one of the most destructive forces you can encounter. And by the way, being the constant negative naysayer may get you more than on the pink-slip list, it may actually get you fired. If you fail to get along with your coworkers to the point where morale and productivity begin to suffer, that alone may be grounds for termination. After all, being able to work effectively with people within your organization is an important aspect of the job. Put a smile on your face and be positive.

Gossipmongers Beware Gossip may seem harmless, but it can bring you down. —Linda Wheeler, author When times get tough, rumors run amuck. Employees gather around the coffee machine, exchanging one sensational story after another. Employees of companies going through restructuring grasp for any tidbit of information. If you suspect your job is at stake, the need to tap into the grapevine may be irresistible. It’s natural to try to find out how your future is going to be affected and asking people who seem to be plugged into the inner workings of the firm seems like a safety precaution. But beware: Gossip is worth what you pay for it. Some gossips spread any hearsay they happen onto, often enlarging it to make it more sensational or important. Dispensing information

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Reinvent Your Career gives them a false sense of control and, at least temporarily, makes them quite popular and maybe even powerful. The result: a lot of misinformation gets circulated causing undue stress and concern. Gossipmongers may appear popular but they ultimately hurt your company, your department, and, most importantly, you. Furthermore, if you rely on the gossipmonger’s latest tip, you can make a decision that will have a negative impact on your career. Oftentimes the office gossip uses the grapevine to further his or her own agenda. Sometimes they do it just for fun; for example, take the individual who told all his associates that he’d overhead the boss say that in order to be eligible for year-end bonuses they’d each have to lose 10 pounds. He watched with enjoyment as the reactions exploded throughout the office. Some joke! On a much less humorous note, reacting to gossip by marginalizing a coworker or boss you have been told is being demoted or canned could give you a nasty surprise. When companies make changes, decisions on personnel are very fluid and can change from day to day. That same boss you thought was about to be pink-slipped could gain more power. The colleague you snubbed could wind up being your boss. Perhaps most surprising and disturbing of all is when the gossipmonger assures you that your job is safe, and then you discover you are the one out of a job and a paycheck. Caught off guard? Shame on you! If you are the tongue-wagger, you are putting yourself at risk as well. Managers instinctively know who swaps stories around the office. When the list of people who will be handed walking papers or transferred to less desirable jobs is being drafted, your name might move up a few notches. Be careful, also, that you don’t spread company rumors or developments outside the firm. Most people work in very closely connected industries and word travels fast from one competitor to the next. What you tell your best friend at happy hour outside the office could wind up inside your boss’s office in short order. So, how do you handle gossip without seeming distant or superior? The answer is a matter of proportion. Biology gave you two ears

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
49 and one mouth. And you should use those attributes in that proportion. When the grapevine is flowing, you can listen politely but don’t comment on what you are hearing. Responses such as, “I didn’t know that,” “That’s interesting,” or “Do you think so?” are neutral and won’t put you on either side of the fence. If asked for your opinion on a subject, you can say, “Well, I really need some time to think that over.” But best of all, try to exit the room once the tongues start wagging. You’ll not only eliminate the chance that you could be seen as a loose-tongued yenta, but you’ll also preserve your sanity in a crazy world.

Be Creative and Innovative When the hatchet man cometh, do your best to think outside the box and become a vital part of your organization. Superstars are often born when there are fewer people on the team. So if your desire is to stay with the company, think creatively and discover new ways you can have an impact on the bottom line. Many people feel as though they aren’t particularly creative or innovative, but all of us have an abundance of creativity. While there are creative geniuses in the world, such as Steven Spielberg, Peter Max, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates, creativity is most commonly nothing more than an ability to look at a situation from a fresh, novel perspective without any preconceived judgments. In other words, creativity can be defined as solving a problem by using existing resources in new, innovative ways. In her capacity as a marketing executive with a design background for a uniform manufacturer, Diane Zebell utilized her talents to look outside the boundaries of her existing responsibilities for new business opportunities. She keenly identified potential in new markets, and subsequently developed a marketing plan to demonstrate to the company’s senior management why and how it would increase revenue for the company.

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Reinvent Your Career “For example, the gaming industry for the first time was moving outside of Las Vegas onto river boats. I saw this was a huge potential market for us so I said, ‘Let me focus on this and let me run with it,’” Zebell explains. “I created positions throughout my career that had not previously existed.” Lori Beyer also knows about layoffs, cutting fat, and trying to squeak through a tough economy by employing creative and innovative business strategies. Lori works for a company that manufactures industrial marking equipment. She understands the ripple effect of companies tightening their belts. Having started her career with the company in the accounting department, she had an excellent grasp of the finances and the rhythm of the operations. She consistently found ways to improve efficiencies and cut unnecessary cost. After three rounds of layoffs, Lori positioned herself to step up to the plate and take on additional responsibilities. When the company’s CEO departed abruptly, she offered to help clean up some of the daunting challenges facing the company. Ultimately, she made herself indispensable without holding the company up for ransom in exchange. She became the reliable and knowledgeable “go-to” person—someone the employees respected and trusted. She was the company’s MVP. “We were in a tough position, which required all of us to work together to get through these tough times. Sales were down and costs were up. We had to pull the team together to improve things or we all knew the alternative. I never really thought about it, I just knew what I was doing needed to be done. Failure wasn’t an option,” said Beyer. Beyer’s positive attitude, determination, and loyalty to the company earned her the title of COO. “Most companies appreciate when employees go above and beyond the call of duty,” she explained. “But do it for the right reasons, not simply for self-gratification or shortterm recognition. I never intended to become everyone’s boss. I simply wanted to be sure that things ran smoothly during the transition.” Both Beyer and Zebell leveraged a sense of team spirit, creativity, and innovation, which protected their jobs, but most likely the jobs of

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
51 some of their coworkers as well. Had they chosen to take an “it’s not my job” approach, the outcome certainly would have been different. As an individual employee, you may think your ideas or efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated, but small things add up. For example, at one of my previous employers, my department team suggested discontinuing the use of color copies for internal meetings. When the policy was applied companywide, the savings were significant. “When business is slow, there is an enormous opportunity to pursue projects that you’ve always been excited about but never had a chance to act on. But don’t wait for the boss to come to you. Take the initiative and approach him or her with your ideas. Ask if you can spend 10 or 15 percent of your time developing your own projects for the company. If your idea is implemented, it could hot-wire your career,” says author John Izzo. Corporate advisor and teacher, Dan Coughlin, president of the Coughlin Company, says, “Unfortunately, some people make the same decision over and over. They do what the boss tells them to do and that robs them and their company of significant progress. It lowers their dignity and self-esteem. It keeps alternative perspectives and good ideas from ever being presented that could help their organization.” “It’s your move. Decide today what can be done to accelerate your organization’s highest priority outcomes. Have the courage to make a difference, not just executing what you’re told to do,” Coughlin adds. Find ways to help, not hinder, the overall goals of your organization. Remember, if you aren’t part of the solution you are part of the problem, so utilize your creativity to identify cost-cutting measures, revenue enhancers, and ways to increase productivity. Become your team’s MVP.

Mind Your Ps and Qs Technology makes it possible for employers to keep an eye on basically all of your workplace communications—whether you are on

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Reinvent Your Career the phone, sending e-mails, or chatting in your office. You don’t have much privacy when you are at work. A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management found that almost three quarters of the companies monitored their workers’ use of the Internet, including e-mail and more than half review phone calls. This is particularly true of firms with special security issues such as banks and financial services companies. With that in mind, don’t say or do anything you wouldn’t want posted on the company bulletin board. It might come back to haunt you—certainly not something you want in this day and age. Here are a few things to keep in mind. Whatever you do, don’t put it in writing. Even though your system may require you to input a password, your privacy isn’t guaranteed. Many companies have e-mail–monitoring programs. “I remember we had a 40-something divorcee receptionist. Evidently, she was spending considerable time sending instant messages to her new lover—to the pleasure of our factory staff, a printed version ended up on a remote printer that documented the entire series of back and forth comments. It was embarrassing for her and was a great source of amusement for those privy to the manuscript. But it was a great shock to management,” says Laura Schacht, former president and CEO of a machine tool manufacturer. “Evidently our IT specialist was able to see the instant messages going back and forth in real time and decided to print it out for everyone to enjoy. The saddest part of the pathetic script, beyond the fact that she was spending company time on such nonsense, was that intermingled with the sexual innuendo was that she had talked in a very unflattering manner about one of our vice presidents. She claimed he had a Napoleon complex. It was bad for her reputation and certainly didn’t win her any respect with management. She found her way to the top of the pink-slip candidates,” Schacht added. In addition, think before you hit the send or reply button. It’s easy to vent frustration or snap off an angry reply to an e-mail, but as soon as you hit that button it is out of your control. You can’t take it back. I’ve heard numerous horror stories of someone meaning to send

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
53 a snide comment to only one person and mistakenly routing it to the world. If you receive an e-mail that infuriates you, take a deep breath and wait a while before you reply. The same is true if you are creating an e-mail to send to someone and you are in a bad mood, stressed out, or angry. Go ahead and write it, but don’t send it until you’ve calmed down and have a chance to read it again. Beware of e-mail humor. You might get a kick out of a seemingly harmless off-color e-mail joke, but one of your associates might find it offensive. So if you have any doubt about the content, don’t send it. Or better yet, avoid e-mailing jokes while at work—period. In addition to your cyberspace communications, you should also be careful about your conversations around the office. Employers have a right to review your stored voicemail messages. The Society for Human Resource Management reports only 37 percent of human resource professionals consider monitoring phone calls a privacy issue. Once again, private voicemail boxes and passcodes don’t guarantee your protection. So the next time you have the urge to rant and rave about your boss on an associate’s voice mail—think twice. He or she may actually be listening. Many employers keep track of their employees’ Internet usage. They monitor the sites you are visiting during the day to make sure you aren’t spending time on nonwork related sites. Of course, the bigger violation, which is sure to get you fired, is a visit to a pornographic site. Believe it or not, I did some consulting work for a company that fired an employee because not only did he visit such a site, but he was stupid enough to print something out on a shared printer and forgot to pick it up. He was quickly shown the door. Some companies also utilize video surveillance. A study conducted by the American Management Association shows that 38 percent of large companies have used video surveillance to monitor employee job performance. Because of technology, cameras today are so small they can easily be hidden from view. So you never know when you

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Reinvent Your Career might be watched so don’t do anything that could put your job in jeopardy. You don’t want to hear, “Smile, you’re on hidden camera.”

Upgrade Your Skills When I was a practicing attorney, I had a client who wanted to sue her employer for age discrimination. I listened to her story about how she was treated differently because of her age and how she had her responsibilities reduced over time. Then came the moment of truth. She told me about what a great job she did, but her boss wanted her to learn about computers and utilize a new software system. She had refused because she explained she could manage the job just fine without a computer. They let her go. While this is an extreme example, we are all guilty of getting into the routine of our jobs and not looking for ways to improve. In today’s environment, you need to take a good look around at the competition. Who are the others within your organization who hold your type of position, and what kind of qualifications and strengths do they possess? How do you compare? Twenty years ago when Larry Ochonicky started in the computer field, there was no formal degree program. He learned by doing. But as the field evolved he watched as the expectations of qualifications increased. “I realized I needed to go back to school for a graduate degree because I recognized the emphasis our management was putting on advanced education. Every job posting description required a graduate degree. So it took me about three years, but I went back to school and got a masters degree in information systems,” he explained. “I did it from the potential career standpoint, but I also did it to a certain degree for my own self-satisfaction. And I thought to myself at the time, if I don’t use it here, I’ll use it somewhere else.” Consider taking a few night courses or take advantage of companysponsored training programs. Now is not the time to rest on your laurels. What worked yesterday won’t be good enough tomorrow.

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55 Think about it. You wouldn’t introduce a product into the market and let it sit there, never seeking ways to enhance it. Products are constantly being updated and reintroduced. As individuals, we too should continually look for ways to improve our job skills. No matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement. Remain open to new concepts and ideas. At Todd Uniform, Diane Zebell had captured the title of marketing manager and was doing a stellar job. However, when her boss came to her and asked if she’d like to go back to school to obtain a marketing degree, she jumped at the chance. “Even though I was doing the job, I saw this as a great opportunity. So I went back to school and got a master’s degree in marketing. Now, not only do I know what marketing is and how to spell it, but I have a degree in it,” Zebell says. Take an inventory of your current skills and then determine areas where you can improve. If you aren’t sure what you need, do some research. Consider talking with a career-counseling specialist. You might consider becoming a specialist in a particular area. When you are the expert, your bargaining power increases dramatically. “If others can do your job, you aren’t critical,” explains human resource veteran Tom Stiffler. “My biggest piece of advice is to be the top expert in your area. You may be the junior person on the staff, but if you are the foremost authority, you have more security than others.” Design a plan that will keep you on the leading edge of your field. Strive to learn something new every day. If you are constantly reaching for new horizons and challenging yourself, good things will come your way.

Become a Triple Threat In theatre, people who can sing, act, and dance are known as triple threats. Their diversity of talent makes them difficult competition. If

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Reinvent Your Career you are a triple threat in your business, then you become much more important to an organization and you’ll find there are significantly more opportunities. The greater diversity of skills you have and the broader your scope, the more invaluable you can be to an employer. Through downsizing and attrition, remaining employees are expected to take on more and more responsibilities. “If you are versatile and you add value, you’ll enhance your chance of staying employed. Companies tend to make an extra effort for their most valuable employees. They take care of the best,” Stiffler explains. “Because I had developed a lot of different skills and I had proved I could do design, I could do sales, I could do marketing, and when times got tough and they let people go, I took on what they were doing because I was able to,” says Zebell. “I always said if I ever left my job, my resume would be one sentence long. It would say I survived 25 layoffs or however many it actually was,” she adds. There are a few more tips from the theater you can employ. The first is to always enter smiling. No matter how nervous or upset you feel, if you can muster the confidence to put a smile on your face, your audience can’t help but warm to you. Second, play to the back of the house. Let the entire place know who you are and what you are about. Organizational structure changes frequently. If you limit your performance to those sitting in the front rows, the rest of the audience doesn’t know what a great job you did. Furthermore, every part of the show is an integral aspect. You want to make sure everyone understands the contribution you make no matter how small the part. In other words, if your role is overlooked or goes unnoticed, then it isn’t an important part and you may be written out of the show. Make every performance memorable. Actors typically do the same scene or performance time and time again. Yet every repeat performance is done with the same zest, enthusiasm, and professionalism. To be a superstar in your career you need to shine every day. As Tom

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
57 Stiffler notes, “Be the very best you can be. Every day and every project counts.” Finally, don’t allow yourself to be miscast. Sometimes you are offered parts that aren’t right for you. At the time you know it, but perhaps it sounds exciting, or like a new challenge, or you are simply desperate—so you take it. You may remember the 1960s sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show staring none other than Dick Van Dyke. The show was a huge success and launched Van Dyke’s career. Van Dyke also had a number of cinema successes such as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but in all these roles he played a good, loveable guy. Then, in 1967, Van Dyke accepted the role of a drunken husband going through a divorce who turns to a prostitute in a movie called Divorce American Style. The public couldn’t accept Van Dyke in this type of role and the movie was a disappointment to say the least. Van Dyke had been miscast. You need to be in control of your career and this is where you need to be completely honest with yourself. Knowing where your passion lies and what type of work is the right fit for you allows you to make the right choices so you aren’t miscast and then cast aside.

Know What Is Going On Information is power so they say. There isn’t an organization in existence today that hasn’t dramatically changed over the past five or 10 years. Traditional career paths and advancement strategies have been discarded in favor of more flexible systems. Navigating in such an environment is challenging. There is no road map to follow and the rules change almost daily. “For many years in Shell, your employment assured you that you always had the next job. There was no job posting system—you just got placed in your next job. Then they went into a job positing system and it became totally up to the individual person and the career path was no longer clear. You don’t know the steps to take and companies

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Reinvent Your Career don’t know how to tell you,” says Jo Pease, corporate ethics and compliance officer. So in order to make the right steps within your company, you must know what is going on. You must understand the culture and the unwritten rules. Otherwise you might take a step and wind up out the door. It is imperative that you do your homework. For example, let’s assume you are a manager in your company’s human relations department. You are offered an opportunity to work on a new employee communications project that reports to the marketing department. The job sounds interesting and fun, so you decide to go for it. About six months later, your company begins to experience difficulties and the first areas to get cut are the least essential to the business operations—and that includes your new group. When you try to move back into your old department, the door is closed. The problem: you didn’t adequately research the new opportunity. You should have asked questions regarding management’s commitment to the new group and what would be the contributions to the overall organization. Who are the other employees involved? Are these the people you perceive to be leaders within the company? By knowing what is going on within your organization and understanding the culture, you will be better equipped to make appropriate choices that may allow you to avoid becoming a pink-slip statistic. “One of the things I did to try to protect myself is I tried to get into an area I knew was critical and very important to the operations of the company—which I did. I got into an area where I was supporting the accounts payable system and a new way of routing all the invoices as they came into the company and the system was related to the company’s enterprise system. And I thought at the time that this was a good system and important to the company and it would be good to be associated with it,” explains Larry Ochonicky, a downsizing survivor. You also really need to know what is going on in your industry. What are the current industry trends? Where is the market headed?

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59 “Because I was unaware of the market, I kept looking for opportunities that didn’t exist anymore. You really need to keep up with industry changes,” explains Lynn Luznicky.

Manage Your Finances Absolutely the worst position you can find yourself in is buried in debt during difficult economic times. Living paycheck to paycheck, trying to keep up with all your payments is stressful. Add to that the possibility of losing your job, and it is terrifying. Now follow this to its logical conclusion. You are panicked about losing your job because you are already barely able to make ends meet and your stress level has gone through the roof. Stress has a negative impact on your physical, emotional, and mental abilities and interferes with your productivity and performance on the job. So the quality of your work begins to slip and your attitude sinks as your vulnerability rises. When it comes time to select who will go and who will stay, you are definitely going to make the short list. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Additionally, “working to live” instead of “living to work” means you lack the freedom to make choices when you are unhappy and unfulfilled. Financial stability provides you with a certain sense of autonomy. It diminishes the perception that your security lies in the hands of someone else and it is out of your control. Having a safety net that would carry her through for about six months gave former management consultant Julann Jatczek confidence to venture into an entirely new career. “My mother and father taught me very well how to save my money. And I had been logical in that way and I had been saving money so I knew if I wanted to try something a little different, I would have that nest egg. Just in case something didn’t go quite right,” she explained. The same was true for Carol Maria. Although she made a large salary as an attorney, Maria and her family lived by very strict budget

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Reinvent Your Career restrictions. “When I decided I needed to make a change we looked at our financial situation and realized we could do it. Unlike a lot of my friends whose paychecks got eaten up very quickly, we lived modestly so taking a cut in salary to make a transition didn’t have a huge effect,” she explained. Lynn Luznikcy wasn’t quite so prepared or as lucky. “I was downsized after 16 years with a company. I was always a top performer and never thought it would happen to me,” she says. “Unfortunately because I hadn’t networked or developed relationships that could have helped me transition efficiently, I went 13 months without an income. I was downright desperate,” she added. Luznicky applied for unemployment benefits, but also had to set her pride aside and obtain government food stamps in order to survive. “While I’ll admit it was uncomfortable, I can say it made all the difference in those dark days. These days, there are people from all walks of life that are in the same boat. It is the reality of this recession. I wasn’t prepared for my dismissal and my life was turned upside down more than it might have because I wasn’t prepared at all,” says Luznicky. It is not surprising that government programs, church outreach initiatives, and food pantry programs are seeing a much higher demand for food and aid during this economic downturn. For your own well-being, be as prepared as you can be. “With the benefit of hindsight, even if I wasn’t afraid of losing my job, I would have put money aside for a rainy day rather than spending the bulk of my income, regardless of the size. I would have had a cushion so I wouldn’t have to sell possessions out of desperation,” notes Luznicky. Get your financial house in order: Plan ahead and start saving now. Start building a cash reserve. As a rule of thumb you should have at least six months of cash stashed away to cover your living expenses if you lose your job. A year is even better. That means you may have to cut back on your spending habits. Recruit the assistance

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
61 of your family. Review how you are spending money and determine where you can make a few cuts. Pay off those credit cards and watch your spending. If you are in transition, the last thing you want is highinterest credit cards. Sometimes during periods of stress we try to buy our way to happiness. We think owning something will make us feel good about ourselves. Simply stated, we want stuff. But stuff doesn’t make you happy and won’t fill the voids in your life. Stuff is just stuff. After the euphoria and novelty wears off, you are still left with your problems. Many different research studies demonstrate that people who define success by material possessions get less satisfaction from life. Dr. Leaf Van Boven, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Colorado argues that we should use our disposable income not to buy things, but to buy experiences. “The accumulation of rich experiences thus creates a richer life,” he notes (“The Latest Medical and Psychological News.” Elle [Jan., 2003]). Consider obtaining a line of credit now while you have a job—but don’t use it. Save it for a rainy day when you really need it. When you have your finances under control, you’ll feel less vulnerable and a greater sense of independence. Plus, you’ll be better prepared to survive during a period of reduced income.

Personal Promotion Now is the time to make sure your boss’s boss knows who you are and how you are contributing to the organization. Ask yourself if anyone will be aware of your accomplishments if your supervisor suddenly leaves. Frequently, people with whom you have no relationship with whatsoever make personnel decisions. Therefore, it is totally up to you to make sure you have visibility with key decision-makers. In other words, you have to be your own marketing department. “In today’s business world you have to come to grips with the reality that the company you start with won’t be the company you

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Reinvent Your Career retire from,” explains Larry Ochonicky, who spent nearly 16 years with a company before he was handed his walking papers. “In that regard, you need to be more realistic about your own career and making sure you are promoting yourself—going along with whatever the company might ask you to do.” “When new managers come along, and they don’t know you or your background, they don’t understand your job experience and what you have done in the past and only look at you in your current position,” he adds. Ellen Bartin, who spent 11 years working for an international motivation company agrees. “The company had changed quite a bit and the internal support network I had, the people I knew—the ones I had a reputation with—had all scattered and gone different ways so there was no one to look out for me. Without a strong support base, I was higher up on the hit list,” she explains. You have to be bold enough to promote yourself. Otherwise your skills, potential, and abilities can easily be overlooked and you’ll wind up pigeonholed with a career that is going nowhere—or at least not in the direction you’d like. Additionally, if your position is being eliminated, managers may not consider you for other areas of the company because they don’t know your breadth of experience and how you can contribute in a variety of areas. Sometimes it is easier for companies to go outside and buy the skills they need rather than look internally at their own human capital. A lot of people, particularly women, are uncomfortable promoting themselves. They worry that it might look as though they are grandstanding. Simply because you are confident enough to tout your accomplishments doesn’t mean you are going to turn into an arrogant braggart. There are multiple ways to ensure others are aware of your contributions in a first-class, professional manner. Identify who in the company needs to be aware of you and your work. If your firm is large, chances are you don’t need to make yourself known to the CEO. But making three or four layers of management

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63 aware of your contributions is certainly a good idea. If you work for a small firm, interaction with the CEO is definitely a good idea. Don’t miss opportunities. If you step onto an elevator with one of the company executives and she asks you how things are going—voilá— here’s your chance. Instead of nervously uttering a barely audible “fine,” speak positively about a project with which you are involved and how pleased you are with its ongoing success. Believe me, you’ll appear more professional and she’ll remember you in the future. Seek ways to tell your story. If your company has regular staff meetings, always be prepared to highlight your results. Don’t take credit for someone else’s work, but confidently take credit for what you have done. Some companies prefer written internal progress memos on a weekly or biweekly basis. Once again, use this method as a way of keeping associates informed of your good results. Offer written suggestions to upper management when appropriate. Suggest ways to improve the company’s performance or save money. Ask a coworker to critique your idea to ensure it doesn’t have a fatal flaw. Watch for press or trade journal articles that are of particular interest. Highlight pertinent sections and send it up the chain of command. In addition, get involved in industry associations and step up to leadership roles. Demonstrating your ability to lead as well as your awareness of your industry will bode well for you with your company managers—not to mention the added benefit of helping you build your personal network. You can also enhance your credibility and stature by writing an article for a trade journal or business publication. Use traditional media sources too. For example, send a news release to your local media if you are asked to serve on a community board or if your company doesn’t do it, when you are promoted. Of course, anything directly associated with your company and your position should be approved by the proper authorities within your organization. Don’t be afraid to sincerely acknowledge and praise a colleague for a job well done, even if he or she doesn’t work in your department.

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Reinvent Your Career Let his or her boss know that you admire what was accomplished. Your colleague will remember you warmly in the future and most likely return the favor. Volunteer to serve on company committees. You’ll meet people outside your immediate department and you’ll have the opportunity to develop relationships with individuals who may be able to help you in the future. Also, attend office parties or other after-hours functions that give you the chance to interact with management. Finally, keep the communication channels open even when your performance may not be quite on target. This is particularly true in today’s uncertain economic situation. Assumptions are dangerous and when the information is not forthcoming, most of us tend to think the worst. “I always keep the lines of communication open,” says Janice Williams, “I take the time to keep my supervisors apprised of what I’m working on and let them know I have an action plan in place. In a down market, it is critical to keep them informed of what you are doing when your results are less than telling.” When it comes to protecting your job, you don’t want to be a wallflower. Make sure you get plenty of sunlight and your career will blossom.

Develop a Plan B Call it moonlighting, freelancing, or second shifting; starting something on the side is a great way to try something you think you might be interested in without jeopardizing your current position. A sideline business can provide a certain sense of security—kind of a fallback position—your safety net. Plus, there is the added benefit, that if it is truly something you love, it could take off and ultimately replace your 9-to-5 job. Donna Cattoor, who has built a thriving personal image company, was at such a crossroad a number of years ago. “After surviving several

Don’t Be Reactive: Get Proactive!
65 mergers and acquisitions I started working part-time on my business. Emotionally, I couldn’t leave the stability of my paycheck, but I knew corporate America was changing constantly and I needed to take control of my own destiny,” she explains. Cattoor started small, and initially her venture was not financially rewarding. But she loved working with women on image development and she spent most of free time focusing on the business. “I always had a knack for it. People would tell me I’d changed their lives. Those were the true rewards that fueled my passion,” she says. Financial rewards soon followed the psychic income, and Cattoor was having difficulty balancing her full-time work and her part-time enterprise. She found all her thoughts and creative energy poured into her business as her day job became more and more stressful— even at times, sheer torture. She remembers the sick feeling in her stomach when she went to her regular job where her boss belittled her and made her feel insignificant. Finally, the moment of truth had arrived. She had to decide whether she was ready to let go of the security blanket and go out on her own. “If my regular job hadn’t been so dreadful, I might not have had the guts to do it,” remembers Cattoor. “The funny thing is, when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. Often you can’t tell the difference between the two.” Starting something on the side allows you to explore your options—to see if your ideas will work. It can also help you keep your sanity when things are tough in your primary position. During one of my programs for a federal government agency in Washington, D.C., a woman in the audience said she was hanging on in her current position until she could retire. In the meantime, she was pouring her passion and energy into her music, which she planned to pursue as her second career. But for now, performing and participating in musical activities kept her soul nourished enough that she could deal with the unfulfilling aspects of her current career.

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Protecting Your Current Position
Don’t be the perennial pessimist.
Beware of gossipmongers.
Be creative and innovative.
Watch what you say and do. You don’t know who is watching.
Upgrade your skills.
Become a triple threat.
Know what is going on.
Manage your finances.
Create a personal PR strategy.
Develop a plan B.

