Getting “Let Go”…Don’t take it personal.

Careers change. You always want to be in a position to choose your own path. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. In today’s world, all too often companies switch leadership and historical employee performance is forgotten. Recently, I was “let go” from a position where I directly contributed to the successes (quite significantly) of the company. It was unfortunate and part of a business strategy that is bigger than any one person.

Not taking that personally is essential to moving forward. If you are good at what you do and are always learning, you can use it as an opportunity to open new doors and drive your career forward. It is important to learn from each experience and build your ideal wishlist of responsibilities for any new position that you look for. I was able to use the experience at my previous job, the details of the industry as well as all the intangibles about the company to determine the best opportunity for me.

Sometimes, in these situations, losing your position at a company could be totally based on personalities, new leadership, or other very subjective, “personal” reasons. The fact will always be that it is a business. That will always trump loyalty. The important consideration is to always look at from a business perspective.

“Why would you want to work in a situation that doesn’t align with your ideal working environment or build your value as an employee.”

Learn from the experience and find a better opportunity. Never get complacent with your current job and think you are “safe”. If you always strive to be the best employee you can be, a great culture fit and always keep the company values and goals as your priority, you will always come out on top. Establish great communication skills and learn to separate business decisions from personal vendettas. They may exist but you should always understand that they are part of day to day business practice. Companies that allow more of those things to thrive in their culture will eventually suffer. I fortunately have worked for companies that when those things existed, they were few and far between but it did exist.

Always know your worth and understand that you control your own destiny. There will be bumps in the road but if you always are aware of your environment and the politics that usually present themselves over time, you can navigate and adjust to fit into the puzzle. Build your worth over time, learn the personalities and use everything as an opportunity. If you get let go from a position, there will be other positions out there that may be a much better fit for you.

At Bazaarvoice, we are always looking for talented people to fit into our environment and we are focused on finding people who also have perspectives that drive us forward. Reach out to me if you have any questions regarding Bazaarvoice or if you were recently let go or you need some perspective.

Good luck!