Survival Skills
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Chapter 4

Survival Skills There is almost a shared camaraderie with many people because job loss is such a common thing today. —Niki Michaels, former corporate manager and downsizing survivor

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t is late on a Friday afternoon. Your boss drops by your office and says she needs to see for a few minutes in her office. You slowly put away the project you are working on. Somehow you sense the shoe is about to drop. There is a huge knot in your stomach as you trudge to her office like a death row prisoner taking that last walk. When you arrive, you find not just your boss, but also someone from HR, too. Here it comes. Your heart sinks and you can barely breathe or comprehend the words as they explain to you that your employment is being terminated. Your

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Reinvent Your Career mouth feels like a desert and your feet feel like lead weights. You are flooded with emotions as you return to your office to pack up your things. Congratulations. You have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Now what do you do? First, and most importantly, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and take solace in the fact that you are not alone. Many others have forged the way and have not only survived but also thrived. You, too, will make it through even though at the moment it may not feel like it. You need to keep your wits about you because there are some things that will make the transition go more smoothly.

Go Ahead and Cry Losing a job is one of life’s most traumatic and stressful experiences. It ranks right up there with death and divorce. You’ll feel humiliated, hurt, inadequate, and a variety of other emotions. So give yourself permission to grieve. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D., wrote the premiere book on the subject of dealing with death, On Death and Dying. In it she explains the various stages of grief an individual goes through when faced with death. Many of these stages are the same stages you will experience as you begin to work through the loss of a job. “I was pretty numb and pretty mad,” explains Michaels after her boss called her into his office one evening to explain the decision had been made to let her go. “My whole career ended so abruptly and really negatively. It kind of set a really negative tone on what I had contributed over the years. I went back to my office and I guess I just sat there for a long time, not able to move or do anything.” “I knew that there were phases of going through the loss of a job, just like there are phases of grieving when you lose a loved one. I have certainly read enough about these things and prepared enough to know that you feel different things and so as these feelings began to hit me, I realized what was happening,” she notes.

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69 “I felt very, very disappointed, and sad because I was always very passionate about the company and what the company did. I was very proud of its legacy—it was a 140-year-old company. First thing I’d tell customers when I’d make a presentation is about the history of the company to endear them and so they would know the soul of the company,” explains Diane Zebell. “So I was very sad, but then I quickly realized I had to go on.” For Tom Stiffler, a human resource professional, the hardest thing he’s ever had to do in his 30-year career was letting his boss go. “He was the president of the company. I had to walk him to the car with his box of belongings. He was in tears. He was a very nonemotional and analytical leader. It can destroy a person’s life.” Dr. Ross explains the first stage you experience when dealing with death is denial. That’s often the case when you are told you are getting the ax, you go into shock. Sometimes people regress into a state of denial by telling themselves it was all a mistake and the company will call them back. It is like when a personal relationship breaks up. If you are the dumpee, you cling to the hope that your sweetheart will return to you. You sit desperately by the phone waiting for it to ring and it never does. Of course, as long as you cling to this belief you will not be able to move on because you will be locked in the past. The second stage is anger, where you will experience rage and resentment. “Why me?” you’ll ask yourself time and time again. Here you must be wary of displaced anger, which we will discuss further on page 73. Finally, depression will set it. Your job transition means you will experience a lifestyle change. Your entire daily routine will be disrupted and there will be a loss of relationships. You may feel isolated and alone. But remember, you can’t begin your wonderful new life until you let go of the old. So the worst thing you can do is allow yourself to linger in this stage. I remember one of the members in my Women Presidents’ Organization was going through a difficult business failure. As a group, we

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Reinvent Your Career were on the sidelines, trying to help encourage her to pick up the pieces, but for the moment, life as she knew it was over. Eventually she worked her way through it, as we all were confident she would, but afterwards she told me that the best piece of advice she received came from one of our fellow chapter members. The advice was to take one day and feel really sorry for yourself. Cry. Sulk. Eat too much. Do whatever it is that comforts you. But when that one day is through, wake up, and put it behind you. Put on a bright face and start working diligently toward your future. You dramatically enhance your chance of rebounding, and rebounding quickly, if you leave the negative emotion behind and begin to focus on your future. Every ending creates a new beginning. Attitude is everything. If you feel defeated, then you are. “Put it in perspective. The worst thing that can happen is someone is killed or diagnosed with a terminal illness. While it feels like the end of the world, it is not,” Stiffler says.

Reach Out to Your Support Network What’s done is done. You can’t ignore it and you can’t change it so you have to face the reality of your situation and begin to deal with it. Now is not the time to become a recluse. Most importantly, don’t try to hide it. I’ve known people who simply could not bring themselves to tell the most important people in their lives—their children, their spouses or life partners—thinking they were being protective. Yes, it is hurtful for them, too, but it has an impact on their lives and they have a right to know the truth. People who care about you will want to be there to help you through this. You need people around you who can share your loss. But you have to reach out to them. When you shut people out, the frustrations, resentment, and stress really begins to take its toll. Keep in mind: people don’t always know how to react when a friend or family member loses a job. They feel awkward, and so they

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71 wait for you to open the door. If you can’t bring yourself to admit that you need a hand, then they will never be able to offer you one. Let them know it is okay to talk about it—in fact, that you need to talk about it. They’ll be there for you. A support network is invaluable in helping you recover more quickly because it is often the sense of being cut off or isolated that contributes your inability to cope with job-loss. “Luckily I have a tremendous support system personally and professionally, so that feeling of being down, or questioning my self-worth or whatever lasted a pretty short period of time,” Michaels explains. “I was quickly reaching down and pulling up my socks and giving myself some credit for having had a good career, a good run, and having impacted a lot of people positively,” she adds.

Professional Groups and Support While the local tavern may become the default support group for some, joining a professional support or reaching out for professional assistance is the healthier and more productive choice during transition. You will meet people who are going through similar situations and with whom you can be honest. They may well become some of your best allies—maybe even your best network—during this difficult period. Professional support groups can provide the structure to help you begin to identify and define your career objectives. They’ll help you develop your resume and cover letter. Plus, they’ll provide additional resources to assist you in your job search. “It’s not just about moving forward with your career, your whole life has changed. It’s about being able to talk to people and asking them how they got through it. How did you handle health insurance or unemployment? And of course there is the usual resume writing and stuff,” explains Diane Zebell.

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Reinvent Your Career “It was helpful to work through the feelings of it with people and we kind of bonded that way. It is also good process to think through your goals and objectives,” explains Ellen Bartin, a former corporate manager. Most communities have a number of professional support groups. Contact your local chamber of commerce or your professional trade association for assistance in finding one. In addition to professional support groups, many religious or spiritual organizations offer support services that may be more helpful for you. Transitions, no matter how they occur, are stressful and require lots of backup from multiple sources. Your minister or spiritual advisor may be just the ticket for shoring up your spirits and resolve. If your personal situation becomes overwhelming and depression sets in, by all means seek professional help or support. Transitions, even those that are planned and welcomed, cause stress. Dealing with stress effectively often requires a professional counselor, especially if your depression interferes with everyday activities or harms family relationships. Don’t hesitate if that becomes the case. Finally, consider hiring a personal coach. Coaching has become a popular way of rethinking job goals and jumpstarting your current or new career. Personal coaches provide a variety of services including resume writing and editing, job-hunt strategies, honing interview skills, and general encouragement. While coaches can charge $100 or more an hour (depending on the market), they can be very effective in helping you define your goals or identify and shore up any shortcomings. If finances are an issue, ask a savvy colleague to act as your coach, but make sure it is someone who will be frank in his or her assessment of your skills and goals. To choose a professional coach, seek referrals from trusted colleagues or friends and check their references. Ask specific questions about services the coach provided and how effective he or she was. When interviewing coaches, don’t be shy. Spell out your expectations, what you want to achieve, and the cost and timetable for working with the coach.

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If It Sounds Too Good... There are many unscrupulous companies out there that prey on the unemployed and underemployed. They often are referred to as career marketing firms and may promise they can help you obtain an extraordinary position in exchange for an up-front fee of thousands of dollars. Be careful and sit on your wallet! “There are a number of companies out there that over-promise and under-deliver,” says Mary Quigg of Vandover. “These companies market to people in their most vulnerable time. A job search is hard work; anyone who tells you it is going to be easy is setting an unrealistic expectation to make a sale. Legitimate firms will clearly define the specific services being offered in exchange for fees paid and will not make promises regarding jobs or interviews.” Quigg offers this sage advice from a position of experience. Her own company, which now provides only employee-sponsored career management services, used to also offer private client (self-pay) programs. “We found it increasingly difficult to ethically compete with firms who would promise anything to make a sale. We made the decision to exit the private client business for that reason,” she explains. If you are uncertain about a particular company, check with the Better Business Bureau and ask for references. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Keep your wits about you and do your homework before you sign a check over to an employment company.

Don’t Burn Bridges Anger is the second phase of grieving. When you lose a job, anger is a normal reaction. You are angry because you have given so much of yourself only be tossed aside. But while anger is a natural human emotion, you must manage it. When you exit graciously and with dignity, people remember that. You’ll have a better opportunity to

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Reinvent Your Career obtain references and prevent your reputation from being tarnished in your industry. Remember, it is really a small world. For example, Patricia, a female executive who was downsized from a large international company, explained there seemed to be a disproportionate number of women who were terminated at the time she was. A group of women approached her about joining them in a sexual discrimination suit. “I don’t know if they pursued it, but they were really angry, and they left letting everyone know they were angry. Some of them left things untidy or undone. I don’t feel that you can blame them, but I also agree that it usually pays off if you leave with things in order. It certainly did in my case because at the end one of the HR people came and ask me if I was going to be okay and if there was anything they could do to help me further. I told them to sweeten my package a little bit, and they did,” she explained. “They probably wouldn’t have done that if I had behaved differently.” Nigel Bunt, managing director of a machine tool sales company in the U.K., agrees that leaving on a high note pays big dividends. “In fact, because that is the exception rather than the rule, it is memorable and it makes management want to help your efforts with a better package or reference or even being called back when times are better.” According to Paul Falcone, author of The Hire and Fire Question and Answer Book, it doesn’t matter how hard or how long you worked in your current position, if you leave a bad taste in your ex-employer’s mouth, that is how you are going to be remembered. When you leave without alienating everyone in your path, your former colleagues may become your best allies or even future clients, as former CEO of an IT company, Sherley O’Leary, learned. “I took great care to leave my position with my integrity intact,” she said. “After some serious soul-searching, I found myself in a completely different career and my former boss became one of my best prospects. I went to him and pitched my program and asked for his business.

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75 Because he knew I was a person of integrity, he became one of my first and best clients.” Had O’Leary been less professional during her departure from her previous employer, she would have missed the opportunity. Knowing the importance of not burning bridges actually opened doors of opportunity. A former buyer for Target, Sara Laing, agrees with O’Leary. Because she left her employer on good terms to start her own dogwalking business, she was able to tap into her former coworkers as a source of new business. “Everyone you know is a potential future client, networking agent, or source of referrals,” she says. People watch and remember how you behave in difficult situations. Negative departures never bring about good future results, so be mindful of your future and keep the resentment to yourself. “I’ve seen many destructive departures in my time, “ says Ron Schacht, president of a manufacturing company. “People talk. I can’t tell you the number of times names have come up in conversation. When people leave on either a really positive or really negative note, it is always discussed and perhaps exaggerated. This works to the benefit of those who leave with class and can spoil it for those who don’t.” There are a lot of people who know a lot of people. You never know who is going to be talking about you or be asked to give an opinion about you. You can’t afford to take the risk. “It is too small a marketplace to burn bridges. I still work with many of the people I worked with in my old position—nationally. The same people tend to be in the game,” says Lynn Luzincky, who lost her position after 20 years with the same company. Whatever you do, don’t make threatening comments on your way out the door. Don’t threaten to get even or cause anyone physical harm. That’s going to get you nowhere. In fact, if a threat of physical harm is taken seriously it could even land you in jail. If you did a good job and the time has come to move on, maintain your professionalism. A graceful exit can to a certain degree overcome

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Reinvent Your Career poor performance, but if you lash out and behave irrationally, you can destroy your reputation. Avoid critical and disparaging remarks about your boss and your company. When you start with destructive talk, people see through it. While you might think it makes the company look bad and you look good—it really has the opposite effect. “Once you lose control you don’t do anyone any good,” explains HR veteran Tom Stiffler. News travels fast. Make sure the news circulating about you is good news not a disaster.

Bite Your Tongue Think about what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. When you are in an emotional state, it is not the time to air your dirty laundry. That’s particularly true when it comes to your family: Get your act together before you go home to your family. If you don’t it will make matters worse. There is so much fear and anxiety already and if you go home in pieces, they will feel that this is the worst thing in the world that can happen. And of course, it isn’t. “I always tell people, ‘look, you are going to go home to your wife and kids or a significant other and what are you going to tell them?’ I want to hear what they are going to say. I will often rehearse with them because how it is communicated to the family is critical. It must be presented well,” Stiffler explains. The same is true with your friends and business associates. You need to know how you are going to tell your story so put down the phone and wait a day or two to compose yourself before you go public. Your personal and professional network is the best chance you have to land your next position or get a good referral. An endorsement from someone who knows you and your capabilities is powerful. Don’t blow it. Mary Quigg, president of Vandover, a professional relocation company, knows how critical it is to become your own public relations manager. She says to take a little time to calm down after your

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77 release. Work with people who are close to you to get beyond the anger and the venting period. Handle your network with care—the last thing you want to do is make those who may be able to help you avoid your depressing calls. “There was a colleague of mine that called me and rambled, shared his feelings, and ranted the day he was let go. It was a pure negativity dump,” shared Quigg. “After I’d listened to him, he told me I was the 30th person he had called. That doesn’t do anyone any good and I suspect these calls may have hurt his networking efforts down the road.” Carefully think through and prepare your strategy during a transition. A positive attitude and communications will yield far more opportunities than negative ones. Get your emotional house in order before you call on your network. People respond better to those who remain positive.

What Do I Do Now? Living in limbo is an uncomfortable place to be. You wake up in the mornings not knowing what to do. How do you fill your day? Your normal routine is disrupted. All your friends are getting up and heading off to work. You aren’t sure where you fit in the universe anymore. A study conducted by the AARP of workers 45 years and older shows that nearly two-thirds of the respondents (65 percent) say that work gives them a reason to get out of bed in the morning. With no place to go, many people feel lost, isolated, and alone. The whole world is going on around you and you aren’t participating. It’s like you are invisible. “After being let go twice from prestigious law firms, I had such low self-esteem. While I had been miserable in both positions, I couldn’t bear the pressure of someone asking, ‘What do you do?’ I found that extremely hard at social events and I decided to print business cards

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Reinvent Your Career for my private practice,” Karen Mitchell explained. “I wasn’t sure who I was, but unemployed wasn’t easy to say. I actually had a few private clients, but primarily the business cards were a way to hide from the reality and helped me keep up appearances for one and a half years while I found myself and my true passion.” The key here is to begin to define yourself from the inside out, not by external measurements. You have never been your job and you never will be. You have always been and always will be you.

Do Something You Have Always Wanted to Do This probably is the first time since your younger days when you have been able to get up and spend the day however you like. You don’t have to report in somewhere, and there aren’t any deadlines to meet. Instead of panicking and worrying about the future, take a little time to relax and enjoy life. “There was an olive tree in front of my house that had needed trimming for a long time, and I just hadn’t had time to do it,” explains former financial services executive, Dan Demko. “The first day I was unemployed, I got up out of bed, put on my work clothes, and went out there and trimmed that tree. While I was perched up in that tree I had time to think and began to realize I wanted to build my own business—which is what I ultimately did.” Take some time to travel. For once you have some time to go and do whatever you want without worrying about what’s going on back at the office, so enjoy. You don’t have to think about coordinating a vacation schedule with your associates or how many vacation days you have left for the year. After she got over the initial shock of losing her job, Kristine Jannuzzi rebounded and created a plan. “I looked at it as an opportunity. When else would I have unlimited time to do what I

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79 wanted?” So she bought a plane ticket and toured Florence, Paris, and Belgium. “While I was in Europe, I realized that I don’t have to go down the same path everyone else does. I relieved the pressure on myself to begin working right away,” she explained. A European adventure also allowed Niki Michaels to switch gears. “I enjoyed a part of life that I had never enjoyed before. With three or four weeks of vacation a year, you don’t take advantage of these kinds of things. I’d never traveled extensively. This was a gift. So during that time I began to feel like I am a person regardless of whether I’m a manager, a senior manager, or a committee member. I can explain this in such a way that I feel good about it and I feel good about me,” she says. You don’t have to take an extravagant adventure. Go for a long drive through the country or if you live near a beach, take your shoes off and go for a walk in the sand. Enjoy nature and the world we live in without the pressures and stress of your old position. Breathe in the fresh air. It will clear your mind and allow you to dream and create your new beginning.

Spend More Time With Your Family and Friends Many of us get so busy with our careers that we fail to make time for our families and friends. We tell ourselves there’s always tomorrow, or next weekend, or next month, or next year. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a next time. If you have children, spend some quality time with them—plan a special outing with them. Use the time to get reacquainted with old friends. Pick up the phone and schedule a time to get together just to “catch up.” If you haven’t seen your college roommate in a long time, pack your bags, get on a plane, and go. Enjoy reliving some of those college day memories. It will recharge your batteries.

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Volunteer Civic and charitable organizations are always looking for good people who are willing to volunteer their time, talent, and expertise. Identify one or two programs with which you’d like to get involved and jump right in. You’ll feel appreciated and productive. In addition, many times organizations have boards filled with business people in the community who will get to know you and be able to assist you in your job search. “I recommend that people consider checking with the United Way’s volunteer effort,” says executive recruiter Cynthia Kohlbry. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to expose others to your unique talents.” At the very least, it will build credibility for you and a positive recommendation. Not to mention the wonderful personal rewards you’ll receive for being able to assist a worthwhile organization. For executives who are transitioning out of high-level positions, volunteer work can help you maintain your sanity and keep you sharp. Furthermore, it may help you discover a passion or a talent you didn’t know you had. “Sometimes, you can do performance-based volunteer work to stay current,” says Matt Burridge. “You may even be able to negotiate a performance-based reward package if you close a big deal.” Volunteer work will keep your mind engaged and agile and may help you cope better with the situation at hand. People who have time to throw themselves a pity party are the ones with too much time on their hands.

Pursue Personal Interests Although transitioning to a new career can be time-consuming, many find that it is an excellent time to focus on interests that they did not have time to pursue when they were employed full time. Nick Beaudoing is an attorney who has been out of work for several months. He is also a musician. When he gets down about not

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81 having found a new job, he tries to set up performances and spends time on his music. Then he feel as though there are some positive elements that balance the fact that he doesn’t have a job and it makes the time away from his primary career more enjoyable.

Go Back to School Even if you aren’t interested in a degree program, take a class or two in something that really interests you. If you’ve always had an interest in medieval history, now is your chance to read, learn, and enjoy. The husband of one of my friends is getting a degree in biotechnology after having had a successful career in sales. He’s earning all As and loving every minute of it. The bottom line is that this is your time. “Find pleasures in simpler things. I have learned to be content reading a book with soft music in the background rather than seeking out entertainment that costs money,” says downsizing survivor Lynn Luznicky. Make a list of all the things you’ve been wanting or needing to do and get started. Keep busy and don’t forget to have a little fun. Take a leisurely three-hour lunch with your friends. Go to a matinee. Take time to catch up with friends and family. Get out all your old pictures and organize them or make some repairs around the house. Before long you’ll be back in the workforce wishing you could enjoy those fun-filled days.

Get Rid of the Blues—Get Physical Stress is the number one cause of illness in this country. It has an impact on every aspect of your life, including your physical and mental health. You are not healthy when you aren’t in good physical and mental shape. As a result, your ability to make sound judgments is impaired. Exercise is one of the best ways to ward off stress. Unfortunately, the stress of a career transition can lead to depression resulting in lethargic behavior and the lack of desire to put

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Reinvent Your Career forth the effort to exercise. It may sound more appealing to pull the covers up over your head and hope the world will go away and leave you alone. This won’t help you reinvent your career. So it is imperative you take care of your physical and mental well-being. Even if your old career didn’t leave time for exercise—get started now. Get off the couch and put away the bag of chips. Turn off the television and take a vigorous walk or go to the gym. A lack of exercise during a transition only exacerbates depression and limits your ability to get your life back on track. “I find that the executives I work with who don’t exercise are less able to find opportunities and achieve their full potential. They don’t feel stimulated and excited about the possibilities that lie ahead,” says executive consultant Bob Thiet. “It can become a state of mind. If you have lost your job, it’s time to hit the gym and find yourself. The endorphins will help give you the strength and passion to proactively address your situation with a healthy mindset.” Research shows that those who exercise regularly are sharper, more alert, and perhaps more aware of the opportunities surrounding them. It can also shore up your emotional energy that you’ll most definitely need as you begin your new journey. When you lack emotional energy, you lack the ability to create positive dynamics in your life. You lose sight of your dreams and the ability to overcome obstacles. There are a couple of added benefits to your new exercise regime. One benefit is that you will drop a few pounds, tone up, and look great. But additionally, if you join a gym you’ll also probably meet a lot of people just like you—people going through a career transition— waiting their turn for the treadmill or elliptical machine. Strike up a conversation and use this time to do a little networking too. Make a commitment to get your body in motion. Here’s to your health and your success.

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Look Good Okay, so you are out of work and you don’t have any place to go. So what? Get up out of bed. Take a shower. Comb your hair. And get dressed in something other than your ratty jeans or sweatpants. We all know that when we look good we feel better about ourselves. So if you sit around the house in your bathrobe all day, it’s not going to do much for your self-esteem. My 78-year-old retired father gets up every morning and puts on a pair of dress slacks, crisply ironed shirt, tie, and sports jacket. He doesn’t have to dress anymore. Most of his peers don’t. But he feels better about himself when he presents a nice appearance. Remember, looking for your new wonderful career requires a fulltime commitment. It requires a sharp and focused mind and the maintenance of a positive attitude and professional demeanor. Your self-image will reveal itself—even on the telephone. Put your best image forward on all fronts. During the late 1980s and 1990s, there was a trend in the business world toward business casual. Initially, the rationale was that if people were more comfortable, they would be better producers. After more than a decade of study, however, researchers are finding that a casual appearance leads to a casual attitude. Many companies are finding that a casual dress code brings about a loss of productivity and a lack of professionalism because it creates an environment where people are more relaxed about the quality of their work. Your whole attitude changes when you look good and you project what you think and feel. Maintaining your business outlook and routine is important while wrestling with your transition. If you look and act professionally, you’ll be successful. And remember, you never know whom you’ll run into at the grocery store or neighborhood coffee shop. It might be the keeper of your next opportunity, so look the part.

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Maintain a Positive Outlook Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed. —Abraham Lincoln Everyone in this world has bad things happen to them. The only people who don’t are 6 feet underground. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is not that the successful people don’t have adversity, because they do. It’s how they deal with it that makes the difference. Successful people understand how to accept the situation, learn from it, and move on. You can dwell on a negative outcome, but it doesn’t change a thing. And when you insist on looking back, you miss the opportunity to see what is in the future. What’s in the past is yesterday’s news. One of my favorite sayings comes from Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Now that you are faced with the ending of one aspect of your life, your attitude toward future possibilities will determine your ability to obtain the success you deserve and desire. If you choose to believe that you will never have the kind of job or opportunities you’ve had in the past, then most likely you won’t. If you see yourself as a failure, then you are; however, if you decide to look at this as a new beginning, then you can reinvent your career and take control of your life. “While it was among the most difficult times in my life, I am clear now that my downsizing experience made me stronger personally, and professionally it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was limited by a political ceiling and the corporate environment was stifling. Now, I know my career is what I make it. Before it was a job, now it is a career,” explains Lynn Luznicky.

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85 Optimistic people are healthier and know how to bounce back from adverse situations. Experts say the optimism is a “high-voltage power tool in the life-skills tool-box (O magazine [Feb. 2002]).” “It’s like cats. When you throw them out the window, they land on their feet,” says Susan C. Vaughan, M.D., author of Half Empty, Half Full and Live Life as an Optimist. Keep in mind, future employers can sense when you haven’t dealt with pent up anger and resentment toward your previous employer. It’s like when you start a new personal relationship. Your new love interest doesn’t want to hear about how horrible the others were in the past. Every relationship has its positive aspects and that’s what you want to stay focused on. What did you learn? What skills did you take away? What additional training did you receive? There are always two sides to every story, so if you sound as though you are pointing fingers and placing blame, a prospective employer may view you as the real culprit. Be prepared to say good things about your former boss and your previous employer. And remember, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. When you expect good things to happen, you will attract those things to you. You send positive energy into the universe that acts like a magnet. But it is your choice—it really is. You have to decide to look at this transition in your life as the beginning of the next great adventure. Think about the successes you have enjoyed in the past. Think about the challenges you faced and how you successfully overcame those challenges. John Cotter, a successful business leader, believes success is a mindset. “I figured if I was good at my past careers, I could do other things successfully,” he says. “You just have to do it.” Concentrate on how successful outcomes in the past made you feel. Bask in the confidence, strength, and sense of self-esteem you felt. Draw on that energy and those feelings as you tackle the exciting new challenges ahead. You know you have the skills and talent to persevere and succeed. You have succeeded in the past, you can do it again.

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Reinvent Your Career Remember, smile and the world smiles with you. It’s hard not to smile back at someone who is smiling, and when others are smiling that helps put you in a good mood. There are physiological benefits too. Smiling actually causes your body to rid itself of angst and anger. Turn off the negativism and put a smile on your face.

Some Days You Win and Some Days You Don’t Everyone who has ever played sports knows that even though you lose a game today, you’ve got to go back out there and play your best tomorrow—and chances are you’ll win. At the age of 48, James Venezia lost his first and only full-time job. After 24 years working his way up the corporate ladder as a computer programmer at Prudential, he was unceremoniously laid off along with 100 others in his division. “I started this job fresh out of college, and I really thought I’d be there until retirement age. But there certainly wasn’t any retirement party under these circumstances.” There had been rumblings of possible cuts affecting his department for some time, but that didn’t make losing his job any easier. “In 24 years, I never missed a day of work. Your loyalty, your longevity— they don’t take any of that into account. When it comes time to cut, they don’t look at intangibles like that. You’re just another employee— another number.” Despite the fact that he is angry about losing his job, Venezia candidly admits he hadn’t really been happy in his job for the last few years. “When you’re worrying about job security every day, that takes a lot out of you.” His saving grace was coaching a high school baseball team after work. “That was an escape from corporate America.” Now he feels he can devote more of his energy to coaching while he takes time to figure out his next step. He’s already exploring the possibility of teaching at the high school where he coaches.

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87 “Baseball is a lot like life, you’re in it for the long haul. If you didn’t have such a good day today, if you got beat, you’ve got to go back to the game tomorrow. You can’t let yesterday’s defeat affect you.” Venezia is stepping right back up to the plate. It’s your turn. Start swinging. If you strike out today, there’s always another inning and the possibility of a home run. Some days you win and some days you don’t, but you can never win if you aren’t in the game.

Survival Skills Tips
Go ahead and have yourself a good cry.
Reach out to your support network. Don’t go it alone.
Join a professional support group.
Don’t burn bridges. It is a small world.
Bite your tongue. Think before you speak.
Do something you have always wanted to do. Have some fun.
Get rid of the blues—get physical. Start an exercise program.
Look good.
Maintain a positive outlook.
Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, but you can’t win unless you are in the game.

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Chapter 5

Protecting Yourself: The Nuts and Bolts of Career Transition The fool asks the wise for advice, but the wise ask the experienced. —Anonymous

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ven when you know it is coming, being told you are out of a job is a difficult thing to hear. It is a situation fraught with emotion and generally the only thing you can think about is getting the heck out of Dodge. You are like the walking wounded. Nonetheless, you must keep a clear head so you can make sure as you head for the door, you understand exactly where you stand with your previous employer. There are a few housekeeping issues you’ll want to take care of. For example, you’ll want to ask for a record of employment from your human resource department.

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Reinvent Your Career Depending on company policy and your state law, you may have the right to the complete contents of your personnel file. Also, make sure you have the contact information for a specific person within the department for future questions. Before you leave, take contact information for your coworkers and other key people within the organization. Ask some of your associates if you could use their name as a reference in the future, but make sure you know the reference will be a positive one.

Ask the Right Questions When you are ending an employment relationship, communication is important. Making mistakes at this stage of the game can have an impact on you in the future, so you want to be sure you ask the right questions and understand what you can expect. If you are part of a large layoff, you should ask what criterion was used to select those being terminated. You also need to know how the company is going to justify the downsizing publicly. For example, one company laid off the entire staff of several departments. Then in a newspaper interview a company spokesperson said that the layoffs had nothing to do with economics. Instead, they explained the departments were cut because they were unproductive and not contributing to the bottom line. Talk about the death knell for those individuals looking for new opportunities. You need to know what kind of packages and options are offered. Most importantly, you should take time to educate yourself. Read. Do research on the Internet. Talk to representatives from professional associations. Make sure any decisions you make are educated ones.

Should You Sign a Release? Many companies will ask you to sign a release when your employment ends. When you sign a release, you most likely will be asked to

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91 waive your rights to bring an employment-based claim against the company in relationship to your termination and any possible illegal conduct of the company in making the termination. When you sign a release, you give up valuable rights. In return for signing the release, your company must offer you some form of consideration, which in many instances is your severance package. Be careful because your employer is not always required to word the release so it is easily understood, nor are they always required to provide adequate time to consider whether to sign. If your employer pressures you to sign immediately, be suspicious. Ask questions about anything you don’t understand, and don’t sign anything until you do. Remember, these releases are written to protect your employer, not you. A well-crafted release should encourage you to consult an attorney before you sign and you really should do so if you feel at all uncomfortable, don’t completely understand the language in the release, or if you are uncertain about the legality of your termination. “It is a good idea to have an attorney look at it. Sometimes releases are written so broadly that you have to be careful in terms of what you are releasing. You want to make sure you aren’t waiving your right for unemployment benefits or claims for any existing pension or profit sharing plan,” explains Laura Kipnis, a partner with the firm Blumenfeld, Kaplan, and Sandweiss, P.C. For many employees who are at least 40, the Older Workers’ Benefit Protection ACT (OWBPA), requires an employer to include certain provisions to make a release of age discrimination claims under the federal law known as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act valid. For example, the release must give you 21 days to sign, and the right to revoke the agreement within seven days after the date of signing. Furthermore, if the release is required as part of special downsizing benefits, then your employer is required to provide certain statistical information. If you are enticed to sign a release because it is tied to a significant related severance offer, be careful you don’t act too hastily. “I

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Reinvent Your Career have seen lots of people sign because they are enticed by the money and then later they find out they can’t work in the industry any longer or they didn’t take time to consider what claims they might have had,” says Kipnis. Once again, the sage advice is to contact an attorney.

Do You Have a Right to Severance? Although state laws vary, many times there is no legal requirement for an employer to offer you a severance package. Many employers, however, do sometimes offer a package in exchange for a signed release. And if there is a legal requirement that severance be offered, your employer is often required to disclose the terms and conditions of the severance. If you are offered a package, make sure you understand exactly what is included and what is not included. Remember, verbal promises made to you that are not specified in a written document or included in a written release may not be enforceable in court. In addition, you don’t have to take the company’s first offer. Just like salaries, severance packages can sometimes be negotiated, but be careful to ask if the employer will negotiate before you try to do so. Many times packages are fairly uniform in order to avoid any perception of discrimination. In other words, what is offered to one person is the same as is being offered to everyone. “In my experience, lots of employers, both big ones and small ones, give their first, last, and best offer. If you don’t take it then, you are out of luck. Time to hit the bricks,” explains Chris Kelleher, founder of The Law Firm for Businesses, P.C. “But rather than investing a huge amount of your life by filing a claim against your company, it doesn’t hurt and is probably a good idea to see if there is any opportunity to sweeten what has been offered in terms of severance,” explains Kipnis. There are other possible ways to sweeten the deal that won’t cost your employer any additional dollars. If you are close to retirement,

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93 you might be able get the company to agree to add a little time to your record so that you can qualify for an early pension. Be sure you understand whether you’ll be paid for unused vacation or sick days and if you are eligible for a bonus—you should determine whether you’ll receive it. Frequently, if a new company comes in to clean house, they err on the frugal side rather than being generous with the employees. After all, they haven’t had a long-term relationship with the released employee. Unfortunately, that was the situation for Jeff Millman who was forced to sue for his outstanding five-figure performance-based bonus. “It was a four-year process and it was a lot more work than it should have been. I had a ‘slam dunk’ case and my attorney and I were prepared to go to trial. The company knew they had lost and it concluded in an anti-climatic fashion when, a few moments before the commencement of the trial on the courthouse steps, their attorney handed us an envelope containing a settlement check in the full amount of my bonus. The whole thing basically allowed them to keep my money interest free for four years,” Millman says. There are non-monetary items that you could ask for that would assist you in your transition. For example, you may be able to ask if you can continue to use your e-mail address for a while or possibly utilize office space and continue using your letterhead for a period of time in order to look for another position. If you have a company laptop, perhaps your company will let you keep it or at least sell it to you for a minimal price. “If you are going to ask for something more than the standard package, make sure you do it in private. Never ask in a meeting or in front of other coworkers because an employer is likely to flatly reject your request so as to not appear that they are favoring one employee over another,” explains Kelleher.

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Ask for a Recommendation Letter While you are still on good terms with your employer, you’ll want to learn what it is they’ll say about you should a prospective employer call or write. Remember, your former employer is generally free to say anything about you as long as it is truthful and/or strictly an opinion. So you need to get things clarified up front. Draft a generic “To whom it may concern” letter about yourself and ask your supervisor or department head to sign it. Don’t use language that is glowing and flowery. Be factual and objective. Start out by stating your position and responsibilities with the company and how long you have been there. Include any significant projects or accomplishments. Add some information about some of your strengths as an employee. For example, you could include language that describes you as professional and a team player. But whatever you write, expect some changes. Kipnis advises, “If you are asked to sign a release, suggest they incorporate in the release that the company can only respond to reference requests with terms of the pre-agreed upon reference letter. Determine when you can expect to receive the completed letter. It’s a good practice to ask for and receive the signed letter before you leave; otherwise, you’ll be out the door and they may try to give you the runaround. The sooner you can get the letter, the better off you are.

What Kind of Medical Benefits Will You Have? If you work for an employer who has 20 or more employees, then a federal law known as COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) should allow you to continue your same group health coverage for a period of time, but you will be responsible for paying the monthly premium, which can be quite expensive. Some state laws often cover employers who have fewer than 20 employees. Check with your state’s insurance department. If COBRA does apply, the law requires that you receive notification within 30 days of the date of your employment termination. Your

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95 coverage is not automatic. After you receive notification from your employer, you must notify them within 30 days of your decision to continue your coverage. To ensure there is no lapse in your coverage, make sure you make your election as soon as possible. If you fail to make a timely COBRA election, you may lose your right to elect COBRA coverage and the company’s health insurance provider has no obligation to continue your coverage even if you offer to pay the monthly premium. COBRA coverage typically lasts 18 months, but can last longer in certain circumstances.

Unemployment Insurance Before your last day at work, be sure to find out whether you are eligible for unemployment insurance. If you are, then by all means make sure you find out how to apply. However, don’t count on unemployment to pay your bills. The amount you receive can be very small compared to your current salary and is limited to a certain number of weeks. And while we are on the subject of money, try to refrain from dipping into your 401(k) account if you have one. Unless you meet certain age requirements the penalties for withdrawals can be very costly.

Outplacement Be sure to learn about possible outplacement services. If your employer is offering this resource, take advantage of it. Outplacement services can provide valuable assistance in helping you transition into your next job. They keep you on track while you are pursuing your next job. Outplacement is equivalent to having your own career coach, support staff, and mentor. It can make the overwhelming manageable by providing tools to help you assess your skills, marketability, and aptitude. With an outplacement firm’s resources you’ll increase your odds

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Reinvent Your Career of targeting the right companies and positions, which in turn increases your chances of landing the right position for you. Sometimes, but not often, your employer may let you select the outplacement firm. If you get to make the selection, you should spend some time interviewing varying agencies. You’ll need to know how long you’ll be able to use the service, what services they provide, and their actual track record in helping workers in transition. Sometimes outplacement services are offered for a specific period of time, while some companies provide assistance until you find another job. You might also check with your state government. Sometimes there are state programs, which can assist you in your job hunt. These programs often include a training component, which gives you options if you are thinking about changing careers entirely.

Employee Rights Not every inappropriate behavior in the workplace is an actionable cause. When I practiced law, I sat behind my desk and listened to many people tell me their employment termination stories. “It was wrong.” “It isn’t fair.” “They can’t do that to me.” “My boss was just out to get me.” Many of the stories I heard were truly unfair and sometimes bordering on disgusting. But then no one ever said life would be fair. Most of the time I wound up explaining that as unfair and hurtful as it may seem, the law wouldn’t provide them with any legal recourse against their employer. Certainly, as one human being to another, I sympathized with their circumstances, but many times the law wouldn’t help them fight their former employer.

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97 In most states, in the absence of an express agreement of duration of employment, your employment relationship is presumed to be one of employment-at-will. That means your employer can fire you at any time for any reason so long as the reason isn’t illegal as it would be in the case of a termination based on race, religion, gender, and other protected classifications. The bottom line is that if you are an “employee-at-will” your boss may not like the way you part your hair or drink your coffee and decide to get rid of you, and that’s okay. This puts employees in a weak position to deal with a boss who “has it out for you” unless you can prove that your boss was acting with illegal reason.

What Would Be Considered an Illegal Reason for Termination? An illegal action for termination would be any employment action that was motivated by an illegal reason or had an adverse impact on a protected class of people. The illegal reason for discharge and the protected classes are generally: age, sex, gender, national origin, race, disability, and age. Typically, in order to win a case in court, you must prove that you are a member of the protected classifications; that you think you were discriminated against because of one of the categories; that you were qualified for your job; that you suffered an adverse employment action; and that others similarly situated, not of the protected class, were treated differently. In addition, many state laws prohibit an employer from discharging an employee for a reason that violates the “public policy.” Often this occurs when an employee is fired after “blowing the whistle” on her employer and attempting to correct or expose what may be illegal conduct on the part of the employer. Although the law often encourages employees to feel free to report wrongdoing without fear of reprisal, “whistleblowers” often receive little practical or legal protection against being discharged.

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Reinvent Your Career Employment discrimination cases are difficult cases to prove. Your job in court, as the plaintiff, is to prove all the previously mentioned legal requirements before the burden shifts to your employer, who then must demonstrate there was a legitimate business reason for the employment action. Furthermore, employment discrimination cases are time-consuming and can be a tremendous drain on you as the one making the claim in court, in terms of emotions, finances, and even physical health. “If somebody comes in after being separated from employment thinking it is because of age or sex or some other legally protected trait, I walk them through the process of making a claim. I explain you must start with filing a charge of discrimination with the appropriate agency like the EEOC. That process takes typically six to 18 months. Then it is another 18 months to work through the courts and there is no guarantee you are going to win. So there is a lot of energy used on the negative as opposed to getting on with their life,” Kipnis says. “It is very rare someone has a real claim against the employer. I have been in this practice area for 18 years now and I have probably seen only 10 legitimate claims. Most people are either looking for a winning lottery ticket or they are angry and want to push their employer to see what they can get. Sometimes they genuinely think they have been wronged, but they don’t have all the information or they refuse to admit they were responsible for what happened,” Kipnis adds. But don’t let the odds deter you from investigating whether you may have a valid claim for wrongful termination. A friend of mine was approaching his 60th birthday and had worked for his company for 30-plus years. His boss’s boss sent him a memo on company letterhead and in the body of the memo referred to him as an “old fart.” He called me and asked me what I thought. I said, “Take that memo to your bank and put it in a safety deposit box because that is what they call the smoking gun.” As it turned out, a few months later he was terminated allegedly for his performance even though he had consistently outstanding

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99 performance reviews. He sued for age discrimination, and that piece of evidence proved to be an integral part of the case. The problem for most discharged employees is that the majority of managers aren’t stupid enough to send a “smoking gun” memo. Nonetheless, if your employment is severed, or if you feel as though you have been discriminated against in the workplace, you should take time to consult with an attorney who specializes in employment law. Make sure the person you consult with is someone who is truly qualified and will give you an honest assessment of your case. Beware of attorneys who encourage you to “go for it” because employers always settle. Employers don’t “always” settle and you may wind up with nothing but a lot of legal fees and broken dreams, not to mention a broken career. The bottom line is: “You want somebody who will paint an honest picture of the good, the bad, and the ugly,” says Kipnis. Begin by asking your family and friends for references. Then check with your state and county bar associations. Martindalte-Hubble Law Directory is a commonly used directory of lawyers and can be found at most public libraries. If you believe you have been discriminated against, and you would like to pursue your case, in addition to consulting with an attorney, you must also file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a similar state agency. If you’d like more information about discrimination claims, you can call the EEOC at 800-669-4000 or visit www.eeoc.gov. And as a final note, not all employers are covered by these federal laws; however, there are often state and local laws that will apply. In theory, if you file a discrimination claim against your former employer, they cannot retaliate. For example, they shouldn’t interfere with your ability to obtain other employment. However, in real life you should be aware that retaliation often occurs subtly and it is difficult to prove. I worked with a woman who filed a sexual harassment claim against her previous employer. A few years after the claim was settled she applied for another job, and the person interviewing her knew the

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Reinvent Your Career harasser at her old company. Of course, she didn’t get the job. Later, she learned that her harasser had bragged about his ability to keep her from getting the job over a few drinks at a cocktail party. It happens. Before you make any rash decisions that could have an impact on your ability to move on with your life, carefully consider all the consequences. Most often you’ll find it better in the long run to get past the anger and the hurt, and focus on the positives in the future.

Tips for Protecting Yourself
Ask the right questions.
Get a copy of your personnel file.
Get contact information for a specific person who can answer future questions.
Keep contact information for your coworkers and ask if you can use them for a reference.
Know what the company will say.
Review releases carefully and consult with an attorney.
Take time to understand your severance package. Don’t be afraid to negotiate.
Ask for a recommendation letter.
Determine your eligibility for unemployment and find out how to apply.
Don’t dip into your 401(k).
Understand your medical benefits. Don’t let them lapse.
Use outplacement services if offered.
If you think you have been wrongfully discharged, consult a qualified employment attorney.

Getting Back on the Horse
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Chapter 6

Getting Back on the Horse The only thing in the world you can change is yourself and that makes all the difference in the world. —Cher

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kay, you got thrown from the horse. Big deal—it happens to the best of us. But from now on I hope you are going to invest in yourself. It’s going to be all about you—what you want and how you are going to create the life you desire. Now, that may sound like a selfish statement because we all have a tendency to weigh every step based on its consequences to others. But the greatest gift you can give to yourself and the people you care about is to be happy and fulfilled.

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Don’t Jump at the First Thing Regardless of what circumstances you left your previous job, the first offer that comes along will be mighty tempting. But you don’t want to make an impulse buy. Take time to explore what it is you want to do. What did you like about your previous job? What didn’t you like? Don’t feel pressured if people keep asking you what you are going to do. Simply tell them you are considering your options. In this day and age, people will respect you for taking your time. Also, don’t allow desperation to jaundice your view of the world. When you are desperate, it’s kind of like looking in one of those crazy mirrors at the circus that can make you look short, fat, tall, or thin. It is not a true indication of what you look like—just a trick. Desperation causes your mind to play tricks on you. And when you accept a job out of desperation, one that isn’t compatible with your passion and core motivation, you are stacking the odds against you. You don’t need to grab the first thing like a lifeline, unless by some stroke of fate it is your dream job. In order to reinvent your career, and find the next great thing—you have to try things on and make sure they are the right fit. If financial issues are affecting your ability to take your time to find the right thing, consider interim employment. Take a position at the local grocery store, restaurant, or video club to ease the financial pain—realizing this is just a temporary fix. “I’ve seen problems occur when someone is panicked and desperate for a new job, they accept the first thing that comes along and the job requires them to sign a noncompete and confidentiality agreement. Then, once they get into the job they realize they don’t like it and they are stuck,” explains attorney Laura Kipnis. Give yourself some breathing room to find a job that you have a prayer of being happy with and one that matches your passion and skill set. You’ll decrease your odds of being back in the transition boat again.

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103 Stephen Cohen learned this lesson the hard way. Cohen was living a relatively comfortable life in his position as a computer systems analyst. “I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought. I was making good money, I had a nice apartment—it was all very stable and settled. I was on a definite track.” He was jolted out of his job complacency when the company he worked for was bought out and all former employees were let go. Stephen initially panicked, and two days later when the new parent company offered him a significantly higher-level position with a big pay increase, he accepted. He had a week off before he would assume his new responsibilities and that’s when he began rethinking his decision. “I never really liked the whole 9-to-5 world and this job seemed to be the last step in my transition to official ‘corporate guy.’ I realized I didn’t actually want the new position, but I didn’t know what else I could do. I felt computers were the only thing I was good at. I had about six days to make a decision and I couldn’t come up with anything,” he explains. Ultimately, Cohen’s father helped him to make up his mind. “He told me there was no reason for me to embark on a career that wouldn’t make me happy. Then he reminded me how I’d always loved planes since I was a little kid, and suggested I learn to be a pilot.” The transition began again. Cohen did some research and enrolled in pilot school a few months later. Now he’s working towards his final, full-fledged pilot’s license, something he’d never even dreamed was possible just two years ago. “Looking back, I can see I was unhappy in my old job. Getting laid off got me thinking about things,” he adds. This is your opportunity to rethink what you want to do with your life. The past is over. Your future lies before you. Make it whatever you want to make it.

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Don’t Sell Yourself Short When you are in career transition and the financial pain of the situation becomes unbearable, many people make the mistake of undervaluing themselves. Unfortunately, once this is done, it is hard to correct and can create a neverending career nightmare. Attorney Bill Higley has seen the effects of this time and time again and was an example of it himself early in his career. “Think hard about the value you place upon yourself—you know what you are worth and if you undervalue yourself out of desperation, you will never have anyone come back to you and offer more. It establishes a pattern that you often can’t escape,” says Higley. He advises clients to do their homework on what their skills are worth in the marketplace. Chances are that if it has been awhile since you’ve been in the job market, you may not really know. Headhunters are a good source of information, and many have assessment tools, that can provide you with a salary range for your particular experience level and skill set. In addition, there are a number of Internet sites, such as Salary.com, The Riley Guide, and Job Star Central, which provide information about average salaries for various positions. If you accept a job at less than your market value, try to negotiate other nonsalary benefits that you would consider important. For example, perhaps you could get an extra week of paid vacation or ask them to include a membership to a fitness facility. One man told me that he not only successfully negotiated a gym membership, but got his new employer to pay for a personal trainer, too. Finally, you might consider taking a position at less than your market value if the company will agree to a six-month performance review with an opportunity for a salary increase. Alternately, you could ask for a structured performance-based compensation plan to achieve your salary target. Settling for something less than what you are worth often results in a loss of self-esteem and a feeling of resentment toward the new employer. Consequently, you’ll be back on the job hunt again very soon.

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Embrace Your Successes and Your Failures Cynthia Kohlbry, president of a retained executive search company, says she has probably seen it all. In fact, she’s often one of the first people contacted when someone is going through a career transition. One of the things Kohlbry does for her clients is to screen people. “My job is to find the right person for the right job,” she explains. However, Kohlbry knew her firm had a huge number of inquiries from job seekers that she couldn’t help through the firm’s traditional core business and she wanted an opportunity to do more. So she created a program she calls Executives in Transition. The primary goal is to help people identify their core motivations and provide them with constructive, positive support. “Everyone is in transition—always. Retained executive search firms are in a good position to tell you how you are seen—where your story works, or where it is lacking,” says Kohlbry. “But people going through career transition need more than that. They deserve compassion and assistance with their transition.” “Transition is actually a gift, but that’s sometimes a tough concept to sell,” Kohlbry explains. “People who are going through a transition are so fragile. They are still too caught up with anger, fear, and self-pity to embrace this state of turmoil as a gift.” Kohlbry’s advice: embrace who you are—your successes and your failures. The whole process starts with really knowing yourself. “Be authentic and don’t pretend. Cultivate the essence of what makes you special—that’s important,” she adds.

Do Some Serious Prospecting Good salespeople understand the law of averages. They know it takes a fair amount of activity before results begin to show. In fact, depending on the industry, many salespeople know the exact number of calls they need to make to equate to one sale. Undoubtedly, in your job search you’ll hear a bundle of no’s before you get to a yes.

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Reinvent Your Career Take stock of all your resources, contacts, and relationships. Make contact with recruiters and don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. You’ll need to develop a good base of referral sources. For sales executive Steve Angelo, it was disappointing to be part of a Seattle-based company that was a casualty of the dot-com era. While he got a nice severance package, Angelo knew he needed to focus on obtaining another executive level sales position. “It took about two months before my efforts started showing signs of payoff. By the second month I had offers from a couple of companies,” said Steve Angelo, national sales manager for Xerox. “You have to think positively and remember your accumulated success. You have assets and experience that the right company will find beneficial.” “Maintaining structure was the key for me staying on track— meaning keeping the business hours, preparing for each work day. It’s just sales 101 with high personal stakes,” Angelo continues.

Applaud Rejection Letters If you have recently lost your position, the thought of more rejection is not pleasant. In fact, none of us likes rejection under any circumstances. Therefore, it is easy to make up excuses as to why you aren’t out there beating the bushes, looking for your next exciting career adventure. The reality is, however, if you aren’t out exploring, you’ll never find what it is you are looking for. When the sale announcement was made at Diane Zebell’s company, 200 people realized they were going to be out of work within the next few months. Her department consisted of six people, and they decided to pull together as a team to begin to help each other find the “perfect” new job. Each week they’d host lunch meetings where everyone would share information about companies they’d found, jobs they’d heard about, or helpful Websites. They actually created their own interdepartment support group.

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107 “We were constantly running back and forth whenever we’d find something that looked like a good fit for one of our colleagues. Then, we’d all come together and brainstorm on drafting the best cover letter,” she explains. To make sure everyone was out there really looking, the department created a “Wall of Shame.” “Whenever someone got a rejection letter, they’d pin it to the wall. At the end of the week, we’d award a prize to the person who had the most rejections,” she explained.

Go After Your Dream Job Sometimes you land the perfect job based on the sheer fact that you have the confidence and nerve to go for it. You find it by articulating exactly what it is you want based on your personal qualities and values. Then you begin to research, turn over stones, and ask questions until you have narrowed down the company and the position you want to pursue. Sound crazy? It isn’t. It is actually a technique that can give you the power to find a job that is the perfect fit for you. John Salozzo has had success with this technique more than once. He only pursues jobs that don’t feel like work to him because they tap into his creative energies. He won’t compromise. He focuses on work that he is passionate about and that he considers fun. “I’ve never had much luck with ads or the traditional job search techniques,” says Salozzo. “When I find out about a company that is interesting and has potential, I research the company and then I look at how I can have a positive impact.” Salozzo claims he’s been initially interested in companies only to find that they were too boring—not the right fit. Salozzo’s technique is to find out as much as possible about the company and the position—then he juxtaposes that information against his own skill set and personal values. If it’s right—then he uses his sales savvy and personality to go for it.

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Reinvent Your Career His last dream job had taken him to the United Kingdom, but it collapsed as a result of the economy. Salozzo returned to the United States without a job, car, health insurance, or even a driver’s license. “I started calling around to find out who the hot companies were in town,” he explained. “Then, I called the president of one of the companies and explained I had a lot of information he needed and that I would buy him lunch.” Salozzo landed the job in a week. Unfortunately, it was a repeat performance. The company ran into tough times and once again Salozzo was out of a job. The technique worked before—so he used it again. “I found an interesting company and I liked everything I was able to learn about it. So I did a dummy sales call to find out more. I wrote a letter to the owner and my letter explained that I am a very interesting person with unique experience. I also highlighted my unique skill set and my ability to impact the bottom line. In my close, I told the owner exactly when I would call him and I did,” Salozzo notes. When you see something that looks right—don’t waste time thinking about it—take action. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll never know unless you take the risk. “I like to think about it like art—you can have a flop or something really good. If it is crap, you can always hide it. The important thing is to figure out what you want and go for it,” Salozzo says.

Network, Network, Network There is an old adage that says it’s not what you know, but who you know. In today’s business world there is no truer statement. With literally millions of people searching for job opportunities, you’ll have a better shot at getting in the door if you know someone. Most jobs are gained through friends or other personal connections. Warm calls are always more effective than cold calls. Marc Simms, a certified professional behavioral analyst says, “Many of my clients come and tell me they’ve been with XYZ Company for the last

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109 20 years and just got downsized and don’t know what to do. The best opportunities will come through networking or the endorsement of someone who knows your capabilities.” Networking is the sharing of information, ideas, resources, and opportunities. “More than 80 percent of all jobs are filled in the ‘informal’ job market, and networking is designed to leverage you into that market,” explains Mary Quigg, president of Vandover, an outplacement-consulting firm. “Networking doesn’t necessarily identify specific job openings, but it creates important contacts from which opportunities develop,” she adds. A referral from someone generates 80 percent greater results than a cold call. With statistics like that, how can you afford not to network your socks off? It certainly beats answering want ads or surfing the Internet. However, most people don’t understand how to network effectively. When you think about networking, what image comes to mind? The first thought that pops into most people’s heads is a crowded room of people eagerly seeking to hand out and receive business cards—each hoping for an immediate hit. Effective networking isn’t about going to some event, having a glass of wine, and passing out business cards. The problem with that kind of networking is that you get back to the office, throw the business cards in a drawer, and forget about them. It’s also not about finding a job. Best-selling author and one-time Presbyterian minister, John Izzo, suggests calling friends who have been laid off and ask them to lunch. Use this downtime to develop relationships and learn from those around you. “As soon as things pick up, you’ll be the first to be remembered,” he says. Effective networking is about building personal relationships, and it can be done anywhere—at church, in a restaurant you frequent, or at a friend’s birthday celebration. Talk to everyone you meet. Start conversations while you are waiting in long lines. Personally, I’ve met

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Reinvent Your Career some really interesting people on airplanes. Generally, they are business people like me and I get the opportunity to learn about their careers and their lives. You never know when you are going to meet that one person who can make a real difference in your life. Your primary goal is to make connections—real connections, not just superficial acquaintances. When you meet someone, you should take time to get to know the individual. Ask questions and listen carefully to the reply. Even if you aren’t the world’s greatest at small talk, all you have to do is ask questions and listen. People love to talk about themselves and, believe it or not, they’ll think you are a great conversationalist. While you are learning more about them, look for things you have in common so you can begin to develop rapport. Once you have made the connection with someone—keep in touch. Send a personal note or invite him or her for breakfast, lunch, or coffee. Don’t wait until you need to leverage that contact to get in touch. Imagine picking up the phone and someone telling you that she met you nine months ago at a professional association meeting, and now she’s looking for a job and would appreciate your help. You’d probably say, “Yeah, right.” There’s no relationship there. You have to work at building relationships.

Review Your Connections When it comes to successfully identifying your new career, you can utilize your broad-based network to help you find what you are looking for. The larger your list of contacts, the greater chance you’ll have that someone you know will be able to open a door for you. Quigg suggests developing a “PIK” list, which stands for “People I Know.” “Your networking efforts should start here. Flip through your personal database, jot down the names of business or personal acquaintances you’ve talked to throughout the year, even if they are in another city. Include your friends and relatives in this category. You may even want to include your holiday greeting card list,” she explains.

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111 Send everyone on your list a note with a copy of your resume. Then follow up, but be specific about the direction you are going. Don’t waste someone’s time by trying to vaguely describe what you want to do with your life. They can’t read your mind, and they won’t figure it out for you. Be sure to keep an accurate and up-to-date list of everyone you contact. And keep adding to it as you meet new people at conferences, cocktail parties, and other functions. “Set goals for yourself. Get at least two referrals from each contact you make. This will allow you to cast an even wider net,” explains Quigg. In addition to helping you identify your next career move, there is an indirect and less tangible value to networking. Contacting people with whom you’ve worked in the past and who know your capabilities can really help you feel good about yourself. If you’re feeling beaten down by continued rejection or no responses in your job search, your former colleagues can help remind you of your strengths and achievements and reinforce the idea that there will be more of them in your future.

Network Through Trade Groups Join a couple of trade groups and diligently go to their meetings. Always have a copy of your updated resume with you at every meeting you attend. You never know whom you will meet and how they can help you on your career path. Try to meet a couple of new people each time you attend so that you can broaden your arsenal of contacts. Invite someone from the group to lunch and get to know him or her. You may be able to find a mentor or just a trusted friend who can critique your resume, cover letter, or job-search strategy. You can develop better relationships with members by volunteering for various committees within the group and doing a stand-up job on that committee. They will think of you when they hear about job

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Reinvent Your Career openings. Plus they will give you an excellent reference based on your performance on the committee. Similarly, they will help you stay abreast of trends, personnel changes, or other developments in your profession that can help you remain current or find a new job.

It Really Works When Paul Nash’s instincts told him a reorganization of the metrology company he worked for in the U.K. wouldn’t work out, he didn’t waste any time. He intensified his networking by attending trade shows and meeting with colleagues he’d known throughout his career. He initiated discussions with principals of complementary technologies and developed an action plan to start his own distributorship. Fortunately for him, he found a couple of companies who were interested in joining forces, and on the day he was given his walking papers and severance package, he felt like things had aligned perfectly. “I think the managing director of the company was surprised that I was not upset with my release,” said Nash. “Actually, it couldn’t have worked out better. But honestly, if I hadn’t prepared in advance, and leveraged my networks, the situation would have been much more stressful.”

Ask for Informational Interviews Informational interviews can be a terrific way to network and market yourself. The cardinal rule about informational interviews is to make sure you make your purpose clear. If you show up to an informational interview under the guide of “networking,” don’t be surprised if you offend your contact when in your follow-up you ask about job openings. “Informational interviews are generally by referral and you shouldn’t seek a job under the guise of an informational interview,” explains Mary Quigg of Vandover. “No one likes to be misled.” Quigg

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113 says to make your intentions clear from the start to avoid leaving a sour taste in the mouth of your contact. Typically, an informational interview involves telling your network contact about your background, experience, education, and competencies and your specific career/ industry interests. You then ask him or her for advice and counsel related to industries/companies and individuals they recommend you pursue. Obviously, if within the context of the informational interview your contact suggests you might be a good candidate for employment with his or her employer, it is then acceptable to pursue that path.

Take an Inventory of Your Transferable Skills If you want to get back on the horse, but you want to try a different breed this time, then you need to understand your skill set and its transferability. There are many ways to develop your list. For example, there are government agencies available at no cost that can help identify your aptitudes and skills. Career counselors can also be excellent resources. They have the tools, self-assessment skills, and expertise to help you get on the right track. Myers Brigs, DISC, and Values Aptitudes are some of the most common tests available to help you analyze the skills, attitudes, and motivators you possess. Sometimes the information you learn about yourself may actually surprise you. Your personal transferable skill set is actually your product. It’s what you are selling to potential employers. So if you aren’t keenly aware of what you bring to the table then you can’t adequately present yourself to a prospect. You are working from a handicap. Once you have a clear understanding of your core competencies, you should learn to present them in a positive way. When you are able to match them to the position you are vying for, you’ll increase your chances of landing the job. But more importantly, you’ll probably find that you have a good fit and a happy career.

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Reinvent Your Career Unfortunately, taking the time to match skills, attitudes, and motivations to career choices is the step most people miss and it is often why people find themselves in unfulfilling jobs. Ask yourself these questions:
What do you do better than anyone else?
What are the skills you possess that employers are willing to pay a premium for?
How can you present your skills in such a way that sets you apart from others in your profession or the career of your choice?
How can you best maintain your career advantage? One of the most amazing stories of transferable skills I’ve encountered is a woman named Marcia Nizzari. Today, Nizzari writes software programs for a large genome research lab at MIT’s Whitehead Institute. The Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research is a major collaborator in the sequencing of the human genome, as well as the mouse and many other organisms. Other groups within the Center, as well as the research community at large, utilize the sequencing information for identifying genes responsible for diseases. Nizzari wasn’t always in the medical research field. After graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music with a bachelor of music in performance degree, she spent the early part of her career as a professional flutist in Washington, Boston, and New York. “I found that I was 28, bored, and tired of being poor so I went back to school and retrained for high-tech programming. I ultimately obtained a master of science in computer science from Boston University,” she explained. Now who would ever think about a professional flutist turned computer programmer? It’s all about transferable skills, Narzzari says. “There is a similarity between music and computers or engineering because of the mathematics involved. It seems to have something

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115 to do with the way the brain absorbs patterns. Music tends to utilize the same types of pattern analysis. In my particular case, my dad was a successful electrical engineer and was a pioneer in the computer field. So I had a lot of support from home and I had a natural affinity for it. It was a career I knew I could easily move into,” she adds. When you understand your skills and competencies, you can begin to identify new opportunities and career paths. Who knows, you may go from being a street sweeper to an astronaut. Anything is possible.

Learn to Sell Yourself With Confidence When you are in career transition, it is easy to weigh yourself down with self-doubt. A good self-image makes all the difference in the world. A self-employed business consultant in his mid-50s contacted Nancy Morgan, who owns a public relations firm, and asked to meet with her, not to ask for a job, but to network. Initially the man spoke about his old position in a large, reputable firm with confidence relaying his expertise and qualifications. “Then the cracks began to come through. He could not maintain a competent, confident demeanor. The longer he talked, the more he kept sinking. He was not at all as confident about his current station in life and that came through loud and clear,” Morgan explained. Clearly, this man had not overcome his own mental barriers. He lacked the inner serenity and confidence of a winner. “You could tell his company had fired him, and he lost all his self-assurance as a result. And as a business consultant I knew that he was going to experience more rejections, which he would probably find difficult. So until he gets over his insecurity he’ll never do more than underwhelm during the interview process,” Morgan continued. If you are suffering from a sense of insecurity, you need to shake it off. People will quickly pick up on your lack of confidence, and who

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Reinvent Your Career wants to hire or do business with a person who doesn’t have faith in their own abilities. “I could feel his defeat as though an invisible screen radiated negative vibes,” said Morgan. In a situation where all things are equal and one job applicant is riddled with self-doubt while the other projects a spark of confidence, whom would you choose? Think about it.

The Practical Stuff When you are saddling up to get back on the horse, don’t forget to pay attention to some of the basic, practical stuff such as cover letters and resumes. If you’ve been in the workplace for a number of years, you take these things for granted, but they are important sales tools and can help you find your dream job. Keep in mind, this year alone there will be several hundred thousand job seekers and they will be distributing millions of resumes and letters. To the individual job hunter, this can be a staggering figure. With the tremendous competition in today’s job markets, the importance of superior written materials cannot be overstated.

Resumes Before you put together your resume, stop and think about its purpose. Yes, it is a history of your work experience, but it is really your own personal advertisement. Your resume should be written in such a way that it captures attention and gets you in the door for the interview. From there—it’s up to you. “Focus on your responsibilities, accomplishments, and results. Give it a serious ‘So what?’ test. If you, from a reader’s standpoint, can say so what? to any statement, edit or remove it because it won’t help you get the interview. If you aren’t sure, ask for a second opinion,” explains executive coach and career manager, Marc Simms. “If

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117 you have more than 10 years’ experience, a two page resume is okay, otherwise, try to stick to one page. And personally, I recommend instead of using a career objective at the top, you use a professional summary or executive profile.” Simms also suggests you list computer skills and proficiencies at the end of your resume along with your education. Include your high school information only if that is your highest level of education. Leave hobbies and personal information off unless you know this will have an impact on the person you are sending it to. Many professionals recommend using a CAB story in your resume. A CAB story stands for Condition—Action—Benefit. State the condition that existed in the workplace; the actions you took to improve, lead, or make the situation better; and the benefits that resulted from your work. If you are trying to transition into a position that is unrelated to your past work experience, emphasize your skills that are transferable to the position you are seeking. Be sure to include any relevant experience you might have acquired through volunteer work. You may not have had direct experience, but you can demonstrate that you have the capacity to successfully manage the responsibilities of the job. Remember to focus on the employer’s needs, not your own. Don’t tell your prospect what you want to obtain from a position. You want to show that you recognize the company’s needs and that you are the right person to meet those needs. It might take a little research on your part, but it will be well worth the effort. No matter how tempted you may be to inflate your experience “just a little,” don’t. The longer you are out there searching for your dream job, the more expeditious it may seem to exaggerate your experience or credentials. A recent study revealed that 9 percent of job applicants falsely claimed they have a college degree, listed false employers, or identified jobs that didn’t exist (“Resume Inflation: Two Wrongs May Mean No Rights.” www.nolopress.com [Jan., 2003]).

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Reinvent Your Career Employers have the right to fire you when you lie about something significant on your application. Why risk it? Be honest and truthful from the very beginning. Trying to figure out what paper to use for your resume? Don’t rush out and buy the fancy stuff because research shows that 50 percent of the people interviewing job applicants prefer that you use white bond paper and 20 percent prefer printer paper. And even better for you, 60 percent say they’d prefer receiving a resume via e-mail as an attachment. So save your money. Stick to the basics.

References If you plan to include references on your resume, take time to call and let them know that you plan to use them and ask their permission. If you haven’t talked to them in awhile, make sure you catch them up on what you’ve been doing and what type of position you are seeking. “When the references don’t match, it sends up a big red flag,” says Bob Wiesler, a corporate executive for a popular franchise. “When we check references and they say they don’t remember the applicant or the story changes, we know this can potentially identify credibility issues with a candidate.” Most employers check references. Treat them with respect and don’t forget to say thank you for their willingness to accept calls on your behalf.

The Cover Letter In your job search, the cover letter is just as important as the resume, if not more so. A well-written cover letter can stimulate interest and highlight certain facts. But make sure you take your time in preparation. A cover letter filled with typos or grammatical errors is sure to get you tossed in the circular file. Ask someone to proof it for you before you send it. This may sound elementary, but while computers are great, software programs don’t catch everything.

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119 “A cover letter should be short and to the point. Three to five paragraphs, three to five sentences per paragraph. Tell the reader why you are sending the resume and what position you are applying for,” says Simms. “Be sure to include something interesting about yourself that isn’t on the resume. Make the reader want to look at your resume and take action. Highlight something unique and transferable that will generate interest.” Personalize your correspondence whenever possible. Write your letters so they reflect your personality. Don’t go to the bookstore and buy a book on cover letters and copy one verbatim. Let the prospect get a glimpse of who you are as an individual. Emphasize the benefits you offer to the company, but don’t make the mistake of overselling. “A letter that is too bold can be as disastrous as underselling yourself. People will think if you are so great, why do you have to try so hard?” explains Quigg. Avoid mentioning your expected income level in initial letters to employers. And don’t try to explain why you are seeking a new position. You can cover that when you get the interview. Finally, be sure to follow up. Unless you are mass marketing a product, you wouldn’t send out a sales brochure to a prospective customer and wait for him to call you and place an order. You are selling yourself, so go out there and close the deal.

Your First Day in Your New Career When you find the right and perfect new position—which you will—the first day on the new job is a lot like your first day of school. Where do I sit? Where do I hang my coat? Where do they keep the supplies? You are going to feel a little bit like a fish out of water and that’s normal. Here are some tips that might help make the transition a little easier.

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Make sure you are well rested. Get a good night’s sleep before your first day on the job. You want to be alert so you can make a good impression. Get up a little early and try to arrive ahead of your scheduled start time so you can get the lay of the land. You don’t want to be rushing in at the last minute in a panic.
Be a quick study. Learn as much about the corporate culture as you can. Read about the company. Ask questions of your colleagues. Learning the unwritten rules of your new company is as important and as critical as being technically able to do the job.
Identify a role model. Watch your fellow employees and pay attention to those who seem to be the MVPs. Pay attention to their style of communication and professional characteristic. If you can incorporate some of those traits into your own personal style, you may be able to assimilate into the new culture more quickly.
Don’t be a know-it-all. Even though you think your way of doing things is superior, bite your tongue. You don’t want to alienate your fellow workers during your first few weeks on the team. Take time to establish a rapport and credibility before you go in for the major overhaul. Otherwise, you may find yourself offending your new associates.
Know what is expected. Make sure you understand exactly what is expected of you in your new position. Don’t make assumptions. Clarify goals, objectives, and means of measurements.

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Tips for Getting Back in the Saddle
Take your time and make the right choice. Don’t jump at the first thing that comes your way.
Don’t sell yourself short. Understand the value of your talents.
Be serious about prospecting. Everything is about selling.
Applaud rejection letters.
Go after your dream job.
Never go backward. Always go forward.
Network your socks off.
Understand your transferable skills.
Don’t ignore the practical stuff. Write a killer resume and cover letter.
Be prepared for your first day.

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Chapter 7

Living Authentically in an Unauthentic World “Daily Bread” (Lyrics: Dan Koppel and Paul Edgar, “The Blue Suns”)

Work all day and I work all night No time for sleep you know it don’t seem right And I’m holding my tongue just to get myself ahead Should I keep on playin’ this game… Just to get my daily bread? Angry all the time, can’t take this no more But the money’s really good. I’m ‘fraid of bein’ poor So I look to the heavens and the bright stars above Think its time for a change… Find out what you love I’m on my own now happy and free Doing things I love that’s the way I ought to be Cause I took back my body and now my soul is fed Found what I was lookin’ for… Found my daily bread.




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Finding Your Passion: Do You Need to Make a Change? A recently released survey shows that today’s U.S. office workers are miserable. Of those surveyed, 55 percent described their work in negative terms. The survey was conducted online and many of the respondents said their biggest complaints were heavy workloads and boredom (Gordon. “My Job, Myself, My Problem?” www.Forbes.com [Jan. 2003]). This dissatisfaction with work has led to low self-esteem because people use their jobs as a measure of self worth. According to a Roper ASW survey, the majority of workers—84 percent—are staying in jobs they hate just to remain employed. “It is the biggest mistake to do something you don’t like. Your soul begins to die. You stop living. You stop being creative. The longer you stay like that, the harder it is to find yourself,” says John Cotter. Are you a lost soul? To answer that question, take a close-up look at your current situation and evaluate whether you are living an authentic life. Are you really doing what you want to do for the rest of your life? Reinventing your career is not just about a job change—it’s about a lifestyle change. It’s about building an enriching, fulfilling life for yourself. 1. Does your stomach turn with a sense of dread when you think of another day at the office? 2. When the alarm goes off in the morning, do you hit the snooze button because you suffer from an inability to sleep due to stress? 3. Do you feel uninspired at the thought of another boring, unchallenging day? 4. Do you feel as though you are compromising the person you are?

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125 5. Do you feel unworthy of finding true happiness and fulfillment? 6. Do you depend on others to make you happy? 7. Are you having health problems? 8. Have you lost the ability to identify what really makes you happy? 9. Are you confused about what your real purpose is in life? 10. Is your success defined by other’s expectations and measurements? If you answer yes to any of the above questions, then it may be time for a change. “I call it Sunday night-itis. You know when on Sunday night you start thinking you wish you didn’t have to go to work tomorrow,” says Julann Jatczek, a former corporate road warrior who now works for a nonprofit in a job she loves. “There was one job I had where on Sunday nights I had insomnia. I couldn’t sleep because I dreaded going to work the next day,” explained Susan Bari, president and founder of WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council), who now loves her job and her work. “I knew things were getting serious when I started telling the truth in meetings. I was so bored with the whole environment. It had nothing to do with the company, it was just that I was changing. So for me that was probably the biggest sign that I was totally burned out,” notes Ellen Bartin. “There was nothing with the company that excited me anymore.” Burnout is often a blazing red flag that it is time to make a change. After founding his own law firm and practicing for 20 years, Ken Jacobs felt he’d just about done everything and he was simply burned out.

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Reinvent Your Career “When I started practicing law it was nice and ethical. You could do business on a handshake. Now everything has deteriorated and changed. Trail work became unpleasant,” says Jacobs. So Jacobs sold his firm and started business consulting that allowed him to return to his value base of doing business on a handshake and trust. But he was looking and searching for something more. “I have always been energized by my passion. While I enjoyed other aspects of my career, writing has always been dominant for me. It flowed. This is my passion and I knew I wanted to help children. So I began writing children’s books. Books they will read and remember and something that will improve their life or outlook,” Jacobs explains. Remember, in an earlier chapter we noted that life is not a dress rehearsal—you only get one shot. So why not do something you love doing? What not enjoy life to its fullest? The luckiest people in the world are the ones who are energized by a passion for their work. They are the ones who wake up filled with excitement about the day’s activities. They are living the life they want to lead and loving every minute of it. You can know that pleasure too. It begins by understanding who you are and what you want out of life. Most likely your image of yourself—your capabilities, strengths, and self-worth—is a hodgepodge of mixed messages you have accumulated throughout the years. They may or may not reflect the real you inside. Now is your opportunity to connect with the real you—a person I think you’ll enjoy getting to know. And along the way don’t over analyze every step you make. Don’t fall into a self-critical mode. Enjoy the exploration and the discovery process. Not everything has to be according to some grand plan. Sometimes the most wonderful opportunities just evolve. But they only evolve when you open your heart and your mind.

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What Do You Want to Do? It is no longer possible for us to live as pale and diminished versions of ourselves. For a new world in a new millennium, we need a new mind with expanded senses and a deepened spirit. —Jean Houston What do you want to do with your life? I bet you’ve never really taken the time to ask yourself that question. For many of those of you who have, I bet you’ve never seriously listened to the answer or done anything about it. When it comes to reinventing a career, this is the big stumbling block for most people. It is where we get mired in self-doubt and inertia. It is such a simple question, yet so complex. Even people who know they are unhappy with their current situation stay put because they don’t know what it is they want to do or could do. Julann Jatczak was a management consultant with an international consulting firm. Every week she was on a plane traveling to some new destination. “I had a fun job and I got to go to a lot of really cool places working with Fortune 500 companies. But after awhile the travel took its toll and I knew there was something else I wanted to do when I grew up. I just didn’t know what it was,” she explained. Attorney Carol Maria originally practiced family law dealing with divorces and custody issues, and she became a partner with her firm in the state of Washington. Then she moved to Wisconsin and joined another firm. Thinking it was the type of practice, not the law that caused her to be unhappy, she desperately tried to direct her practice elsewhere.

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Reinvent Your Career “But people knew me, and slowly I started getting more of the domestic cases. I ended up back in that field because I was good at it. But I was really unhappy and it was affecting my marriage and my social relationships. I wasn’t going out anymore because everyone has family problems and I couldn’t listen to it. I recognized something was awry and I needed to make a change. I had to completely leave the firm before I realized that is was the practice of law I didn’t like,” she explains. Several years before she was laid off, Ellen Bartin found that she was thinking about a change. She kept a watchful eye in the newspaper for job opportunities, but nothing seemed right. “I remember having a feeling I will never, ever again have that sense of zest and anticipation and enthusiasm for doing a job. I’ll never find anything again to get a sense of satisfaction and excitement about. It was a depressing thought,” she explains. Bartin began to formulate in the back of her mind what she wanted to do, but her self-image was tied up with the current career path she was on. “In my mind, I was locked on being productive in a corporate environment, but finally, even before I left, I started thinking about maybe I could do something more personally fulfilling,” she says. When Diane Zebell lost her position with the company she had worked for nearly all her adult life, she originally thought she’d never find anything to replace it. But she developed what she called her needs list. She recognized that she needed a base—a career that would offer her financial security, leadership opportunities, and the ability to be a creative problem solver. Second on her list were her passions— the things she loved such as cooking, entertaining, design, and writing. Finally, she knew she needed people. People, she explained, give her energy and compassion. “So I looked at all these needs and I boiled it down to two words— smart and wonderful. Smart for the business side and wonderful for the creative side. Going forward, then everything I considered I used these two words as my guide. How is this going to be smart and how is

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129 it going to be wonderful? It really helped lead me to where I wanted to go,” she explains. If Elaine Berndes still had her old job she wouldn’t be doing what she really wanted to do with her life. She transitioned from a career in marketing to a career in education. As director of new business development at a custom magazine publisher, Elaine found herself in the middle of a company reorganization. A new senior staff member was hired. Job responsibilities and reporting hierarchy were undergoing modification. Then, the day after she returned from Christmas vacation, the owner of the company called her into his office. “He told me that he was restructuring, and that he had to let me go.” Berndes was enrolled in graduate school at the time and had planned to quit in the near future, but, nonetheless, she was shocked and hurt by the news. “Of course, the night I was let go I went out drinking with my friends. But the next day, there was no question what I would do. I immediately got my college transcript and started the process of being certified for substitute teaching,” she says. Without being tied to a 9-to-5 job, Elaine then applied for a spot in Teach for America, where professionals get intensive training to earn their teaching certificate. She significantly accelerated the process of certification, condensing years of weekend and evening graduate school classes into a six-week program. “Losing my job really forced me into it,” she explains. Sometimes we know what it is we want to do, but as we travel down the road of life, we wind up taking a different direction because we don’t really know how to get to where we want to go, or we feel as though we are expected to go a certain direction. That’s Jim Goldwasser’s story. He had a well-paying job in transportation sales that he initially enjoyed. But once he mastered the skills required to do the job, there was no further opportunity for challenge or intellectual growth. Then his mother was diagnosed with a fatal illness and he took a leave of absence.

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Reinvent Your Career “When I returned to work after her death my boss said to me, ‘she died—get over it,’ ” he remembers. On the heels of those insensitive remarks, Goldwasser resigned and decided to explore what he really wanted to do. “My mother had been a single mom, raising three children on a social workers’ salary, and she advised me to pursue a profession that would afford a comfortable lifestyle. Somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I knew it wasn’t exactly a lucrative career path, so I went a different direction,” he explains. But after Goldwasser left his sales job, he decided to follow his heart and do what he had always wanted to do. “Actually, I met the woman I would eventually marry and she encouraged me to pursue teaching, saying that there are few people who actually know what they want to do in life, and that if I was lucky enough to know, I should do it.” And he did. Goldwasser returned to school and earned his teaching certificate. Today he is a high school history teacher and he says he is rewarded constantly with the challenge and intellectual stimulation he sought in his previous career. Keep in mind that if you can’t figure out what you want, you’ll never get what you need. You’ll live a life full of compromises and decisions to settle for something that you perceive as “good enough.” You deserve more than “good enough.” So if you don’t know what it is you want to do or if you’ve been sidetracked, don’t be overwhelmed. Take it one day at a time. As the old Chinese proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Think of your career transition in terms of a series of small steps rather than a gigantic leap off the cliff. Whether you are currently unemployed or thinking about a change, take time to make the right decisions.

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Define What Success Means to You Success—a word that means so many things to so many people. I suspect that ultimately we all have to define it for ourselves, because it may have as many meanings as there are people in the world. It isn’t just money. It isn’t just numbers. It has to happen inside. —Debra J. Fields, founder, Mrs. Fields Cookies In order to define what success means to you, answer the following in your own words and in your own way. I know I am successful when _____________________________________. Understanding your personal definition of success is imperative as you begin to reinvent your career. As Yogi Berra used to say, “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.” As you journey down the road before you, you need an internal road map to guide you. Which direction do you want to go? Where do you want to be? What does success look like for you? What does it feel like? No one can answer those questions for you. Only you know the correct answer. Success has a different meaning to all of us. Yet, our personal definition of success is frequently shaped by someone else’s idea of what success should be for you. We have a tendency to measure success by outward trappings. Society tells us certain jobs, status, and money are all part of those success measurements. But you must be the one to decide what is right for you. What is it that makes you happy? “Whether you know it or not, you may very well have sold out,” says Dr. Phillip C. McGraw in his book Self Matters. He continues by adding that typically when we sell out, we abandon the things that matter to us because we don’t want to disappoint anyone. “Remember, when you put yourself at the bottom of the priority list you are cheating not just yourself, but also everyone around you,” he writes.

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Reinvent Your Career Now is the time to put yourself at the top of the list: be a little selfish. That’s right—selfish. You need to be able to determine what it is that you want out of life. How long has it been since you have really put your own needs and desires first on your list of priorities? A day? A week? A month? Years? Never? Stop right now and sit down with a pen and a piece of paper and write down all the things you need to make you feel happy and successful. Take your time and be painfully honest. You may find this exercise difficult and it may take a series of attempts before you can begin to articulate what it is you really desire. Question everything you write down. Does your list reflect your true inner feelings or is it filled with conditioned, preprogrammed responses you have developed over the years? “I knew I wanted to do something that fed more of my heart. What I had been doing fed my pocketbook and it fed my brain, but it wasn’t feeding my heart. I knew before my career or my working life was over I wanted to do something that in theory made a difference,” explains former consultant and advertising executive Julann Jatczek. Jutzcek remembers a trip to Disney World’s Epcot Center where she saw a sign as she was leaving that asked, “What is your gift to the world?” “It struck me that here I was a sales consultant and, yes, I was helping companies, but what value does that really have? And it occurred to me it was important that I add value,” she says. Once you know what you need to be happy and fulfilled, you can begin to articulate what success means to you. The good news is that you have the power to define success in your own terms. Buried inside you is the key to your happiness. It just takes a little soul-searching.

I am convinced that business success in the future starts with the question, What should I do with my life? —Po Bronson, author

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Dream the Possibilities Possibly one of the most powerful and successful women of our time, HP CEO, Carly Fiorina, encouraged MIT graduates during a commencement address (June 2, 2000) to follow their hearts. “At this one moment in time you often can’t see where your path is heading and logic and intellect alone won’t lead you to make the right choices, won’t in fact take you down the right path. You have to master not only the art of listening to your head, you must also master listening to your heart and listening to your gut. One has to look beyond the immediate choices at hand and dare to dream big, dare to strive for the art of the possible, dare to truly aspire,” she noted. No matter what your age, Fiorina’s advice is poignant. This is your chance to daydream—to let your mind wander into new worlds and new places. Shut your eyes and think about something you’d love to do if there were absolutely no limitations. In your daydream you can be anything you want to be regardless of your age, training, education, talent, or skills. What is it you see yourself doing? How does it make you feel? What is it about this particular activity that gives you joy? Now, allow your mind to explore where and how can you find that joy in your everyday life. “If you’re not clear about your life’s purpose, think of it as a place of possibilities rather than as a place of nothingness,” says entrepreneur John Cotter. “The more aware you become about your strengths and your needs, the more likely you are to make choices that will put you in the way of opportunity. It really depends on the frame of mind you adopt. Explore what you want from your life with an open mind and you’ll frequently find incredible serendipity.”

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Make a List of Things You’d Like to Do When You Grow Up If you are thinking about leaving your current position or if you are already in transition, don’t limit yourself to your past professional history. When Jatczek started to reinvent her career she didn’t tell anyone of her decision because she knew they would ask her what she wanted to do and she didn’t know the answer. So she made a list of things she always wanted to do when she grew up. “Actually, I had a multitude of very interesting things on there— like I wanted to be an event planner. I wanted to work for a nonprofit or possibly do adult education, but I don’t have an advanced degree so I didn’t exactly know how I was going to do that. One of my more interesting directions was that I thought I would like to teach Spanish as a second language, but I don’t speak Spanish. And by the way, Broadway dancer was also on the list, but I don’t have the skills to do that one, so it came off the list pretty fast,” she remembers. Jatczek remembers a professor challenging her to make a list of 50 things she wanted to do before she died. “It is amazing how many people can’t do it. I tried and I got to 30 and I couldn’t think of more. I forced myself to stop and do a personal reflection and out of that I could see patterns and found some direction in my life,” she adds. People can be supportive and can often be a source of great ideas, but the ultimate responsibility rests with you. In order to do that, you must seriously think about what it is you truly want to do. In today’s world, you are only limited by your own imagination. There are endless possibilities. “It’s never too late. I am almost 50 and going back and getting another master’s degree and there are people in school who are older than I am. I read about one woman who was 90 who went back to get her Ph.D. in psychology because she always wanted to do it. Graduate school is really hard for me because I’ve never taken all these business courses, but gosh, I’m learning so much. So I just feel like there’s so much to be had in life. I’d like to teach on a college level, maybe

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135 later, or do some consulting. I mean, who knows where you’ll end up,” says business owner Kathleen Thurmond. “Sometimes you start out thinking you’re going to do one thing and you end up in a total different direction, but unless you get out there and begin exploring what’s available, you don’t know that,” she adds. Ellen Bartin used to joke around with her coworkers before she was laid off about teaching yoga and doing astrology. Once she lost her job, she began to realize that maybe she could do something more meaningful to her. “Even before I actually left my company, I began to focus more on the idea of radically altering my life, but I had always done things in a very traditional way. After I was laid off, I was driving down the highway one day and I had this huge flash of insight. I don’t have to do work that is anything at all like what I have done before,” she explained. Bartin made a list of three criteria. She wanted to do something personally meaningful and wanted to be able to relate to people in a more personal way. She wanted something that was portable in case she and her husband decided to relocate. And she wanted a lot more flexibility with her time. “Massage therapy was the answer. It was an intuitive response. Not a linear or rational one, but it came to me and it felt right,” Bartin says. By the way, she started teaching yoga, too. Reinventing your career doesn’t always mean an abrupt departure from your current life or giving up what you already have. The dynamic duo of Ron and Tracy have paired up to open a hot new gallery while still keeping their “day” jobs. Ron is a career policeman and has no intention of leaving the force. “It’s what I am,” he says. However, when the opportunity to purchase an abandoned police building headquarters came about, he couldn’t resist. Then he met Tracy and together they refurbished and opened Mad Art Gallery, one of their city’s hottest new showcases for local artists and trendy New York shows. Because of the gallery’s unique

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Reinvent Your Career décor and design, it is also quickly becoming “the place” for wedding receptions and charity events. The historic building is perfect—the cells, the interrogation room, and even the booking desk is a perfect setup for a bar. Ron and Tracy trade hours at the Gallery and one of them is always there to greet guests and book events. There are endless possibilities and ways to get the success and fulfillment you want out of life. Just think about what it is you want to do and do it.

You Don’t Know What You Do Know By now I am sure you agree that passion is the key to success and internal happiness. Perhaps you have begun soul-searching—delving inside yourself to identify your passion—to try to dream the possibilities, but you’ve found it more difficult than you imagined. Don’t throw in the towel. You can do it; you simply may need someone to guide you through the process. You may need the help of a professional passion assessor. That’s someone who is qualified to help you do a passion analysis and identify what it is you were born to do—what’s really in your heart. Professionals can assist you in taking those bold steps so you can do something radically different with your life: take control. Realizing he had only one-third of his life left to do something extraordinary, 55-year-old Paul Hilt felt a serious sense of urgency to find his true passion and put it to use. He decided he needed to seriously evaluate the assets he had and create something unique with the skills and experience he possessed. “I had been in the field of knowledge management and I became quite familiar with identifying the human capital of companies. I decided to take it one step further and I developed a process called Wind-At-Your-Back to identify the intangible assets of an individual human being to create a unique value proposition,” Hilt says. Hilt explains that his program identifies intangible categories and focuses in on the sweet spot between categories. Often, people have

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137 valuable skills and knowledge they don’t even know they possess. “It is the matter of shifting the focus of control. You can be whole by understanding who you are rather than being classified as a job description or title,” explains Hilt. You can only make decisions based on that which you are conscious. Sometimes you don’t know what you “do” know. If you are unaware, the best opportunities can easily be lost. Hilt’s program is based on a battery of psychological assessments and self-evaluation exercises. From this, Hilt helps his clients see their assets clearly. He then creates a visual map that helps clients visualize their potential both consciously and subconsciously. “There is so much more intelligence than is ordinarily accounted for,” he notes. But the real key is how to apply your assets when you discover and quantify them. Your success depends on your ability to let go and allow the process to lead you to the kind of success you deserve and desire. “Chance favors a prepared mind,” explains Hilt. “This is a process of awakening and change...it is an attitude and understanding that the assets you possess are unlike anyone else’s. Once you can embrace that then you can realize your own personal power; it feeds the insight of new possibilities, which always results in serendipity.” Once you know your true, unique assets, it is then up to you to leverage them. Your newfound insight will allow you to better articulate and define what you do best and enjoy most. Then you can determine the action steps you need to take to get where you want to go. Believe in your special gifts—your product—and you can sell it positively to the world. Focus on your strength rather than your weakness. Position your attitude and confidence accordingly. Much like the work Hilt does, many people report fantastic lifechanging results from soul-searching through “ontology” workshops. Ontology is the study of being. Such programs have gained popularity and may be just what the doctor ordered when you are searching for what to do with the rest of your life.

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Reinvent Your Career We do not know what we do not know is the foundation of these popular workshop programs. Exploring and confronting this double unknown are basic to the original practice of philosophy. Such inquiry requires dialogue, because alone we cannot see what we cannot see. It takes another person—a coach, teacher, mentor, therapist, or philosopher—to guide us to recognize and acknowledge the limitations of our own multi-layered ignorance. As Socrates once noted, knowledge of self requires guidance. Such programs teach people how to recognize and break behavior patterns and take responsibility for their actions and their lives. It teaches people to resist doing something because they perceive it to be what others expect them to do. ExxonMobil research scientist Glenn Murgacz learned about one such program through the transformation of his son. Seeing the dramatic change and new vigor for life in his son, he agreed to go through a program with his other son—more for support than anything else. Or so he thought. The program literally changed his life. “I had done some guided work by listening to tapes by some of the motivational gurus—they were very inspiring and provided some valuable insight, but after a week or two, I would fall back into the same patterns. Doing this program was different. It was the most incredible experience I’d ever been through. It changed my whole outlook and has made me open to success,” Murgacz says. By learning more about himself, Murgacz was able to let go of his past and open up the doors to the future. “I am passionate about my life now and I have clarity. I’ve washed out the clutter that held me back; I can replace that with positive thoughts,” he explains. “I realized my passion really was about art and teaching young people. It is what I love to do and my new mindset has made it both possible and emotionally and financially profitable. Now my phone rings!” he continued. Murgacz refers to his new attitude as authenticity. It is an attitude that has opened his mind to a new realm of possibility.

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139 Wall Street international broker Joe Farina had an equally intense breakthrough that dramatically changed his life. He discovered that he was living most of his life through his past. Managing his temper was one of Farina’s biggest problems and it had caused him considerable grief and had caused damage in all areas of his life. “The most important thing is to accept what happened in the past, take stock in yourself and what you have rather than being caught up in the negative emotion. You can be your own worst enemy,” Farina says. “It is liberating to actually change and control the direction of your life.” Putting the past behind him has improved his life, relationships, and career performance. Shortly after finishing the program, he was inspired to express himself on paper in the form of this poem. I awoke this morning present to life itself Aware of everything around me Like never before my mind was clear The World reached out to me I looked up into the bluest sky With every breath, crisp air filled my lungs Sounds of children playing, the honk of a horn, A dog barking in the distance Things always there but never noticed Like never before my mind was clear My calm turned suddenly to excitement I’m free, the past no longer restrains me The person I was trying to be, is not who I am I’m about to take control of my life Like never before my mind is clear

—Joe Farina

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Reinvent Your Career Farina had never written poetry before much less experienced a lasting excitement about the possibilities of life. You, too, can dream the possibilities.

Call It Serendipity—Call It Fate—Call It Opportunity I’m happy as a clam. Some of it is luck, but more is choice. —Richard Kottle, entrepreneur There you are, trying to figure what the heck to do. Sometimes while you are trying to figure it out, out of the blue an opportunity presents itself. Your challenge is to be aware enough of who you are to see it and seize the moment. Richard Kottle found his passion in a most unusual way: with a healthy dose of serendipity and some hard work—it found him. After having built a successful law practice in California, he voluntarily relocated to San Antonio, Texas, with his new wife. It was a good chance for a fresh start, but leaving behind his clients and professional network created a bit of a career crisis. Because he was in his early 50s, he found he was older than most of the senior partners at the San Antonio law firms. Furthermore, because he was from California, he had no book of business to bring to a firm. He had two strikes against him and he found that he was virtually unemployable as an attorney. Fortunately, his wife’s company provided a relocation package that included spouse employment assistance. Kottle’s previous research and thinking, coupled with this package, gave Kottle the resources to figure out his life’s mission. “My transition was easier because I made informed choices. I had a vague notion of what I was giving up to get

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141 here and I wanted an independent business that did something unique and hopefully useful,” he said. With the help of his career transition consultant, he took an inventory of his skills, experience, and emotional assets. With marketing, law, and sales as his foundation, “happenstance came in,” explained Kottle. “While in California, I had the opportunity to work with Carroll Shelby, an American independent entrepreneurial spirit. Shelby (think Shelby Mustang) is famous enough that people constantly request his autograph. “When a signature has value, the challenge becomes how do you protect it and authenticate it as genuine?” Depending on the type of product or collectible, half of the stuff on the market can be counterfeit. There is no independent nationally organized system in place to authenticate items and no organized system that authenticates product claims. “I struggled with that question for a great while and researched the problem taking advantage of all the resources available. There are incredible resources if you seek them out. I refined the idea and made valuable use of the help of my outplacement counselor,” Kottle explains. “Ultimately, I used my legal experience, especially trial work. The authentication solution was found by starting at the end and building a case backward,” he explains. Kottle confirmed his hunch that there was indeed a market for authentication. With the vast amount of counterfeiting, providing authentication can offer a marketing edge. As a result, RAI Company was born. While Kottle isn’t the only company offering this service, he gets plenty of business in his niche: pottery, fine arts, paintings, vintage cars, and sculpture. Kottle’s standard for authentication is unique. If there is sufficient evidence for a judge to rule in our favor, RAI will authenticate.

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Reinvent Your Career “When searching for your passion in life, I believe the key is to quantify your best skills and think creatively about how you can better use them. Ask yourself over and over: what the devil do I know?” Kottle says. One thing Kottle did know was how to seize an opportunity when it presented itself. Sometimes you can plan, plan, plan, but it’s the opportunity before you that provides the answer. “You must be awake for the opportunity and be ready to maneuver,” Kottle says knowingly.

When It Is Right, You Know It American trainer, speaker, author, and businessman, Brian Tracy believes that every human being has the capacity to be excellent at something. Career-wise people tend to continue doing whatever it is that they’ve been doing—more often than not; it isn’t what they do best. If you are doing what is right for you, not only will you feel wonderful, but you can become a real superstar. Tracy says that the top 20 percent in any field are never out of work, but being the top 20 percent usually requires blending your natural born gifts with your passion and applying it generously to your career. Maslow’s theory of Self Actualization says that until we have our primary needs met, we are unable to address our higher-level passions. Unfortunately, most people are so caught up in addressing those basic needs, living paycheck to paycheck, that they are mentally unable to consider their dreams and passions, much less incorporate them into their lives. Interestingly enough, if you can lift your head up long enough to identify your passions and create a plan to follow them, the other rewards will come. But choosing to follow a path that is out of sync with who you are means you’ll most likely continue struggling just to get by. You’ll know it isn’t right so the pieces will never quite fit. Don Silver knows about embracing and respecting life’s calling. As a young man, Don had a taste of his artistic passions as a talent scout for Arista Records. He found hits for the likes of Barry Manilow,

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143 Air Supply, and other popular artists of the era. He was in love with his career, developed a terrific reputation, and earned the opportunity to produce as well. Working nights and weekends on his consuming passions wasn’t compatible with his desire to start a family. So, he left the music industry and went to work for the family-owned manufacturing business, where he worked his way up the ladder to the CEO role. But it didn’t come easily to him—he struggled with the engineering and noncreative aspects of running the business. Fortunately for his psyche, the company was purchased in a favorable roll-up acquisition. He turned to consulting and had good financial success—but his soul was still unfulfilled. “We construct all kinds of reasons not to do what we really want to do—out of fear,” explained Don. “We have responsibilities or need that sense of financial security. We tend to do what is expected.” But knowing he was missing his calling, he abruptly decided to call it quits and focus his energy toward a novel he started three years ago. He says he’s never been happier. When asked whether he was nervous about taking the leap, he laughed and said, “Of course!”

Getting to Know Yourself Listening to your heart is not simple. Finding out who you are is not simple. It takes a lot of hard work and courage to get to know who you are and what you want. —Sue Bender, author This is the time for you to get to know and like yourself. If you are honest with yourself, on some level deep down inside, you know whether you are in sync with the person you are meant to be. You know because it feels right.

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Reinvent Your Career Life has a way of causing us to disguise our true feelings even from ourselves. We spend a lot of time rationalizing and talking ourselves into things. You may even feel embarrassed that you aren’t happy with what others perceive as a “good life.” People may tell you that you have a great job, a great family—a perfect life. But it’s not perfect if it’s not the life you want. But all these external messages can confuse you and make the process of determining whether you are in tune with your passion and in control of your life more difficult. In the privacy of your own mind, you must take off the social mask. You must stand naked in front of the mirror of your soul and examine the person you are without pretense or preconceptions. Once you do that, you’ll be on your way to obtaining the success you deserve and desire. When you focus on who you really are and then connect the dots to the work that you are truly passionate about, you will thrive. Yet in reality, only a few of us have an uncensored sense of our true selves. There are far too many of us living our lives by deceiving ourselves. We aren’t being authentic because we have never taken the time to understand the essence of our being. Oprah Winfrey says that over the years she has learned to ask herself a question the late movie critic Gene Siskel asked her several years ago: “Will you let other people define you, or do you have enough courage to search yourself and act on your own truth?” Below are the lyrics to a song recorded by a gentleman I met while researching this book. He was kind enough to share it with me and give me permission to include it.

“The Search” (Lyrics: Dan Koppel and Paul Edgar, “The Blue Suns”)

Does it get any easier, knowing who you are? It’s still such a mystery even though I’ve come so far When I think I’ve found some answers… …when I think I’ve seen the light

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145 Tomorrow comes and who I am just doesn’t feel quite right Tell me do you know me, can you say what I’m about Do you know what I believe in, cause I have my doubts Is my search almost over or has it just begun I just hope I’ll find some peace when all is said and done It’s easy if you let it, just be who you are It’s the mystery that makes life fun and you a star The answers you find will lead you closer to the light New questions will arise my friend and it’s perfectly alright Search for what you’re about is hard I understand Only know what I believe but I’m willing to hold your hand Search is never over and it’s always brand new Peace can be yours my friend the choice is up to you

Shattering the Looking-Glass Self Each to each a looking-glass Relfects the other that doth pass. —Charles Horton Cooly, sociologist Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley wrote about a theory he called the “Looking-Glass Self.” Simply stated, the theory propagates the belief that the sense of self is the product of our social interaction with others. The theory has three stages. First, we imagine how we present ourselves to others. Then, we imagine how others evaluate us. And finally, we develop some sort of feeling about ourselves as a result of these impressions. Ultimately, our self-image, self-worth, and self-esteem are derived from the way others see us. Clearly, much of our self-image is based on the feedback we receive from others. For example, if as a child you were continually told you were lazy or dumb, then whether you are or not, that’s probably

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Reinvent Your Career how you perceive yourself. This is something I know firsthand. Throughout my early school years, I had difficulty with standardized tests. Sometimes I did well, other times I fell to the bottom of the charts. However, my grades were always excellent and, therefore, throughout grade school I was placed in the class with the high achievers. Things changed when I entered junior high. A new principal looked only at the standard achievement test scores and put me in the class for slow learners. He then told my parents that the most I could ever hope for would be a vocational education of some type. It was official and confirmed: I was slow and dumb. Because the pronouncement came from someone who I saw as an authority figure, I believed it and started to play the part. Even though my parents tried valiantly to shore up my confidence and my teachers gave me extra work to keep me challenged and busy, I accepted the label and all its limitations. It wasn’t until a high school counselor helped me get back on track that I had the courage to conquer my programmed self-perception. Negative labels are damaging. As adults we cannot succumb to externally placed labels or give these labels power over our lives. We must conquer these labels and move beyond to find the happiness we deserve and desire. When you are told you are no good at something like writing or public speaking, it can become your rationale for not trying. Unfortunately, it is human nature to focus on negative feedback and amplify it. Then we use this feedback—this image of ourselves—to evaluate our life choices without ever delving into its accuracy. Remember, you don’t know the motivation someone else has for judging you in a negative way. When you are striving to reinvent your career, you must fend off the propensity to accept a negative social reflection of yourself. The core sense of who you are can only emerge if you are brave enough to challenge assumptions and labels and really get to know yourself. “When beliefs, whether accurate or not, become your reality, they profoundly affect your health, happiness, and success. Positive energy perpetuates and fosters positive results and negative energy destroys

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147 opportunities,” says Lynne Hardin, author of The Magic of Why, a powerful new book and workshop series that helps people uncover their meaning, passion, and purpose in life. “Our universe operates by the law of attraction—where like attracts like. Those with similar dominant vibrations and thoughts are drawn to one another,” explains Hardin. This decoding process of understanding your true self is not an overnight process. Some of us have never stopped long enough to really ask ourselves what would make us happy, much less taken the time to really understand our true identity. “Each of us is creating our own reality through our thoughts and what we think of ourselves. If we think we are too heavy to get a great job, then we’re too heavy. If you think you don’t have the right degree—guess what, you aren’t going to get the job you want,” Hardin explains. “In our minds, we create our own universe of opportunity or limitation for ourselves. Most people have constructed boundaries that inhibit creativity, enthusiasm, and happiness,” she adds. “Your own definitions of yourself create your boundaries, your governing dynamics, your reality. It creates reasons why you can’t succeed and achieve.” Mental schemas are the internal frameworks by which we view our world and once the framework is set, it diminishes our ability to see the world clearly. This internal conditioning influences everything we do. Hardin explains that when you allow others or your own misperceptions to create your definition, you give up your power to live in harmony with your inner spirit and potential. Your personal history is the default material that fuels your own self-fulfilling prophecy. Hardin explains the reason we have difficulty in changing our thought process is that most of us live in what she calls a fear model. “Fear pollutes possibilities,” she says. “I believe we are all here for a very special important reason, but too often we get caught up in the governing dynamics of our society,

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Reinvent Your Career which is based in a fear model. It’s the model we have been operating from throughout recorded history,” she explains. In her workshops, Hardin encourages her students to question the “why” in their life. Every thought, word, and deed should be done with intention because everything begins with your thoughts. “One of my newest clients reported that once she recognized that most of her challenges were tied to one fear: the fear of poverty,” Hardin said. “This realization, which was profoundly simple, changed her attitude and her life. Being in a money crisis was her dominant vibration and it became a perpetual self-fulfilling prophecy. By obsessing on this unrealistic fear that was based on a recent business failure, her vibration guaranteed it would be realized. Once she identified the distorted limitations she had constructed for herself, she reconciled this fear and learned to replace it with a dominant vibration for success and security. She told me that she’s never felt so happy and free, which in turn is perpetuating her success.” The common thread that seems to be consistent with all the people interviewed for this book is a success-oriented mindset and positive attitude or, as Hardin would say, vibration. These transition survivors expected something better, and they found it. Once old patterns and perceptions are broken, obstacles can be removed. According to Hardin, when you recognize your freedom, you really can have life any way you want it. When situations or circumstances occur in your life, you can choose how to view them. If you choose to see them from the most positive perspective, your life will move forward in a successful, healthy way. If you focus on the negative or fear, you’ll give away your personal power to create the life and the success you deserve. “Expect success and it will be yours,” Hardin says.

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You Can Be Anything and Do Anything: You Don’t Need Validation “Reach within yourself because you have no idea what your full potential is,” says William Morgan. The son of a truck driver, Morgan knows that wherever you are determined to go is where you can be. This math major turned teacher turned attorney says that unfortunately, most people rely on validation to reveal their human assets. “I remember that I didn’t realize my academic potential until my SAT and ACT scores came in,” Morgan remembers. “The counselors wanted to know why my grades weren’t reflecting my aptitude.” Even with the objective test results, Morgan doubted the validity. That self-doubt followed throughout college and ultimately into law school. “On the first night I was seated between two Ivy League boys,” says Morgan. “The professor said look to either side and know that two of the three of you wouldn’t make it through the program. I bet on the Ivy League boys. I was wrong.” The biggest a-ha factor for Morgan was realizing that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to and prepared for. While he couldn’t just wing it, there was nothing he couldn’t do. Once he reprogrammed his mindset, he was determined to go after what he wanted academically, personally, and professionally. There is no substitute for hard work. I’m not a golfer, but there is no doubt that Tiger Woods is one of the all time greats. Clearly, he has amazing talent—a real gift. But what sets Tiger Woods apart from the crowd is his determination and commitment. He practices and is always striving to improve and do better. Persistence, perseverance, dedication, and hard work coupled with a strong belief in who you are and what you stand for will give you the power you need to create the success you desire. Sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice along the way, but it will be well worth it at the end when you have created a life that is uniquely yours. All good things in life are worth working and waiting for.

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Overcoming Fear People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. —Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and poet Fear is one of the greatest enemies we as human beings confront. It can literally paralyze us and prevent us from seeing the potential and possibilities life holds. Fear takes hold of our minds and causes us to doubt our own abilities. It extinguishes our dreams and can ultimately ruin our professional and personal lives. “The biggest challenge for people is overcoming their fear. When you’ve had security, how do you give it up?” asks East Coast entrepreneur Dan Koppel. Thank goodness we aren’t born with a lot of fear. If we were, we’d never learn to walk as children because the thought of standing up and possibly falling would prevent us from ever trying. We’d crawl around the rest of our lives because it is a safer, surer existence. Fear builds up in our subconscious over time. For whatever reason, some little voice inside us starts telling us not to try things because we might fail. And the thought of failure escalates until it becomes an insurmountable obstacle. So we tell ourselves we can’t do something rather than risk ever trying. It is the easy way out. Ask yourself: what would I do with my life if I weren’t afraid? You may not even recognize that you aren’t moving forward out of fear because you’ve done a good job of camouflaging it. Very few of us admit that we don’t want to do something like try a new career or learn a new skill because we are afraid. We even shy away from little challenges out of fear. Personally, I tried to play tennis a couple of times as a young girl, and I was terrible, or so I thought. As a result, I

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151 won’t even try. I watch my friends play and it looks like so much fun, but I make up excuses that I don’t have good hand-eye coordination so I don’t have to get out there and embarrass myself. The sad part is, if I’d really give it a try and set my mind to it, I’d probably be fairly good. While it might not come as easily to me as other things I’ve done in my life, I am sure I’d enjoy it. What’s going on in your life like this? If you never fail, then you aren’t trying. As famed opera singer Beverly Sills said, “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” You have to be brave enough to take risks. “The worst that can happen is that you make a mistake and you learn something from it and go on to the next thing, so it’s not really a mistake, it’s just another life lesson,” explains Kathleen Thurmond. “I guess I was just so self-confident that I knew if it didn’t work out—of course I thought it would—but if it didn’t I knew I could always go get another job. And how would I know if I didn’t try,” says Julann Jatczek who reinvented her career and has never been happier. A sense of fear can often give you a charge of adrenaline you need to succeed. Most performers I know say they experience butterflies before they walk out on stage, and when they don’t, their performance suffers because they aren’t on their toes. Former entrepreneur Fred Armendariz agrees that fear can be a positive motivator. “I leverage fear. Fear makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do: like run a little faster or try a littler harder. Fear has always been a positive in my life,” he explains. Once you recognize that it’s fear that is holding you back, confront it head on. Let it be a positive influence, not a negative one. That is the only way to deal with it. Don’t allow fear to consume you by focusing on all the possible negative results: focus on the potential good consequences. Approach life with a sense that anything is possible.

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Believe in Yourself What you tell yourself on a subconscious level is critical. You are what you believe, and your success is very much tied to your mental programming. “I was living poverty—it had become my self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Suzanne Breashears. Suzanne underwent a dramatic life and career transformation once she realized that most of her career roadblocks were in her head. Suzanne consistently worked her tail off at jobs that didn’t even pay the bills. She had 18 years of education but no savvy about jobs, money, or how to live a life that was going to work for her. She was tired, bored, and burned out—she knew she needed a change, but had no idea how to do it. Like a bubble that finally burst, she faced her own inner demons and abruptly turned in her resignation. She says no one knocked on her door and offered her a dream job—she knew she had to change her mindset. “I realized that my situation was completely controlled by my attitude. My attitude was so saturated with the expectation of being poor that I found exactly that,” shares Suzanne. “I realized that I had been running away from dealing with money. I didn’t like the greed and destructiveness I saw around me and I had sworn to myself that I wouldn’t be part of it. It wasn’t until I addressed this with a peer group that I began to see what it was costing me literally and figuratively. I realized I did have the power to set up my own game and learn to do business on my own terms.” She has since started her own business and is earning more than double the money she used to—and is enjoying every minute of it. She says she’s just getting started! The law of cause and effect, which says that for every effect in our lives, there is a specific cause. We have the ability to control the causes and change the effects to anything we want. Our thoughts are the primary cause of the conditions or effects in our lives and if we wish our lives to be different in the future, we have to change our thinking in the present.

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153 In his seminars, Brian Tracy explains that the law of belief says that whatever we believe about ourselves and our environment becomes our reality. Our beliefs form a screen through which we see the entire world and we never allow any information that is inconsistent with our belief to pass through the screen. Even if we have beliefs that are totally inconsistent with reality because we believe them to be true, they become true for us (Tracy, Psychology of Human Achievement).

The Key to Unlocking Your Passion: Volunteering One way to unlock your passion and try new things with limited risk involved is to volunteer in an area that looks interesting to you. For example, when Janel went to college she pursued a career in education even though she really wanted to pursue a career in art. “In those days, we did what was convenient. The common philosophy of the day was that after you have your children, you can always go back to teaching,” she said. When her first child was born, she did indeed leave the teaching field and for five years remained a stay-at-home mom. During her time away from a paid position, she volunteered with many interesting and stimulating organizations. When her children were old enough that she had some free time, Janel recognized that she didn’t want to go back to teaching. Her heart wasn’t there, but what she did want to do with her life was wide open. The choice was to continue to volunteer or reinvent herself in the working world. A friend was taking on the directorship of a national not-for-profit organization. There were several volunteer positions open, and her friend suggested she take the public relations post. That was the kind of work Janel thought she would really enjoy, although she had no training or experience.

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Reinvent Your Career Her lack of public relations experience turned out to be a problem. Fortunately, the organization paid for her to get the necessary training. And even though the position was extremely demanding, Janel loved it. This was the first job that really excited her. As she continued to work in her volunteer capacity, Janel enrolled in selected classes at a variety of universities to fill in the educational gaps. She didn’t waste time with “filler” courses; she selected the classes that offered the most technical training. “I completed my re-education in an unconventional way because I was too focused, too old, and in too much of a hurry to learn everything I needed to be a PR professional by going the traditional route,” she explained. The nonprofit experience led to a position in a boutique public relations agency. “It really rounded out my practical experience. Promoting businesses, products, and services is a lot different from publicizing a charitable organization,” she noted. Seven years after plunging into public relations, she took another huge leap. A friend encouraged and lured her into forming a partnership, so Janel resigned her position. Then, to her amazement, her friend decided she couldn’t leave her company at that time. Janel was left to figure out the next steps on her own. She updated her resume and listed several options. She could look for work in another agency, in a marketing department of a company, or go into freelance. As she was trying to figure out what to do, some acquaintances and colleagues asked her to work on projects for them. “I pulled together the contacts I had made over the years and started working. While managing these projects, I realized I was really enjoying what I was doing and I thought, why not just keep doing it?” Janel officially started her own company and never looked back. Today, the agency is in its eighth successful year. She attributes her success to finding the magic key to unlock her passions. “What I do excites me and is personally rewarding. I am now in the enviable position of doing what I enjoy, not what was the appropriate thing or the most expedient,” she says.

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155 If you are having difficulty identifying your true passion, try volunteering for an organization or even working for free for a company in a position you think you might enjoy. The experience will almost always open doors and may give you the path to an exciting and fulfilling career.

Life Isn’t a Paycheck The proverbial golden handcuffs can keep you chained to a job. Many people willingly admit how much they dislike their jobs, but they can’t afford or won’t leave. Instead, they mark time until they can reach that magic point where they are fully invested in their retirement benefits, which is calculated based upon a formula known as the Rule of 75. (The Rule of 75 combines your age and years of service with a particular company in order to determine your eligibility for retirement benefits.) The day they hit that point, they hand in their resignation and flee. That’s assuming of course, they get there before the company boots them out. People who understand how to obtain the success they deserve and desire know how to invest in themselves—not a company or a particular position. Their wealth comes from the enjoyment their work brings. Their happiness is not measured by the size of their house or the type of car they drive. One gentleman confided that he had walked away from a six figure income to follow his passion and he has never been happier—and isn’t doing too bad financially either. But he admitted it was a difficult decision and he isn’t sure how he mustered the strength. “I always thought that it would be worth it to work like hell in my 20s so that I’d have this fabulous career by the time I was 40,” says Georgia, 27, a marketing consultant in New York City. “But lately I’ve been wondering why I’m killing myself. I finally have an office with a view, but I also have friends I never see, potential boyfriends I never meet, and vacations I never take. Why am I just letting myself rot in my office (Robbins. “Has Work Taken Over Your Life.” Mademoiselle)?”

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Reinvent Your Career When Jatczek found her ideal job working for a nonprofit in adult education, it meant taking a significant pay cut with significantly fewer benefits. “It was difficult to talk to my friends and my family about my decision to take a 40 percent pay cut to do something I really wanted to do with my life. My father almost had a heart attack because traditionally you are supposed to keep doing better and earning more, not go the other way. I walked away from a good salary and great benefits to do something that I knew I would enjoy,” she explains. In today’s fast-paced business environment, there is a groundswell of men and women who have decided to reevaluate, reprioritize, and reinvent their careers because of personal values. Both men and women want to be able to successfully blend their work life and family life and they are no longer willing to “kill themselves” for the sake of their careers. “We are seeing a lot of people, both men and women, who are making career decisions based on needs in their personal life. People are trading off. They are looking for a kind of environment where they can be home with their families. And these are people who are young, not just people who are winding down their careers. In the past you wouldn’t have seen this,” explains Beverly Kahn, president/CEO, New Dimensions in Technology, Inc., a high-tech placement company. Mitch Axelrod, founder of Axelrod Learning, is a single father who made the decision to scale back his career in order to spend more time with his son. Axelrod was on the road 80 days a year as a highly paid speaker and consultant. He and his wife divorced when his son Adam was 3 1/2 years old. They agreed on joint custody, so Axelrod knew he needed to adjust his lifestyle so he could take care of his son. “I put my son first and my career second. I took a big hit financially, but I didn’t want to be away from him,” says Axelrod. “My son is 13 now, and today I’m leaving early to go watch him play baseball.” The emotions resulting from the September 11 attacks caused a lot of people to reprioritize their values. Sara and John Murphy are the proud parents of a 7-month-old son, Jackson. Sara had been a public relations guru in the high-tech industry where she logged thousands

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157 of frequent flyer miles and worked countless hours. Nonetheless, Sara planned on returning to work after the birth of her son because John had recently started his own business and her paycheck and healthcare coverage seemed necessary. Influenced by September 11, Sara decided to become a stay-at-home mom. “It was a little scary for us at first, and it’s been a big change in lifestyle. We talked about John going back into the corporate world, but we thought it was important for him to have a flexible schedule. I think we are really happy because we are at a point where we wanted to simplify our life,” she explains. While the importance of financial stability is undeniable, you have to question how much is enough. Is money worth making personal tradeoffs and sacrifices with your most prized possession—your life? No one looks back at their life at the end and says they’d wish they had worked more, or longer, or made more money. No, we look back and cherish moments of life. There is an old saying that if you do what you love, the money will come. I must agree, because I love what I do and fortunately I am enjoying a certain level of success. However, I add to that the caveat of doing what you love, but not naïvely. It is important to follow your heart and do what feels right for you.

Don’t Blame the Horse: It’s About You When I was a little girl, my parents bought me a horse—a reddishbrown Fox Trotter named Rebel. Rebel and I were pals. He’d follow me all around the barnyard whenever I would visit. But when I’d saddle him up and take him into the ring, he had a mind of his own. “You stupid horse,” I’d exclaim as I desperately tried to get him to do whatever it was I wanted him to do. There was nothing wrong with Rebel. He was being a horse and he really wanted to please me—that’s part of a domesticated animal’s nature. The problem was with me. I didn’t have the skills to masterfully

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Reinvent Your Career train and control a horse. But rather than blame myself, I blamed my good friend Rebel. Too often in our lives, rather than take accountability for ourselves, we blame others. It is easier to point fingers and place blame on someone else for our shortcomings than it is to look inward. Guess what? Don’t blame the horse. It’s about you. Focus on what you are doing and how you are going to meet your personal objectives. You are accountable for creating your own success or failure.

Filter Out the Background Noise Most people waste valuable emotion and energy worrying about what other people think. The truth is, as hard as we try, we can never know what motivation another human being has to act in a certain way. Trying to analyze, predict, or second-guess what someone else is going to do or thinking is a waste of valuable time. Forget about it. You don’t need their validation. In fact, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you focus on your own personal goals and objectives. Don’t worry about what other people say about you. When you allow yourself to get caught up in that game, you are allowing other people to have power over your life. When you give away that power—the power to control your life—you lose and they win. You should be in control of your life, your emotions, and your success. Let me share a personal example. When my first book was published in June 2001, I watched carefully as reviews began to accumulate on Amazon.com. I was pleased as they filtered in—all very positive. Then, one night I checked and there was a horrible, vitriolic, meanspirited review. As I read the review, I could tell it was from someone who knew me quite well. There was detailed personal information about me that was not in the book and had not been discussed in any media coverage. I was devastated. I printed it and took it into the family room to show my husband. As I began to tell him about the

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159 review, he sighed and took a long pause before he said, “Susan, practice what you preach.” This wasn’t the response I was looking for, so I tried to approach it from a little different angle. He would have no part of it. “Susan, practice what you preach,” he said. Finally, I decided maybe if I shed a few tears I could get his attention, but he quickly cut me off. “Susan,” he said. “Think about what you are doing. This is clearly an individual who has a problem with you and doesn’t want to see you do well. Your reaction is exactly what they hoped to achieve. Whoever wrote this review wanted to hurt you. Don’t give them that power over your life.” He was right. I knew it. The review wasn’t about me. It was about someone else’s issues and insecurities. I needed to filter out the background noise and refuse to allow someone else’s agenda interfere with my own. To create the success you deserve and desire in your life, you must filter out the background noise and stay on track to the life you want to lead.

Dreaming Then Doing—Making It Happen Success depends on daring to act on dreams. —Estee Lauder “Most people only dream about what they really want to do. Unfortunately, 99 percent of the time, that is all that ever comes of it,” says business leader Tim Dawson. “I’ve found that the things I cherish most and the best things I’ve achieved in life have been thoughtful, deliberate, and with unwavering passion. My career has been no exception.”

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Reinvent Your Career Like so many things in life, most people don’t achieve anything worthy of envy without sacrificing to achieve it. Most people can’t maintain a svelte figure without sacrificing the pleasure of eating what they love; most people who possess that six-pack stomach must invest in a strenuous weight-lifting program. Anything worth having is worth working hard for. So, if you aren’t content with your career, what is it going to take to achieve what you want? Is it training? Is it more hours? Does it require a different attitude? These are all good exercises to go through as you consider reinventing your life. Odds are, if you are dreaming about something better, you should be willing to pay the price to achieve it—whatever that price means to you.

Tips for Leading an Authentic Life
Find your passion.
Determine what it is you want to do with your life.
Define success in your own terms.
Dream the possibilities.
You don’t know what you do know. Explore.
When it’s right, you know it.
Get to know yourself well.
Ignore labels and challenge assumptions.
Overcome your fears. Be willing to take risks.
Volunteering may help you find the key to unlock your passions.
Believe in yourself.
Life is not a paycheck—it’s about more than the money.
Don’t blame others. You are accountable for your own success.
Make it happen.

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Chapter 8

Age and Gender Factors

The Mature Employee

Y

ou may remember a made-for-TV movie from few years ago where Mary Tyler Moore was reunited with her best friend Rhoda from the Mary Tyler Moore show. For those of us who grew up in the era of the popular 1970s sitcom, the sequel offered the opportunity to see how life turned out for these somewhat liberated women for their time. On the reunion program, Mary is faced with reentering the workforce at age 60. Having worked her way

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Reinvent Your Career up from the familiar Minneapolis newsroom to a producer’s role at ABC in New York, Mary’s resume and qualifications easily get her in the door. But her age creates a problem. Potential employers refuse to hire her because she’s too old. The mother of one of my colleagues experienced a similar situation. An accounting specialist with a major discount department store for 21 years, she received her pink slip when, after years of struggling, the company finally declared bankruptcy and closed its doors. “I was devastated,” Rita told me. “I knew it was coming, but it doesn’t hit you until it actually happens. You’re never really prepared for it.” At the time, Rita was 55 and she had grown up with the mindset that you worked for a single company your entire career until retirement. That certainly was the goal with her career and employer. When she began working for the company, she made $3 an hour. By the time she left, she was making close to $13 an hour—an amount most area employers didn’t want to pay because a company could hire a younger person to do the job for less. In her eyes, the challenges she faced in finding a new job were threefold: her age, her salary requirements, and her lack of a college degree. We are living in the age of the Baby Boomer—Americans born between 1946 and 1964—one of the largest generations in American history. Unfortunately, according to an AARP life stage study, only 39 percent of Boomers say they are satisfied when it comes to work or career. The same report shows that 26 percent of Boomers say they are worse off in their work or career than they thought they would be at this point in their lives. But now that they are in the 40-plus category, many feel stuck and willing to accept things as they are. Age discrimination is an unfortunate reality. We live in a society that is infatuated with youth. An AARP study indicates that more than two-thirds of employees over the age of 45 have concerns that age discrimination will be a major barrier to advancement opportunities and finding placement in the workplace. Furthermore, a survey conducted by ExecuNet, an Internet-based career services center for

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163 executives, shows 58 percent of respondents say they have experienced an increase in age discrimination during the past five years. The number of age-discrimination claims has soared in the past two years. An EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) report shows that 16,000 people filed age-discrimination complaints last year, up 2,000 from the year before, and the highest number since 1995. In part, the increase is the result of the simple fact that there are more and more workers falling into the mature worker category. And the number is growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13 percent of the workforce was 55 and older in 2000. By 2015, this figure is expected to increase by 20 percent. During the same period, the highest growth rate in the U.S. workforce will be among workers aged 55 to 64. Older workers are often subject to unfair bias. For example, there is a belief that older workers can’t or won’t learn new skills. Ironically, much of the research I have encountered demonstrates that individuals over the age of 50 are one of the fastest growing groups of Internet users. Another misconception about older workers is that they take more sick days. Typically, older workers have better attendance records than younger ones. In addition, the turnover rate is much lower for older employees because they are more settled. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older workers (ages 45 to 54) stay on the job twice as long as workers between the ages of 25 to 34 do. Additionally, research from the AARP shows that loyalty to employers is strong and 52 percent of older workers say they work harder now than when they were younger. The more mature Baby Boomers (those over the age of 55) are undoubtedly the most disproportionate victims of downsizing. It’s a simple mathematical equation. These workers, because of their tenure, typically earn more than younger managers, and when companies opt to reduce payroll by cutting personnel, they tend to cut the more senior people. More than one in five older workers fear that their jobs could disappear in the next year (Staying Ahead of the Curve: AARP

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Reinvent Your Career Work and Career Study: Challenges Facing Workers Age 45 and Over, p. 75). Another concern of older workers is the fact that many learned their professions while on the job. Several decades ago, college degrees, much less advanced degrees, were for the privileged few. Certainly, it wasn’t as much of a necessity as it is in today’s marketplace. So now, as more young people come equipped with undergraduate and graduate degrees in hand, many older workers believe their employers value these degrees much more than years of experience in a particular job. Unfortunately, while there may be some truth to that statement, what companies don’t realize is that they are cutting one of their greatest assets—valuable knowledge, expertise, and historical perspective. After having worked for a company for a few years, the gentleman who originally hired me ended up reporting to me. He was at least 20 years my senior, and because he had previously been my boss, it was uncomfortable and could have been a disastrous arrangement. I knew he had reservations about the situation, and if I had allowed myself, I could have felt threatened by him. However, I recognized that he brought a great deal of perspective to my department, and I let him know I valued and respected his input and his contributions. All in all, we made a good team. Workers aged 45 to 74 perceive that age has a greater negative impact than race, gender, or education on how they are treated on the job, although they tend to see the weak economy as a much greater threat to their job security than their age. Roughly seven in 10 remain confident about their ability to find other employment if their current job were eliminated (Staying Ahead of the Curve: AARP Work and Career Study: Challenges Facing Workers Age 45 and Over, p. 75). If you have recently been downsized, or if you’d like to make a career change, make your age an asset. You’ve earned your stripes and you have a great deal to offer.

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The New and Improved You Before you begin your journey toward your next new career move, take a good objective look at yourself. Are you traveling down the road in a beat-up, worn-down 1968 Ford Falcon or have you upgraded to at least a 1996 Ford Taurus? Think about this: if you met yourself at a networking event, approximately what age range would you put yourself in? Have you kept your skills up-to-date? Do you know more than how to turn a computer off and on? Can you speak the language of the 21st century? Does your appearance scream “old fart”? There are lots of people who are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who are physically and intellectually outdated and act much older than their years. Then there are those amazing folks who, when you learn their actual age, make you gasp in disbelief. They look and behave amazingly youthful. For example, Tina Turner is still going strong in her 60s. She’s absolutely incredible. So if you’ve let yourself go, take time to shake off the cobwebs and polish the rough edges. It’s time for the new and improved version to emerge. For example, if you aren’t computer literate, go to the local community college and take a course or two. Community college class sizes are generally fairly small and most likely you’ll find a number of older students there just like you. And you’ll be amazed how willing the younger students are to help you navigate the new technology. If you are out of shape and gasp for a breath after walking up the slightest incline, start an exercise program. Your physical stamina can give you away faster than anything, and so can your general appearance. When was the last time you changed your hairstyle? Are you still wearing it the same way you wore it in high school or college? What about your wardrobe? Have you figured out that polyester is passé? You don’t have to dress like a teenager, but you should certainly be current. An image consultant can assist you if you’re not sure what is appropriate. Some will even come to your home and do a

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Reinvent Your Career closet assessment, helping you make decisions as to what to keep and what to give to Goodwill. It is an investment that will pay huge dividends. Knowing a little something about popular culture is helpful too. What was the last movie you saw? Do you know who Kathryn Zeta Jones is? Have you heard of The Dixie Chicks? If you don’t have at least a familiarity with current personalities and trends, then you’ll feel somewhat isolated with your younger coworkers. For those of you who have children in college or who have just embarked on their careers, you have a great opportunity to pick up some valuable insight. But if you don’t have children, borrow one. They can be a valuable resource in helping you catch up with the rest of the world. Finally, update your attitudes. The world isn’t the same place it was when you started your career. Times have changed. And no one wants to hear the stories about “well, when I was your age.” Leave the old attitudes at home.

Play up Your Positives in Your Search It’s most likely been a good while since you’ve been out there in the job market. So before you strike out, take time to familiarize yourself with today’s techniques. In fact, it would be beneficial to get some professional guidance. Career counselors can get you up to speed rather quickly. Plus they can help you define and refine your career direction. Of course, you’ll need to prepare a resume and cover letter that wows potential employers but doesn’t blow them away. Consider focusing on the past 15 years of your career, unless you feel as though an earlier work experience is particularly important for the position you are seeking. Emphasize results rather than job titles. Nothing intimidates someone more than to interview a candidate for a position whose previous title was lofty—if you even get as far as the interview.

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167 Include ongoing professional development information, particularly in the areas of computers and technology. Remember, the person interviewing you probably grew up surfing the Internet and doing his or her homework on a computer. Don’t worry, by the way, if your resume is more than one page because most likely you’ll have substantial information to include. Presenting your work history effectively is more important than struggling to fit everything on one page. That’s for the young pups who have very little to say. Differentiate yourself from other candidates who are vying for the position. Be armed with the ability to articulate how and why you are the best candidate based on the experience and expertise you bring. Make a list of what you perceive to be your most valuable assets and be able to present them in a succinct, confident manner. If you are looking for a career in a new industry, do your homework. Make sure you can demonstrate how the skills you bring from your past experience will be applicable and desirable in the new arena. Someone who is younger than you, which can be awkward for both of you, will probably interview you. Do your best to put them at ease and make sure you communicate clearly that you are very current in today’s workplace. Remain respectful and don’t come across as though you’ve forgotten more than they know. Demonstrate your willingness to learn, your desire to be flexible, and contribute in a positive way to the team.

Women and Career Transition Winning in life is not about being the best, but doing your best. What’s important is not what we have done or what we dream of doing, but what we’re actually doing right now. The goal is only the beginning. Being committed to making it happen is what counts.” —Jackie Joyner-Kersee, three-time Olympic gold medalist

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Reinvent Your Career Shortly after World War II, Esquire magazine called working wives a menace and Life magazine termed married women’s employment a disease (Gini. My Job, My Self. p. 91). But by the 1950s and 60s, more women were migrating into the workplace. However, opportunities were limited. With very few choices and little opportunity for advancement, women who worked outside the home generally did so to help supplement the family income. Following a career path because of passion was a topic that was rarely discussed. If you weren’t thrilled with one of the few career paths, too bad—just stay at home. The problem was even more troublesome for women who were single or raising families on their own because they had no choice but to work. Many trudged their way through unfulfilling work to put food on the table. “I grew up in a generation of women that didn’t grow up thinking you could do everything and have it all. That wasn’t what I was taught growing up,” says Kathleen Thurmond, president of Best Washington Uniform. “So it took me a while to figure that out and to figure out what I wanted in life. So in the initial stages of my employment, I think at times would under-employ myself because it would be something new and challenging I thought, but then I would quickly learn it and need more,” she adds. Today, more than half the workforce consists of women, and now women have a multitude of choices. Women can follow their passions and their dreams to be the CEO of a company or a full-time mom. They can truly define success in their own terms. But it is important for women to make an honest assessment of what success means to them personally. Because women typically have more concerns about balancing work and family, they need to do some serious soul-searching before they make career choices and transitions. “One of the women I mentor came to see me and she was considering what her next step in her career should be. I started by asking her what her definition of success is. At first she talked about wanting a fairly high position of responsibility, but then her focus turned to

Age and Gender Factors
169 the importance of her family. Before the end of our meeting, she realized she wasn’t willing to make the tradeoffs that would be necessary to reach the level she thought she wanted to reach. So her definition of success really wasn’t in sync with her values,” explains Jo Pease, corporate ethics and compliance officer of Shell Oil. You must make sure your definition of success fits comfortably with every aspect of your life. If it does, then you can begin your journey toward creating the life you desire. The good news for women is that when it comes to women’s attitudes toward change in their lives, they have a more positive outlook than men do. According to a Roper ASW study commissioned by O, The Oprah Magazine, women view themselves as “works-in-progress.” From my personal anecdotal observations gathered while teaching women’s seminars and women’s entrepreneurial training, women seem to be more resilient than men. I usually ask women attending my seminars to tell me a little bit about themselves, and some of the stories are amazing. You wonder how in the world these women have been able to overcome and persevere with a smile on their face. But they have an inner strength that gets them through. The Roper ASW study validates my perception. The study indicates that 78 percent of women believe that bad experiences in life make them stronger in the end. Sixty one percent say personal changes make their relationships with others stronger and healthier. And when it comes to achieving life goals, women are very optimistic. Of those surveyed, 79 percent believe they can achieve anything they put their minds to and they recognize the importance of being proactive. Interestingly, women tend to view internal and external changes as being linked. Almost all women (95 percent) have made at least one personal change in the past year or plan to make one in the coming year. Of that number, 58 percent plan to make a career change. So women seem more comfortable with change, which works to their advantage when it comes to reinventing their careers. Where they find greater difficulty is that when they embark on a change, they

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Reinvent Your Career are often unwilling or afraid to ask for help. Some women believe seeking help is a sign of weakness—that they should be able to handle and accomplish everything on their own. But the longer it takes for them to find the right position, the more dramatic the impact on their self-esteem. Then as their self-esteem dwindles, they can become depressed and fearful of the job search process itself.

Leverage Your Contacts and Ask for What You Want The bottom line is if you are a woman going through a career transition, you need help. Now is not the time to be timid and shy. You’ve got to let people know what you need and how they can help you. “A young woman came to work in my company in a particular department and after a couple of years she decided to go out and work in a different area. Then the group went into cutbacks and she had no defined home within the company to return to. She had good political connections within the company and I told her to use them and ask for what she wanted. She didn’t feel comfortable doing it, so ultimately she found herself without a job,” Pease explains. Women are great at networking. They are great at building relationships, but they aren’t good at leveraging those relationships. A lot of women who are going through a transition will touch base with their contacts, but they won’t be specific as to what they need. In other words, if you need an introduction to a department head at a specific company and you know that your friend Sallie knows her well, don’t be afraid to ask Sallie to open the door for you. In addition, be sure to determine a time with Sallie when you can follow up with the department head yourself. Sallie will be pleased to help you and the department head will be more receptive to you because someone she obviously trusts has ushered you in.

Age and Gender Factors
171 It is up to you to create your own opportunities. That means you must ask for what you want. In business, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Don’t Take It Personally Business decisions often have a greater impact on women than they do on men because women tend to take things in the workplace more personally. They have more difficulty separating their business relationships and personal relationships. When I speak to women’s groups I remind them, business is business and friendship is friendship. You can’t allow issues you face in the business world to damage your self-esteem. With this in mind, however, women who are downsized, often take longer to come to terms with the situation. It feels too much like a personal rejection—like they’ve lost their best friend. Remember, most downsizing decisions are based on numbers made by managers sitting in an executive boardroom who have no idea who you are. Even if they do, they won’t let their personal feelings toward you get in the way of making the right decision for the business. You have to adopt the same attitude. Remember, you can’t move into the future until you have left the past behind.

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Chapter 9

The Lure of Entrepreneurism Given the current economic times lots of people are considering what it might look like, feel like to have their own deal…to be their own boss. Use whatever cliché you like, I think that these uncertain times drive people to look at all their alternatives. —Ken Yancey, executive director, SCORE

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any have dubbed the 21st century “the century of the entrepreneur.” There is little doubt that small businesses are driving the U.S. economy today—accounting for 99.7 percent of all businesses. As large companies reduce their workforces, smaller firms are picking up the slack. Twothirds to three-quarters of new jobs are created by small businesses. They represent 99 percent of all employers, and they employ 51 percent of private-sector workers. In terms of private-sector output, small businesses produce 52 percent and represent 96 percent of all

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Reinvent Your Career exporters of goods. Small business really is big business in today’s market. In many respects our economy has come full circle. Our country was built by small business owners—merchants, farmers, and artisans. But advancement in technology brought about the industrial age, changing the nature of work and creating a marketplace where the small businesses could no longer compete. Today, however, the business environment has shifted. Technology allows large companies to produce their products and services with fewer employees, while paradoxically it affords small companies the ability to compete on a level playing field from anywhere in the world at anytime and from any place. “I predicted in the 1970s when I first came out of college and I looked at all my friends in the Baby Boomer generation and I knew there was no way American industry would expand fast enough to absorb all of these bodies. Now companies are laying people off right and left and a lot of these people are the Baby Boomers. Whether you like it or not, most of us will go through at least one phase of our life where we will be entrepreneurial,” says Cliff Ennico, author of the syndicated column “Succeeding in Your Business” and host of MoneyHunt on PBS.

Do You Have the Right Stuff ? The lure of entrepreneurship can be enticing—particularly for those who have recently been downsized or who are currently in unfulfilling careers. But beware—it is insidious and it is not for everyone. Just because you happen to be a superstar at doing whatever it is you do doesn’t mean you can translate that into a successful business operation. Clearly entrepreneurship can be exciting and invigorating. People start their own businesses because they want to be in control—to call their own shots. No more office politics to deal with. Who hasn’t wished for that? Sounds like the perfect work situation, right? Maybe not.

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
175 Before you make a decision to go it on your own, you need to carefully examine your own personality and skill set. There are some people who are inherently entrepreneurs at heart, and there are others who may be lured by the concept, but in reality find it to be an uncomfortable fit. So before you jump off the cliff and decide to gamble the family farm, make sure you evaluate whether you have the right stuff. Take the following self-evaluation. 1. Are you willing to work long hours for several years with little or no income to show for it? 2. Are you willing to wear a variety of hats from janitor to president? 3. Are you a self-starter? 4. Are you willing to go beyond your comfort zone? 5. Are you a risk-taker? 6. Do you have sales ability? 7. Are you persistent? 8. Are you resilient? 9. Are you good at making up your mind and taking action? 10. Are you good with people? Hopefully you answered yes to the majority of the questions on the self-evaluation because it takes most of these characteristics to be a successful entrepreneur. We will discuss some of the personal issues you’ll need to think about before you start your business. Then, if you decide you want to go forward, we’ll take a look at some of the common ways to get into business so you can begin to evaluate what makes the most sense for you. But by all means, take your time and don’t rush into a decision. Statistics also show that 89.7 percent of entrepreneurs quit their jobs to start their businesses as opposed to being let go (Entrepreneur

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Reinvent Your Career [Sept. 2002]). There is a certain drive or sense of destiny about entrepreneurs. They are visionaries. People who are true entrepreneurs have a difficult time fitting into a corporate organizational structure and vice versa.

Examine Your Personal Goals See the young woman baking pies. See the young woman start a business baking pies. See the young woman become an old woman. —Michael E. Gerber, author Why do you want to go into business for yourself? Are you running away from a bad situation or are you running to something you truly have a strong desire to do? Are you looking at starting a business as an answer to your current lack of employment? In other words, are you simply trying to create a job for yourself? You need to know the answer to these questions before you begin. You need to understand exactly what is motivating you and what you hope to achieve. If the only reason you are considering business ownership is because you don’t see anything else out there on the horizon—at least give yourself time to pause and carefully evaluate the consequences of your decision. Otherwise you may find yourself out there, running around like crazy, and waking up one morning saying what was I thinking! Nobody told me it would be like this. In addition, if you think you want to start your own business so you’ll have more free time on your hands...think again. When I present entrepreneurial programs, I ask each participant to tell me why they want to go into their own business. Frequently, the answer I hear is that they want to spend more time with their families and have more balance in their lives. If that’s what you are looking for, I can tell you

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
177 right now, entrepreneurship is not for you. As a business owner, you’ll work harder and longer hours than you have ever worked in your entire life. The difference is that you can often choose which hours you want to work. Maybe you work several hours very early in the morning so you can take time out of your day to drive your children to school. Some people prefer waiting until their family, spouse, or partner is already in bed and then they go back to work. You’ll work just as many hours, you’ll just work them at different times of the day. “I think of it as a lifestyle choice,” explains attorney Chris Kelleher. “When there is something special going on with my children, I want to be there so I have structured my business to accommodate that. After all, they will eventually reach an age where they may not want dad around as much anymore,” he adds. Also, take into consideration what’s going on in your life right now. Are things settled or is your life in turmoil? Your business will require so much of your attention, you need to make sure your life is in order. “If you are having a child, getting a degree, caring for an ailing parent, and moving to new city—this may not be the time to start a new business. You have to think of the timing in your life,” says Julann Jatczek who works with many start-up business enterprises. Make sure your family and friends are committed to supporting you in your new endeavor. If they think you’re crazy or you’ve gone off the deep end, you are going to encounter problems down the road. There are going to be times when the demands of the business will take precedent over your personal commitments and you need to surround yourself with people who will understand and respect that. Your small business will demand at least 110 percent of you. There are many rewards to being an entrepreneur, but you must be realistic and fully understand what you are signing up for. There are challenges and obstacles you’ll have to overcome that will test your staying power time and time and again. You’ll work nights, weekends, and holidays. And when your employed buddies are off on paid

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Reinvent Your Career vacations, you’ll be struggling to find time to get a haircut. That’s when you’ll find yourself asking, “What was I thinking?” “Wage earners can turn it off because there are other people who are responsible. Business owners don’t have that. There is no way to explain it, but you are committed all the time. When you are out to dinner with people, you are thinking about what they are talking about and how it applies to your business. Successful entrepreneurs talk about their businesses as though it makes them breathe,” explains Carol Maria from the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative. In addition to your time commitment, you may also find yourself experiencing a culture shock. You may be a star performer in your current job and you enjoy all the accolades and perks. Perhaps you have a college degree or even an MBA. You’ve held responsible positions, managed large budgets, and demonstrated a talent for strategic planning. When it comes to business ownership—so what? You’ve been working in an environment where sales and marketing, accounts payable, human resources, and administrative services were all separate departments. As a business owner, you are responsible for them all. You become the chief bookkeeper, accounts receivable and collections department, janitor, marketing director, customer service representative, production manager, and salesperson. Everything falls under your job description. Plus, you are completely responsible for all the decisions. There’ll be no one else to blame when something goes wrong—it is all rests on your shoulders. So it doesn’t matter how skilled you are at a particular job—you must become a generalist. “Most small businesses don’t need higher math skills. So one of the challenges is avoiding the feeling you are underemployed because you aren’t using all your skills and education. The work is just as hard as in corporate America, but you are just doing different kinds of things. There is a lot more satisfaction, however, because when things work and click, you get all the credit for it,” says Cliff Ennico, an attorney who writes the popular syndicated column, “Succeeding in Your Business,” and also hosts MoneyHunt on PBS.

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
179 “Many people who have been accustomed to the corporate world really have to undergo a huge attitude adjustment or they aren’t going to make it. They were a little cog in a massive machine, and now as a business owner they are the whole machine. Everything about that business, they have to do. It is often difficult for some people to make the shift,” explains business attorney Chris Kelleher. When Donna Vandiver founded her public relations firm, the hardest part was overcoming the sense of isolation. “I had been with a large corporation for 13 years, and I was used to having other people around to talk to and to bounce ideas off of. I think it drove me to build faster because I wanted to bring other talented people in to work with me,” she explained. If you’re not sure about whether you have the right stuff, take some time to talk to other business owners. Find out what they like and dislike about being on their own. Read everything you can get your hands on and consider taking an entrepreneurial training course. Many of the community colleges offer such courses. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) also has a wealth of information for small business owners and start-ups. You can access the SBA through its Website, www.sba.gov. Also, check out SBTV.com—the small business television network on the Web (www.sbtv.com). Many people are surprised to learn about all the technical aspects of running a business. They operate under the assumption that all you have to do is put up a sign and open the door and voilá—you are in business. So you really need to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the information. I’ve seen lots of people consider business ownership and after learning more about what is required, decide it’s not for them. Better to know before you jump than afterwards when it’s too late. There are basically three ways you can get into business for yourself. You can start something from scratch, which includes people who go solo such as consultants, freelancers, independent contractors, and home-based business. You can purchase an existing business, or you can buy a franchise. Each of these choices has varying degrees of

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Reinvent Your Career risks and rewards. Which one is right for you? That depends on your own personal motivation and goals.

Real-Life Ups and Downs Many people go into their own business because they want to avoid the risk of ever being downsized again. Once is enough, right? Well, being in your own business doesn’t insulate you from the impact of downsizing. Sure, you may not get a pink slip, but remember, when the economy tightens and company budgets dissipate, your business will suffer too. So you should always consider external factors before you go out on your own. After more than 10 years in the communications business, including two as an assistant public relations director of a mediumsized agency, Sheri decided to make a go of it on her own. She knew she had hit the glass ceiling where she was and she needed a new challenge. Sheri launched a one-woman public relations shop in 2000. “I toyed with the idea of going on my own for what seemed like forever,” she said. “I went back and forth with myself. Finally, a close friend of mine who had her own business told me it was something I’d have to jump in and do, so I took the plunge,” she explains. It was a challenge. Work went well the first six months; however, the economy took a downturn and with it, she lost her largest client. “I just had submitted a marketing plan and budget for a series of special events over the next year,” she said. “I e-mailed the company’s marketing director the next day to follow up on the plan, and she said she was cleaning out her desk. She had lost her job due to budget cuts and was asked to leave immediately. I was stunned, not to mention out of work as well.” The move forced Sheri to rely on her previous experience as a news reporter. Leveraging her contacts, she was able to make enough money as a freelancer until her business picked up again.

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
181 “I’m glad I had that experience to be able to fall back on,” she said. “If it weren’t for that, my career path would have taken a vastly different turn.” While owning her own business has been fulfilling and rewarding, Sheri notes that there are definite pros and cons to being on your own. She cautions anyone thinking of taking the plunge to carefully weigh his or her options.

Understanding Your Personal Values Whatever business you select, it must fit well with your personal values. That’s not something you can force or write into a business plan. When Dan Koppel decided to go into his own business, he knew exactly what his personal values were and what he was looking for. He didn’t fit well in Corporate America because he often felt as though he had to sell his soul. “I knew whatever I did, I didn’t want to sell my soul. I recognized I needed to have my own business because if you are part of someone else’s company, then you always have their value system; you have to suck it up if you work for someone else,” Koppel explains. Koppel and his wife began to explore opportunities. They learned of a tea company headquartered on an island off of Vancouver that was for sale. They went there to see about buying it. But instead they eventually decided to bring Salt Spring Tea Company to the United States. They had done some research and recognized that the timing was right because the market was there. Herbal teas are predicted to become the next craze, like the coffee boom this past decade. “It was a healthy product and it was something I could believe in. I knew I couldn’t sell something I didn’t believe in,” he explains. The business allows Koppel, a former computer consultant, to utilize both his technology skills and tap into his creativity as well. “Each of our bags is handpainted—a piece of art. We like that, but it may become a challenge later on from a production standpoint as our business grows,” he adds.

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Reinvent Your Career The cool thing for Koppel is the thrill he gets when people really like his stuff. “It’s good when you get the first sale, but when they come back for the second buy, it is really great,” he says. Because he knew his personal values and what his motivation was for going into his own business, Koppel and his wife are experiencing great success. The stars have aligned. As a side note, Koppel is also a songwriter and a musician. He has shared the lyrics to a couple of his songs that I have included in this book.

Starting From Scratch What do you bring to the party? Dan Koppel found a business that allows him to utilize his various skill sets. Whenever you decide to start a business, you need to know exactly where your interests lie and what your skills are. Certainly, you should make sure whatever business you start is something you truly love. If you don’t feel passionate about your business venture, then you should carefully reevaluate your choice. Your business life and your personal life will become one and the same. You can’t escape it when you lay it all on the line. You’ll be working 24/7, so you really must love what you do. After leaving his job as an office automation salesman, Fred Armendariz decided to start his own company selling and manufacturing office equipment. “When I started I had a little office in the back of a small retail operation my wife and I owned. I’d go out and sell all day and then I used our garage as the warehouse, and I’d put the equipment together at nights and on the weekends. I also made all my own deliveries,” he explains. “I really believe that business owners work much harder and longer than corporate employees,” says Dick Mueller, president of Franselect, a franchise marketing company.

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
183 If there is a type of business that sounds interesting to you, but you have never really worked in that particular field, try working for someone else for a while before you make a decision. Business attorney Chris Kelleher explains that one of the biggest factors in determining the success or failure of a business venture is how much actual knowledge and experience one has in that particular type of business or industry. Some businesses can look like a lot of fun, but once you are into them and the reality sinks in, it is a different story. “For example, let’s say a corporate refugee wants to open a bar. He envisions a place like Cheers and he sees himself as the television character Sam Malone. So he quits his 9-to-5 corporate day job and borrows against personal assets to launch his dream. What he doesn’t realize is how easy it is for his employees to steal from him or what it is like at 1 or 2 in the morning when he is trying to close the doors and eject a bunch of drunks. Without actual experience and really knowing what you are getting into, you have about a 95 percent chance of failure in your first two years. You have about as much of a chance of making money by buying a lottery ticket or going to the race track,” Kelleher explains. Can you fill in the blank for this statement? Business is _____________________________. The answer is selling. Business is selling. I don’t care what kind of business you are in, if you can’t sell, you are at a huge disadvantage from day one. Nothing happens until you sell something. So if you hate the thought of selling, then you either need to reconsider your thought about going into business, or find a business partner who is willing to manage that aspect. Start-up businesses are risky to say the least. “The tradeoff is you can do business any way you want. No one, other than customers, of course, can tell you how to run the business,” notes attorney Ennico. Armendariz, who eventually grew his start-up operation to 100 employees and was listed in Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest growing companies

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Reinvent Your Career says, “The best part is the ability to grow something and leverage that entity for your family. You can create a vision and direct your own game plan, but you are always accountable whether it is good or bad.”

Will Your Idea Work? Small business owners are the people who make the country work. Small businesses are the beginning of ideas and are the ones who change the way we live our lives. —Hattie Bryant, host of the television program Small Business School You have a vision. You are excited and enthused. You just know you have a great idea for a small business venture. You are going to make a fortune. Join the crowd. I have heard hundreds of business ideas over the years, but very few of them really work. Did you know that the majority of small business ventures fail within the first three years? According to statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration, about 66 percent of businesses with employees remain open at least two years after startup, 49.6 percent are open at least four years, and only 39.5 percent are open after six years. The odds are not in your favor. So before you get started, you really must do your homework. You need to do a little market research. How large is the market? Who would be your competition? What would motivate the customer to buy your product or service? Are buying decisions made on price or performance? Is the market growing or shrinking? How will you sell and distribute your product or service? What is the cost of entry into the marketplace?

The Lure of Entrepreneurism
185 “Thoroughly research the market you want to go into, as well as your potential customers. Then find your niche and stay within it,” counsels business owner Jane Crowell. Sound like a difficult challenge? It’s really not. The answers are usually fairly easy to obtain. Start by acquiring public information about the market and your competitors from trade associations, publications, and advertising materials. Create your own informal focus groups. Invite some business associates and friends to an inexpensive lunch and run your idea by them. Ask for their objective feedback. Don’t get your feelings hurt if they shoot holes in your idea, they may uncover something you’ve failed to think about and save you a lot of money. Take time to develop a business plan. The business plan process will force you to make projections about your business and its profitability. Don’t guess at the numbers and, by all means, don’t pay someone else to write it for you. As the owner, you need to truly understand the numbers and be able to explain them. There are resources that can help you determine, by industry, what realistic expectations are. “One of the biggest reasons businesses fail is because people have an idea and they jump right in without thinking it through,” says Jatczek. While a well-written business plan won’t guarantee you’ll make it, it certainly enhances your chances. Most people who start businesses don’t take the time to do any business planning, and there is a strong corollary between planning and success rates.

It’s a Dog’s World Before Sara Laing started her business, her husband challenged her to do her homework. “He wanted me to be sure that this was truly a feasible opportunity.” Laing had turned what she thought was her dream retail clothing sales job into a career. She became a buyer for Target in the company’s Minneapolis-based corporate offices. The new job was a structured

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Reinvent Your Career training ground for a future position as a buyer. “But it just wasn’t me,” Sara recalls. “I knew there was more to life than work. I love to cook, but it just wasn’t an option when I came home from work at 8 p.m. I hated not having time for dinner with my husband.” Sara was disenchanted with the time-consuming nature of the job, the required heavy load of “number crunching,” and the highly competitive atmosphere. “I really missed the personal interaction I got on the sales floor.” While trying to decide what her next move would be, Sara and her husband added a new addition to their family: they bought a dog. Ultimately, the family pet became the catalyst and inspiration for Sara’s new career path. Through pet ownership, Sara learned of the market for professional dog walkers. These services come to pet owners’ homes to take care of their animals while they are at work. As she was exploring the market opportunity, she was growing more and more unhappy in her job. “I was sick to my stomach on Sunday nights dreading the next work week. It got to the point that I was so focused on quitting, that one day, I just did. Three months later, I was walking dogs,” she explained. Because Sara had taken time to understand the market and how to position her service, it didn’t take long for her to grow her client list. Networking is a big part of her success. She gained new clients through membership in and referrals from the Minnesota Pet Sitters Organization and a Website her husband designed for her. Finally, she expanded her menu of services to include pet obedience, behavior, and first aid. One year after starting the business, Laing Pets is a financial success and Sara is considering hiring an employee. “But financial success was low on my list of priorities. Being fulfilled and happy on a personal level is really what I was looking for. I have that now. I have such peace of mind knowing that I’m not stuck, knowing that I can do everything I want in life. I proved that I could do it.”

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Turn a Hobby Into a Business Doll collecting, repair, and restoration was a lifelong hobby for Teresa Rankin. As a child, Rankin had helped her mother restore and repair dolls from their home. After Rankin’s mother passed away, the work kept coming in, so Rankin begin doing the repairs at home while working a full-time job. Before she knew it, doll arms, legs, and torsos were hanging from the rafters in her basement in need of repairs. The business got so big, she decided to open her own shop called Cathie Lee Doll Hospital and Dolls, specializing in doll restoration and repair, along with retail sales. Not only does Rankin repair dolls and restore them to their original beauty, she also makes them by hand. Additionally, she coordinates classes through her shop. Recently, she added an Internet strategy, selling repair kits to individuals who want to keep their dolls in tip-top shape. “I work six days a week, sometimes seven, just to get everything done,” said Rankin who is a wife and mother of four children. “You really have to love what you do.” And from the beauty and care she puts into her dolls, you can tell she really does.

Money Makes the World Go Round Amy Crump became the very first employee of the Vandiver Group, a public relations firm. In her new position, she wanted to do something to keep spirits up when things weren’t going as planned. She penned this poem, which she framed and hung on the office wall. Although the firm is now a successful mid-sized company, it continues to hang on the wall as a constant reminder of the early days. May our days all be bright, May they be warm and sunny, May we get lots of clients and Makes tons of money.

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Reinvent Your Career How much money do you need to make? How much money do you want to make? How much money do you have to invest in your business venture? All of these are important considerations when you are thinking about going into your own business. Did you know that during the first year of operations most businesses lose money? The second year the lucky ones begin to break even. And the third year, if you’ve been able to hold on, you may see a little profit. Business ownership has the potential to reap tremendous financial rewards. Some of the wealthiest people in the country are small business owners. But their success came through hard work and dedication and it built slowly over time. Therefore, you must have the financial stability to get through the slim years. Take a look at your current financial situation. Are you living beyond your means? Are you buried in debt? Are your children getting ready to start college? Calculate how much you’ll need to cover your living expenses and be sure to include things such as health insurance coverage and taxes. When you are looking at the feasibility of your business plan, you’ll need to make sure you can earn enough to sustain you and your family. If you don’t think you have the financial capacity to manage your financial needs, then consider keeping your current job and start something part-time on the side. Find family or friends who will help support you during the start-up phase. Or postpone your decision and start saving your pennies now. “Cash reserves are important. We usually say you need a couple of years of cash flow to cover your personal needs because it is going to be a while before you make any money,” explains Bryant. “When I started my first business in 1979, I kept my full-time job for eight months and built my business after my normal working hours.” In addition to your personal finances, you must carefully consider how much money you’ll need to launch your business. Undercapitalization is a primary cause of business failures. How do you plan to finance your business venture? Will you seek traditional bank financing? It is extremely difficult to get a loan for a start-up

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189 enterprise. Using personal assets and credit cards or tapping family and friends initially funds most businesses. Repeat after me: generally speaking, there is no such thing as free money. Got it? I am amazed at the number of people who mistakenly believe there are grants available to start their business or that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is there to give them a loan—just for the asking. The SBA guarantees loans through traditional finance sources. No one is standing there with a stack of cash waiting to hand it over to you. In order to obtain financing, you’ll need a completed business plan and you’ll be asked to demonstrate how your business can pay back the loan amount. In addition, you’ll be expected to step up to the plate with collateral, a significant personal investment in the business, and personal guarantees.

Home-based Business One of the most popular forms of business start-ups is the homebased business. A new home-based business opens about every 11 seconds in this country. More than 24 million Americans are doing it according to the American Association of Home-Based Businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration says home-based businesses are growing faster than any other type of small business ventures. A decade ago, people who worked out of their homes were considered “small-time”—not serious business people. But today, that perception has changed. Advances in technology allow you to manage any type of business from the comfort of your home. Home-based businesses are popular because they are easy to set up. It allows you to maximize your opportunity and minimize your risk. For the most part, all you need is a phone line, a computer, and a desk. When I started my business several years ago, I wasn’t sure I would survive so I brought up a card table from the basement, set it up as my desk in a spare bedroom with my computer and I was in business. Now, although my business has grown significantly in terms of revenue and employees, I still operate with a card table as a desk.

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Reinvent Your Career Home-based businesses have lower ongoing operating expenses too. Some home-based business owners take advantage of something called the home office deduction on their personal income tax returns; however, I strongly suggest you consult with a CPA before you make this choice, as there are other considerations that may not make it a good decision for your personal situation. When your office is in your home, you can manage your work schedule to fit your personal needs. You can work any time day or night—which can be good and bad. I often joke that the great part about working from home is that I don’t have to fight rush-hour traffic. But on the other hand, I never get a snow day because I can always make it to the office. Furthermore, I usually go back in the office every evening after dinner to check e-mails or finish up a thing or two—emerging several hours later. And I work almost every Saturday and Sunday. You never get away from your business. Whether a home-based business is right for you, once again, depends on your personality. To successfully function in a home-based business atmosphere, you must be a self-starter. There’s nobody else there to tell you what to do or when to do it, and in most cases there aren’t any employees expecting anything from you either. You also need to be disciplined. If you are easily distracted, then you should probably reconsider a home office. There are a million things around the house that can pull you away from your work. Toss in a load of laundry and change a lightbulb and you’ve eaten up 15 or 20 minutes. Arrange for a cable television service call—another five minutes. Then one of your friends calls and you spend a few minutes catching up and scheduling a lunch for next week. Before you know it another day has passed and you haven’t accomplished a thing. Your family also needs to understand that just because your office is in the home doesn’t mean that you aren’t really working. If you have children, you should talk with them about your work and ask them to respect your time in the office. Work out guidelines together and establish physical boundaries. Maintain a designated “work” area

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191 and ask everyone to minimize interruptions so that you can stay focused on your business. Organization and time-management skills are critical for homebased businesses. Procrastinators typically don’t function well in a home-based environment. Furthermore, if you are considering a homebased business, you should be the type of person who enjoys working alone. If you draw your energy from the ability to interact with others, then you will probably feel isolated and uncomfortable in a homebased setting. There is a great deal to gain by making your home the center of your personal and professional life. All types of individuals—people just like you—are enjoying success right from the comfort of their own home. Examine your personal work style and make a decision that is right for you.

Buying an Existing Business Many would-be business owners prefer the idea of purchasing an already existing business. Certainly, buying a business is significantly less risky than starting one from scratch. But once again, the first question you must ask yourself is: “Is this a business I’d feel good about and enjoy?” If the answer is no, then it doesn’t matter if the business is a sure thing: it’s not the right fit for you. Sandy Jaffe says he always wanted to own his own business, so he began to look for an existing business to buy. With no money to make the outright purchase of a company, he took a nontraditional approach to entrepreneurship. He researched businesses where owners were close to retirement, intending to work for them with the agreement that they would allow him to buy the company upon their exit. This path eventually led him to a bookstore that was up for sale. While he knew retail was not the type of business he wanted, the bookstore did provide the pathway to the type of venture he wanted to pursue. Contacts at the bookstore connected him with a bookseller, a company that sold books to retail bookstores. The bookseller was on the

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Reinvent Your Career verge of bankruptcy. “The owner just wasn’t paying attention to the business,” says Jaffe. Enticed by the opportunity to combine his lifelong love of books and the prospect of owning his own company, he investigated further. “The owner and I worked out a deal where I would assume the company’s assets and liabilities without any cash investment. ‘I thought, what have I got to lose?’” In just the first month under his guidance, the company’s performance exceeded goals and did enough business to stay afloat. Since then, Jaffe has grown his staff from four full-time employees (including himself) to approximately 200 people. In addition to selling retail books, the company now supplies books to schools across the country and has expanded with the acquisition of a greeting card company and two bookbinderies. Jaffe is proud to say that he was able to successfully combine his drive to achieve entrepreneurial goals with his favorite pastime. Buying a business can certainly ease the entry into the world of entrepreneurship, but you have to be smart about it like Jaffe was. However, even if the business seems to be financially sound, if you don’t know anything about it, there usually isn’t anybody around to really train you. “The seller may agree to stick around for a little while, but you are not going to get the same level of training you’d get if you bought a franchise,” explains Ennico. “Additionally, you have to look at the nature of the business. If it is a business built on personal relationships, it might be difficult to sustain.” Much like starting a business, you need to do your homework over and above looking at the financial statements. “The big question you want answered is why is the owner selling. That’s particularly true if the business is doing well,” Ennico says. Take a look at the neighborhood where the business is located. Is there a change occurring that you aren’t aware of? What about the market for the product or service of the business? Is the market declining?

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193 I heard a story once about a business that was for sale that by all indications looked like an excellent deal. But when the prospective buyer did some research by talking to some other business owners in the area, he learned that a bridge that was the primary way in and out of the area was going to be closed for repairs for about a year. Imagine what a fool he would’ve been to purchase that business? Thank goodness he took time to kick the tires. Local newspapers are a good resource to find businesses for sale. However, one of the best ways to find what you are looking for is to simply talk to people. Sandy Jaffe talked to enough people until he uncovered the right opportunity and situation for him. Finally, don’t forget buying an existing business can be expensive. “Generally, the rule of thumb is that for every $100,000 of personal income you want to take out of the business, you’ll pay five times that amount,” explains Mueller. So before you risk your personal assets, make sure you are making a sound business decision.

Franchising—The Start-up Shortcut Franchising became popular in the 1950s with the wild success of McDonald’s. Today there are thousands of franchising opportunities and many offer a safer bet for would-be entrepreneurs. The essence of franchise allows you to build on someone else’s wisdom and the failure rate is much lower than for traditional business start-ups. In theory, when you purchase a franchise, you are buying the blueprints for a business with name recognition that has already proven it can work. You are also purchasing the brainpower of the franchising company, which should have the resources to help you with day-do-day business details. The bottom line is, if you aren’t much of a risk-taker, but you’d like to have your own business, then a franchise will be the most comfortable choice for you. “Starting a business is somewhat like taking a journey,” says International Franchise Association president, Don DeBolt. “Sometimes you take the unpaved, unknown road just to see what’s around the

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Reinvent Your Career bend. But when you want to reach your destination quickly, safely, and surely, you choose the superhighway that is clearly marked, well maintained, and offers the shortest distance (www.franchise.org/news/ usatoda/feb02.asp).” “In the franchise world we call franchisees intrapreneurs, because you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself. That’s why there is about a 90 percent success rate over a 10-year period of franchises,” explains franchise expert, Rich Pisani. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security, however. Franchises are not risk-free, and not all franchises are created equal. You must still do your homework. And unlike starting your own business from scratch or even buying an existing business, in most cases, you will be bound to do business the way the franchisor wants. Franchisor’s look for people who have the desire, energy, and ambition to own their own business, but not someone who is a true entrepreneur. You must be willing to follow the system. If you don’t, you run the risk of losing your franchise. Once again, you should conduct a personal assessment of your own values and needs. “Most franchisees have never been in the type of business they purchase and it isn’t necessary because you are buying someone else’s expertise and experience,” explains Mueller. When there is a downturn in the economy, there is an increase in franchising. In 2003, the franchise sector is expected to expand by 4 to 5 percent according to the 12th Annual Franchise Business Forecast and Trends Analysis. People are buying jobs for themselves. According to Mueller, most franchises believe the best years are in front of them because as Baby Boomers are downsized, right-sized, or burned out, they come out of corporate American with cash, energy, and a need to work. But if you are used to a fairly high-level salary, most franchises won’t replace your income unless you purchase multiple units. “Excluding the restaurant industry, most franchise owners have come out of corporate America,” explains Mueller. “The franchise

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195 concept works well for someone who is used to a structured environment because what you are buying is a business model.” Pisani adds, “True entrepreneurs don’t want to follow someone else’s system because they don’t want someone telling them how to do it. They want to do it their own way.” Originally, the rule for franchises was that a business had to have a proven track record with multiple units. You wanted to demonstrate that you could replicate the success of your business idea. Today, the rules have changed. “The law doesn’t require you to have tons of experience or lots of successful units already in operation before they can sell franchises. All the franchiser has to do is make full disclosure, so it is up to you to read the offering materials, ask tons of questions, and interview as many franchisees as possible,” says Ennico. There is a plethora of information available to help you research the hundreds of franchise opportunities. The International Franchise Association has a Website with articles, information, and resources (www.franchise.org). Before you make a decision to purchase a franchise, thoroughly research the opportunity. You want to make sure that once you have purchased the business that there will be ongoing support, because in addition to the franchise fee, most franchises require you to pay royalties on your gross sales. Additionally, you want to make sure that the franchise fits with the demographics of your market. “The FTC requires every franchise to present a document called the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular. On the very first personal meeting you have with the franchisor you should receive a copy of this document, have it explained to you, and sign a receipt. The offering circular contains specific information ranging from the company’s name and address to information about training, any law suits in which they have been involved, and disclosure of any bankruptcies,” explains franchise expert Rich Pisani. “Financial statements are also included so you can determine the financial health of the company.”

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Reinvent Your Career The franchisor can’t sell you a franchise for 15 days after that initial meeting. “This is called the cooling off period,” Pisani notes. In addition, the franchisor must provide a listing of all active franchises and all of those who have left the system in the past year. Before you choose any type of business entity, make sure you get sound, expert advice. Review your business idea with an attorney and CPA. Doing your homework from the outset can save you lots of money and heartache in the future. But whatever your decision about becoming an entrepreneur, let your heart and your instincts guide you through the process.

Tips for Entrepreneurs
Make sure you have the right stuff.
Examine your personal goals.
Entrepreneurs can still be affected by pink slips.
Understand your personal values.
Do your homework if you start a business from scratch.
Carefully evaluate your business idea.
Make sure you can manage your personal and business financial needs.
Buying a business may lessen the risk, but it still must be a good fit.
Franchise opportunities offer a recipe for success.
Get good professional advice.

Revved up Retirees: The Great Second Chapter
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Chapter 10

Revved up Retirees: The Great Second Chapter

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s our population ages, the concept of retirement has changed dramatically. Historically, people retired between the ages of 62 and 65 and the retirement years were sublimely referred to as the “golden years”—a euphemism for being put out to pasture. Much like a Norman Rockwell painting, retirees were typically pictured as coasting along— sitting on a park bench, going fishing, taking bus tours to Vegas, or playing bingo in the afternoon. For the most part, as a society, we wrote them off.

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Reinvent Your Career Today, the picture is changing. People are living longer, healthier lives and when they hit “retirement” age, they still have a couple of decades of productive years ahead. It is no longer a widely held opinion that being a retiree means being limited in opportunities. In fact, many shudder at the thought of being sent out to pasture with nothing to do. After spending decades in the rat race of the 9-to-5 world, facing unlimited amounts of time with unscheduled hours can be intimidating. In addition, when the stock market took a dive, even those who were looking forward to retirement realized they couldn’t afford it so they postponed the retirement date. And for those who had already made the decision to enjoy the “good life,” living on income tied to their investment portfolio, they realized they couldn’t afford to make ends meet. According to a new study released by AARP, nearly 70 percent of people over 45 plan to continue working after 65. Eighty-four percent of the respondents said they would work even if they were financially set for life. But the survey also indicates that these revved up retirees want to work on different terms than may have defined their earlier careers. They want more flexibility and autonomy and they want peace of mind, enjoyment, and a sense of purpose. Not holding on until they drop in their old jobs: they are finding new exciting careers. Most of them want the challenge and excitement of being involved in something worthwhile and stimulating. They are creating second chapters and some of the stories will amaze you. Retirement is a glorious opportunity. Think about how many times throughout your life you’ve said to yourself, “I would do that, if only I had the time.” Retirement is a new beginning—a beginning of new opportunities and possibilities. The challenge that follows is deciding what interest to pursue. Do you want to continue in your professional field or explore an entirely new realm? One challenge in determining what you want to do with the second chapter of your life may be overcoming self-doubt and fear that may arise when you are confronting a blank slate. Reinventing yourself

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199 after decades of a defined self-image isn’t easy. For years you have grown accustomed to being recognized by your profession. Dropping that identity on the last day of work isn’t realistic. And you don’t have to do it—unless you choose to do it. One national organization specifically designed to help retirees find and develop their new passions is OASIS. Since it’s inception, OASIS has grown into the largest, most comprehensive education and volunteer service program for mature adults in the U.S. It serves more than 340,000 adults in 26 cities. This program and others like it offer myriad service programs and continuing education courses. It is an excellent example of how a retiree peer organization can provide the support, encouragement, opportunity, and education for retirees ready to reinvent themselves.

Rewriting the Rules of Retirement One gentleman I know will tell you he’s retired. What you discover later is that he runs two businesses that take him around the world, maintain his status as one of the world’s authorities in his field, and keep him hobnobbing with the movers and shakers in his industry. For years, Max worked his way through the publishing world in high-profile jobs and companies. He was an editor of a well-known, nationally recognized publication and he licensed related products. It isn’t real clear whether that chapter of his life ended because he bailed or because he was pushed. You can’t tell because he’s so calm and in control about the transition he has made. Max decided to leave the big-city madness for the peace and quiet of a charming little village, but he’s certainly not sitting in a rocking chair. He has transitioned his career into a business he can run from a delightful spot in his home overlooking the woods and a river. Max is a leading authority in biblical coins, an interest he inherited from his father. He has written definitive numismatic books and

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Reinvent Your Career has been dealing in coins since college. He formed his company while he was still working full time in the publishing business. But today, through coin shows, Internet sales, writing monthly columns, and lecturing in universities worldwide, he maintains a network of interested buyers. In addition to this unique business, Max also acts as a literary agent. He is an agent for some of the best-selling authors and often finds himself back in the city for meetings and literary events. Hardly a typical retirement scenario. For Max, retirement is as busy and as active as ever. Perhaps even more so. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he says.

Planning Ahead and Knowing What You Want to Do Many people facing retirement begin planning their second careers well in advance. Carmen Michaud is one of those special individuals. Only eight years away from retirement from the IRS, she is poised and ready to run her new career. In the 1990s, Carmen turned to massage therapy to help remedy her back pain due to stress. Shortly afterward, she began telling friends and family that being a massage therapist is something she could and wanted to do. Her full-time job at the IRS seemed to be the practical hurdle. One day she woke up and realized she couldn’t joke about it anymore. “That very morning I said to my husband, ‘I have something to tell you. I have to do this,’” she remembers. “I had to do it. I had to try. There was no more waiting.” After Michaud and her husband worked through the details of existing financial and professional commitments she enrolled in massage therapy school. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Aside from some college courses here and there, I hadn’t been in school since high school graduation 30 years earlier!”

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201 Michaud immediately bonded with seven fellow students ages 23 to 60 and they formed a study group. As they began to bond, they tossed around the idea of opening a massage therapy studio. As graduation drew closer, so did the reality that the group would start their own business. Two months after completing their course of study, the group set up shop. Now, still working 40 hours for the IRS, Carmen spends two weeknights and one weekend day at Bodies in Sync. “This is going to be my new career,” she says with excited anticipation. “I would tell anyone who can’t see retiring at retirement age to take the step, take control, and start with enough time. Plan ahead. Don’t wait.”

The New Volunteerism After nearly a quarter of a century as the CFO of a Fortune 500 company, George found himself no longer employed. In his mid-50s at the time, he was confused about what to do with the rest of his life. He was too young to sit around and do nothing, but returning to a highpowered executive position and all its pressures left him a little cold. He toyed with a couple of ideas, even considered buying a business. Then an opportunity presented itself at a charity fundraiser. One of the judges from the family court in the inner city of St. Louis asked him how things were going. “Well, I’m no longer employed,” George said. “Great, I have the perfect opportunity for you,” the judge replied. The judge explained the city school system’s accreditation was on probation for a number of reasons, one of which included its extremely high truancy rate. The judge had an idea for a program he’d seen in Boston to reduce truancy. The problem was that he needed someone to take the reins and coordinate the program, but no funding was available for the position. George saw an opportunity to do something challenging, rewarding, and worthwhile, so he accepted the position on a volunteer basis.

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Reinvent Your Career The goal of the program was to bring together the family court, the department of social services, the school board, and the local police department. Heretofore, none of these agencies were sharing information on a timely basis, and so the problem really wasn’t being addressed. George became the liaison between the various entities, opening up the communications challenges and establishing regular reporting criteria. “Before we established this program, truancy reports often didn’t reach the courts until the school year had almost concluded,” George explained. “At that point, there wasn’t much we could do to correct the problem. “As the program progressed, my reward came from seeing students who had previously gotten lost in paper shuffles come before the court early enough for us to intercede and get them the help they needed. The other thing we did was revamp the police department’s effort in such a way that we saved them time by reducing their participation in getting truant students off the street in a more efficient manner,” he added. The program also helped families begin to understand their legal obligations for educating their own children. As a result, the program has been successful in bringing down the truancy rate in the participating schools and has helped the district move toward permanent accreditation. “I enjoyed it because it was so vastly different than the financial education and experience background. And it gave me a real sense of making a difference and contributing to the community,” George explains. Many retirees are enjoying tremendous rewards from volunteerism. Volunteer activity offers a diverse wealth of productive ways to contribute to the community. It is an enriching experience that can provide opportunities to give back and support a cause you truly believe in. Plus, it may just offer the greatest emotional return on your time investment.

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Taking a New Direction Early retirement packages are common today. It is almost humorous based on old standards to run into someone in their late 40s or early 50s who describes himself as retired. Yet many people see early retirement options as a blessing and a chance to create a new life. After 30 years with a global communications company in New England, Paul Minor’s company merged with another. Instead of panicking, Minor began to think of the possibilities. “My wife’s brother passed away at 43. It made me look at life and what is important. I realized there was something missing for me,” says Minor. “So I volunteered to take a package.” Minor, who also owned an apple and pumpkin farm and cider mill, had often dreamed of doing something that encouraged kids to read. Perhaps he could write a book or go on a promotional tour with his pet pot belly pig named Daisy, who was already a popular attraction among local kids. But how? Minor’s outplacement consultant pointed him in the right direction. She suggested organizations that might help fund his ideas, supplied information about possible children’s book publishers, and gave him the names of people to call about visiting libraries. She showed him how to network. Most important, her expertise and support gave Minor the encouragement he needed to keep pursing his dream. Today, Minor visits schools and libraries across the country as a funny, lovable farmer to teach children about the importance of reading. Daisy is now a “spokespig” for reading, taking part in the Read Across America celebration, funded by Reading Is Fundametal (RIF). Plus, Minor will soon have his work published.

Making Major Life Changes Sometimes life can take strange turns. Tessa Greenspan understands that all too well. Greenspan got married while attending college and started raising a family instead of entering the workforce,

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Reinvent Your Career which was a road that was taken by most of her peers at the time. Her only work experience outside the home was helping out part-time in a neighborhood grocery store she and her husband had owned, and volunteering with a number of charities in her community. A soft-spoken woman with a warm smile, Greenspan and her husband were looking forward to retirement. Their children were grown and on their own, and soon it would be their time together. In her own words, “things were good.” But as fate would have it, Greenspan’s life changed dramatically. “It was October 26, 1986—the day my entire world changed,” recalls Greenspan. Greenspan made an investment in a neighborhood produce market as a silent investor in 1981. By 1986, the active partners had accumulated a shocking $413,000 in debt, including a $40,000 tax bill and a $200,000 bank loan. Salvaging the debt-laden business seemed hopeless, so the two partners declared personal bankruptcy and handed the keys to Greenspan. Greenspan was faced with a difficult dilemma. She could file bankruptcy herself and walk away, or she could try to salvage the debtladen business. At this stage in her life and with little or no work experience, her friends and family tried to encourage her to take the easy way out and let the business go. But Greenspan decided to seize the opportunity and try to turn the business around. “My husband didn’t want me to do it at first—not so much because of the money, but because he didn’t want me to go through it all. But once I made up my mind, he supported my decision and was right by my side,” Greenspan explains. The first step toward saving the business was to address the critical issue of cash flow. When a business is near bankruptcy, finding adequate funds to maintain inventory, meet payroll, and keep the doors open for business is nearly impossible. Greenspan had been saving and investing for a number of years, building a retirement nest egg. She liquidated her personal investments and took a second mortgage on her home to keep the business afloat.

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205 In addition to fighting the financial battles, there were other challenges within the store itself to confront—primarily its physical appearance and the employee morale. Greenspan transformed the store into an old-fashioned, family-friendly market where you are captured by a nostalgic ambiance the minute you step inside. Additionally, she worked hard to reenergize the staff. She earned their respect by paying their salaries out of her own pocket and working with them sideby-side. Greenspan attributes her success to always staying focused on the positive and refusing to think about failure. “I took walks and listened to positive thinking tapes every day,” she explains. It took five years of hard work, long hours, and no salary, but Greenspan paid off the business’s debt and now is enjoying the rewards of owning an award-winning, multi-million dollar enterprise. She gracefully transitioned from homemaker and volunteer into a successful entrepreneur—writing a second chapter of her life. “I learned I had talents I would have never discovered, plus the courage and the strength to do it,” she says. “I have been blessed.”

Giving Back: Philanthropy We must never lose hope in trying to better the lives of people around us so that they may radiate the message to others. —E. Desmond Lee Surrounded by friends, family, business associates, and admirers, E. Desmond Lee confidently walked to the podium amidst a backdrop of thunderous applause. He was the recipient of the Manof-the-Year Award. For a man who claims he flunked kindergarten, this was quite an accomplishment. And he often asks with a look of

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Reinvent Your Career puzzlement on his face, “Why would they pick me for this award? I’m just a chicken shit wire bender.” He is referring to the business he cofounded in the late 1930s to manufacture trouser creasers and clothes hangers. His business success is undeniable. The company weathered the depression, World War II, post-war booms and busts, evolving markets, and technological advancements. From a fledgling company housed in a ramshackle $10-a-month quarters, the company became an international industry leader in the home storage equipment market, reaching $130 million in revenue. As the company grew, so did competitive challenges and Des Lee made the difficult decision to sell the business in 1993—a decision that lined his pockets with gold. “The day the check came through for the sale made payable to Des, the bank said that was the largest single check to an individual they had ever seen,” says Carole Ritter, Des’s long-time executive assistant. Unwilling to retire like most of his contemporaries, Des began to look for something to do with the second chapter of his life. He developed an innovative plan to give his money back to the community. Life experiences have caused Des to look beyond himself and his financially comfortable existence into a world of discrimination as well as freedom, of suffering as well as ease, power and recognition, of limitations as well as far horizons. He wanted to make a difference and effectuate change. So he founded the E. Desmond Lee Collaborative Vision. The program endows chairs at a number of universities; but in order to receive the professorships, the individuals must agree to spend a significant amount of their time working within the community and collaborating with one another. To the best of his knowledge, Des believes there is no other program like it in the country. Des’s willingness to give back to the community has allowed him to leave a legacy rivaled only by those famous names such as Rockefeller, Kennedy, and Hertz. His gifts will live on into perpetuity. Over his lifetime, his charitable giving is in excess of $45 million.

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207 “President George Bush stated that any description of a successful person in today’s world must include service to others,” Lee says. “I don’t know anything more rewarding for me than trying to help others. And I’m busy at it all the time,” he adds. During his first career, Des ignored naysayers and sidestepped adversity both personally and professionally. He is a blend of Tom Sawyer, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, and Will Rogers. He appears to live without a care in the world—sauntering down to the corner drugstore for a friendly chat with his friends. And he has lots of those. To meet him is to feel that you are the most important person in his day, and you’ll probably get a teasing compliment. Typically, Des deflects compliments and doesn’t take credit for his accomplishments. Today, he acts more like an easygoing fisherman on a sunny riverbank than a one-time corporate fighter. Fiercely competitive with a soft heart and spine of steel, many say he is an entrepreneurial genius. To that comment he replies with his typical aw-shucks, country-boy charm, “I am not an entrepreneurial guru. I was just a cofounder of a midsized company in a niche business that survived for more than 50 years.” Wildly successful by any measure, it is his integrity, business acumen, and sincere focus on people that makes him an inspiration and a role model. “Whatever you do in your life, don’t let your work take over your happiness. No matter what I have accomplished or how many professorships I have endowed, it really doesn’t make any difference. The main thing you want to do is to be at peace with yourself,” he advises. Lee, who is now in his 80s, still shows up at the office every day and works out regularly. He even remains quite competitive on the golf course, with an insatiable desire for continued improvement. His goal is to remain active, involved, and engaged for as long as he can. And he says he feels very fortunate to be able to give back and share some of his good fortune. He is definitely rewriting the rules of retirement.

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She Just Keeps on Going! You might describe Kathleen Telscher as a pioneer. She opened a hardware store in 1950 when women-owned businesses were almost unheard of—particularly in the hardware industry. But Telscher made a go of it by working 100-hour weeks and putting her heart, mind, and soul into it. Then, tragedy hit. In 1997, the business was struck by lightning, causing a fire. When the flames died down and the smoke cleared, the store was a total loss. At the age of 71, Telscher was encouraged to sit back and take it easy for a while, but that didn’t seem like the right answer for her. “I have too much pep to just sit down,” she said. “I decided to go back to school and get my real estate license. My father was in real estate and so were a couple of my uncles who turned out to be pretty successful entrepreneurs.” Fresh out of real estate school and armed with her strong people skills, she landed a job with a large real estate agency. Her contacts from her many years in business and her volunteer work in the community allowed her to prosper in her new career. “As long as I’m in good health and can drive, I’ll keep working,” she said.

You Are Never Too Old to Live the Life You Want to Live It doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 81, life is full of possibilities. As I researched this book, I met many people who said, “Oh, I’m too old to do that now.” No, you’re not too old and I hope the stories of these real-life revved up retirees have convinced you. The only thing that is stopping you from doing what you want is you. Remember the story of Grandma Moses. Her husband died in 1927 when she was 67 years old. But she had no intention of sitting

Revved up Retirees: The Great Second Chapter
209 around idly rocking the days away, so she started painting. When she had a few pieces completed, someone suggested she send them down to the old Thomas Drug Store in Hoosick Falls, New York, so she did. She also exhibited a few at the local fair. Then in 1938, a traveler from New York saw some of her paintings in the drugstore window where they had been on sale for about a year. He liked them and bought them; then he inquired about the artist. The traveler went to see Anna Mary Moses and explained that he was taking the pictures to New York City for a gallery showing. Soon this farm wife became a household name. Maybe you are the next Grandma Moses. Or perhaps, you’ll touch a young person and make a big difference in his or her life. It all depends on the discoveries you make about you—the person inside.

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Chapter 11

Words of Wisdom

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hroughout the chapters in this book, you have met a lot of people who have made amazing transitions and are now leading exciting, fulfilling, healthy, happy lives. These individuals discovered wonderful lives once they gained the courage to be truthful with themselves; once they were able to define success in their own terms; and once they mustered the confidence to trust their own instincts and follow their hearts.

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Reinvent Your Career Finding your passion and understanding what your personal values are is a difficult process and a lifelong journey. Sometimes it means standing up to family members or friends. Sometimes it means confronting personal issues that are difficult. But as life experiences take you down various roads, you’ll find that if you remain open to the possibilities, you’ll discover new opportunities constantly and you may wind up reinventing your career time and time again. As long as the career choices you make and adventures you select remain in sync with your values and your passions, success and happiness will be yours. Recently, I had this tested myself and I felt as though I should be featured in an Oprah Winfrey magazine column. Oprah writes an editorial in her magazine called “This I Know for Sure.” Oprah, without stealing your thunder, I’d like to share my own “This I Know for Sure.” My company signed a lucrative business contract that catapulted it to the next level. However, a couple of months into the deal, I realized it was a huge mistake. Because of a myriad of factors, the relationship with this client deteriorated dramatically, and I felt as though my staff and I were not being treated with respect. The work we were being asked to do was not the work we were contracted to do, and in fact, was not the work we wanted to do. For a little while, we tried to roll with the punches as best as we could. But when I began to see our self-esteem waning, I realized it was time to say goodbye. My three core business principles of professionalism, respect, and integrity were being violated. Without pointing fingers or placing blame, I respectfully resigned from the contract. A lot of people probably thought I was crazy to walk away from such a lucrative deal, but that didn’t matter to me. I stood firmly on my values and I didn’t allow the lure of money to drag me into a situation where I would have eventually lost my self-respect.

Words of Wisdom
213 When you stay mired in a situation that isn’t right for you, you close yourself off from other wonderful possibilities. A week after I resigned from this contract, I learned of a great opportunity that got me jazzed up. It was a perfect fit and exactly the kind of work I wanted to do. It was what I call “a Susan kind of thing.” Had I still been trying to make the other deal work out—pushing myself in a direction I didn’t want to go—I wouldn’t have been open to this new and exciting venture. This wonderful world we live in is full of adventures for all of us. We have to open our minds and our hearts so we can see clearly. It is most important that we are the person we were meant to be and live the life we were meant to live. Life is not about money. It’s not about fame. It’s about personal authenticity. It’s about being true to who you are and what you believe in. And it is about living life the way you want to live it—based on your own definition of success—not someone else’s. “Money isn’t the most important thing. When you live your values, you are happier. I am living my dream,” says entrepreneur Dan Koppel. The bottom line is: even when you take control of your life and think you are living authentically, there are times when you’ll be tested. That’s okay. But you must stay strong—strong enough to prevent it from consuming you and taking power away from you. People will always respect you when you stand up for your principles and follow your heart. They may not always agree, but they will respect you. This is the minute of your life that counts. The one you are in right now as you read this. Everything else is yesterday’s news. You can’t change what happened a minute ago, but you can change and control what you do this minute and the next. Success is an ongoing process, not something that is going to happen to you in the future. If you believe success is only something that will occur in the future, then you have adopted a self-defeating attitude. You are telling yourself

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Reinvent Your Career that you are not successful today, and you are. When you allow yourself to measure success in your own terms, you’ll know in your heart that all is right with the world. So, this is what I know for sure: All of us have the power to live happy, fulfilled lives. We can live our dreams and attain the success we deserve and desire.

Enjoy every precious moment of every precious day. —Tessa Greenspan

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Index

Budget cuts, 37

A

Burnout, 125

Age

Business, buying existing, 191-193 discrimination, 162-164 factors, 161-167

Anger, 73-76 Attorney, consult an, 91-92

B Bankruptcy, 19 Believe in yourself, 152-153 Benefits, employee rights, 96-97 medical, 94-95 outplacement, 95-96 unemployment insurance, 95

Business plan, entrepreneurs, 185

C Career age factors, 161-167 back to school, 81 bad fit, 15-16 budget cuts, 37 burnout, 125 Certified Turnaround Specialist, 39-40 change, 21-23 confidence, sell yourself with, 115-116

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Reinvent Your Career connections, 110-111 consultants, 37-39 contacts, 170-171 cover letter, 118-119 creative, 49-51 desperation, 102 doing nothing right, 30-31 dream job, 107-108 entrepreneurs, 173-196 failures, 105 find your passion, 124-126 first day in new, 119-120 flexible systems, 57 gender factors, 167-171 hobby, 187 home-based business, 189-191 improving yourself, 165-166 impulse, taking job on, 102 innovative, 49-51 look good, 83 massive turnover, 34-35 meetings, 28-29 money, not just about, 155-157 networking, 108-112 new floor plan, 42 new management, 40-41 news coverage, 35-36 no path, 32-33 opportunities, 63 packages/options, 90 pep rally, 31-32 personal interests, 80-81 personnel file, 90 positive outlook, 84-86 positives, play up your, 166-167 privacy at work, 51-54 record of employment, 89-90 reduced responsibilities, 33-34

references, 118 relationship change, 29-30 resumes, 116-118 retirement, 197-209 risk, taking a, 16 Rule of, 75, 155 self-image, 115 sell yourself short, 104 success, 105, 131-132 transitioning, 26 volunteering, 80, 153-155 women, 167-171 Career counselors, 113 Certified Turnaround Specialist, 39-40 Change, 21-23 Confidence, sell yourself with, 115-116 Connections, make, 110-111 Consultants, 37-39 Contacts, leverage your, 170-171 Cover letter, 118-119 Creative, be, 49-51

D Debt, 59 Desperation, 102 Discrimination, age, 162-164 employment, 98-100 Downsizing, 19 justifying the, 90 Dream job, 107-108, 133-136

E Economy, 30 E-mail humor, 53

Index
217 Employee-at-will, 97 Employee rights, 96-97

H

Employment decline, 18 discrimination, 98-100 interim, 102-103 record of, 89-90

Hobby, turning into a business, 187

Entrepreneurs, 173-196 business plan, 185 buying existing business, 191-193 franchising, 193-196 goals, 176-180 home-based business, 189-191 market research, 184 money, 187-189 self evaluation for, 175 values, 181-182

Illegal action for termination, 97-100

Exercise, 81-82

F Failures, 105 Family/friends, spend time with, 79 Fear, overcoming, 150-151 Fear model, 147-148 Finances, manage your, 59-61 Flexible systems, 57

Home-based business, 189-191 Human capital, 22

I Improving yourself, 165-166 Impulse, taking job on, 102 Information, 57 Informational interviews, 112-113 Innovative, be, 49-51 Interim employment, 102-103 Internal conditioning, 147 Internet sites, monitoring, 53 Interviews, informational, 112-113

J Job, losing your, 25-43, 68-70

L Law of accident, 152 Law of cause and effect, 152

Franchising, entrepreneurs, 193-196

Letter, recommendation, 94 rejection, 106-107

Freelancing, 64-65

Limbo, living in, 77-78

G

Looking-Glass Self, 145-148

Floor plan, new, 42

Gender factors, 167-171

Losing, a job, 68-70

Gossip, 47-49

M

Groups, professional, 71-72

Making a change, 124-126 Management, new, 40-41

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Reinvent Your Career Market research, entrepreneurs, 184

Phone calls, monitoring, 53

Medical benefits, 94-95

Physical, get, 81-82

Meetings, uninvited to, 28-29

Pink-slip signs, 25-43 budget cuts, 37 Certified Turnaround Specialist, 39-40 consultants, 37-39 doing nothing right, 30-31 massive turnover, 34-35 meetings, 28-29 new floor plan, 42 new management, 40-41 news coverage, 35-36 no career path, 32-33 pep rally, 31-32 reduced responsibilities, 33-34 relationship change, 29-30

Money, entrepreneurs, 187-189 Moonlighting, 64-65 Moving, to a new facility, 42

N Network, support, 70-71 Networking, 108-112 definition of, 109 News coverage, 35-36

O Ontology, 137-138 Opportunities, 63 communication channels, 64 join company committees, 64 praise a colleague, 63-64 results, highlight your, 63 suggestions, 63 writing for trade journals, 63 Outplacement, 95-96

P

Positive, maintain outlook, 84-86 Privacy at work, 51-54 Professional groups, 71-72 Promotion, personal, 61-64 Prospecting, 105-106

Q Questions, ask the right, 90

Packages/options, 90

R

Passion, 16, 124-126

Ready, making sure you are, 13-16

Paycheck, not just about a, 155-157

Recommendation letter, 94

Pep rally, 31-32

Record of employment, 89-90

Personally, taking things, 171

References, 118

Personnel file, 90

Rejection letters, 106-107

Perspective, putting things in, 21

Relationship change, 29-30

Pessimist, 46-47

Release, sign a, 90-92

Philanthropy, retirement, 205-207

Responsibilities, 33-34

Index
219 Resumes, 116-118 Retirement, 197-209 philanthropy, 205-207 planning ahead, 200-201 volunteering, 201-202

T Talking, watch what you say when, 76-77 Termination, illegal action for, 97-100

Risk, taking a, 16

Trade groups, 111-112

Rule of 75, 155

Transferable skills, 113-115

S

Transitioning, 26

Salaries, books to provide average, 104

Turnover, 34-35

School, back to, 81

U

Second shifting, 64-65

Undervaluing yourself, 104

Self-image, 115

Unemployment insurance, 95

Sell yourself short, 104 Severance package, 91-93

V

Skills, 54-75, 113-115

Video surveillance, 53-54

Soul searching, 14, 136 Stress, 81-82

Volunteering, 80, 153-155 in retirement, 201-202

Success, 105, 131-132 your definition of, 168-169

W

Support network, 70-71

Women, 167-171

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About the Author

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he mystery of navigating the business world and motivating people is the art and practice of public speaker, attorney, business consultant, entrepreneur, and author Susan Wilson Solovic. Based on her years as an executive in the top echelons of the business world, Solovic offers practical advice and workable solutions that are valid in today’s changing marketplace. Her public speaking seminars motivate people to find their passion, either with their current employers or as entrepreneurs. Each program is packed with practical tips and real-world success stories inspiring her listeners to create the life they desire. Currently, Solovic is president of Susan-Says, Inc. (www.SusanSays.com) and CEO of SBTV.com, an on-demand small business television network. (www.sbtv.com). She is the author of the The Girls’ Guide to Power and Success, and Susan-Says: A Collection of Columns. Solovic began her professional career as a television news anchor and reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates. Subsequently, she joined a Fortune 100 company where she was named vice president, director of corporate marketing, of an international asset-based lending division. While working in an executive capacity, she attended Saint Louis

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University Law School and graduated with honors. Her legal background provides her audiences with a unique view of American business. She moved on to host and produce a series of national satellite television broadcasts for women business owners in the United States and Canada and she helped to create a targeted women and investing program for a national brokerage firm. Currently, she hosts a public affairs television program in St. Louis, which airs on the ABC affiliate, and previously she was a featured columnist with United Press International (UPI). Solovic serves on the John F. Kennedy School of Government Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University and was elected Assistant Secretary of the National Board of Directors of the Women Presidents’ Organization. In 2000, she was the recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Region VII Media Advocate Award. In 2002, she was awarded the Columbia College Alumni Professional Achievement award. Solovic is a popular media guest on radio and television programs across the country, including Business Beat, Radio America, CNN/fn and Bloomberg News. You’ll also see her frequently quoted as a career expert in Cosmopolitan magazine. She teaches a women’s entrepreneurial training program at a local college and is a facilitator for the Women Presidents’ Organization.