Meet John: A Story of Resilience and Reinvention

Today, I want to share an inspiring and heartfelt story of a leader who faced an unexpected career challenge and found a path to resilience and reinvention.

Meet John!

John has been with a large retail company in Australia for 11 years, managing supply chain transformation programs. Throughout his career, John worked tirelessly, putting in long hours and bringing innovative supply chain capabilities to the organization. His dedication and hard work earned him multiple awards and recognition within the company.

Despite his remarkable contributions, couple of promotions, and promising performance... John faced a shocking and unexpected turn of events: he was made redundant. The news hit him like a bolt from the blue.

There was no shortage of supply chain transformation programs, so the decision puzzled him deeply.

The Pain of Being Made Redundant

John felt an overwhelming sense of hurt and betrayal. The shock of redundancy was so intense that he withdrew from his family, creating a space between himself, his wife, and their two daughters for over two weeks. Self-doubt began to creep in, and a sense of doom and gloom overshadowed his once resilient spirit.

Despite being a superstar at recovering and showing resilience, John found himself unable to pull himself together. The emotional toll was immense, and he felt lost, unable to process the situation or understand why it had happened.

What Was Happening to John?

For high performers like John, being let go in such a manner is particularly hard to take and process. The kind of support he needed to pull himself up was not something he could give himself, as he was feeling down and broken. Negative thoughts and self-doubt started to creep in, making it difficult for him to stay positive.

While John knew the adage that "when one door closes, another opens," he couldn't shake off the feelings of worthlessness and uncertainty about his next steps. It wasn't the financial pressure that troubled him; it was a crisis of self-worth and the pressing question: What’s next?

Adding to his struggle, John hadn't updated his CV in over seven years and hadn't thought about his value proposition or how to present his profile effectively. These gaps made the situation even more daunting.

When John Reached Out

John eventually reached out to me through a referral. It was clear that he felt a tremendous weight on his shoulders and needed to speak to someone who truly understood his situation. Our conversation revealed that John was struggling with issues of self-worth, processing the 'why' of his redundancy, and the need for validation and upliftment.

We Started Working on It

John knew that I understood him and that the solution was more than just dusting off his CV and making a few networking calls. He realized it would take more than that, especially since he didn’t want to settle for less or get more of the same.

We began working together in a 1:1 format, focusing on three main areas, among other things:

1. Defining His Value Proposition: We used some of my proprietary tools like the Value Maximizer, Value Packager, and Speak Your Value to package his expertise in a way that pointed to his next role.
   
   
2. Developing a Compelling Profile: Using the Profile Builder Tool, we crafted a profile that didn’t just list everything he had done but highlighted his unique contributions and value.
   
   
3. Identifying Suitable Roles & Winning Interviews: The Role Selector Tool helped John understand what roles to apply for, ensuring he targeted positions that matched his skills and aspirations.

A common challenge for many corporate change and transformation leaders, including John, is selling their expertise at the right level. Often, they either sell themselves short, putting them in unfair comparisons, or oversell, making them come across as intimidating or overqualified. We tackled this issue head-on, ensuring John could present himself authentically and effectively.

After about seven weeks of intensive work, we started to gain traction. John landed interviews for great roles, and by week 10, he had two final interviews lined up. He nailed both, resulting in two offers to choose from.

He accepted the one most aligned with his lifestyle requirements, which also came with a $33.5k salary increase and far larger scope and responsibilities.

In his words, “This role makes me feel good!”

John’s story is a powerful reminder that even the most resilient leaders can face moments of doubt and need support to bounce back.

If John's journey resonates with you, I invite you to join us at our next event (Virtually or face-to-face). Let's learn, share, and grow together in this ever-evolving world.

Details below

Join me for The Relevant Not Redundant Event

In this event, I will be sharing techniques and mindset shifts of how to stay relevant (in your current role and for your next one) being made redundant or not!

Join me on the 27th of June at 5 PM Sydney Time for a face-to-face event (that will also be on Zoom) focused on the topic of the hour and the looming fear of being made redundant. No one is safe from redundancy, but it is what you do to keep being relevant and stay ahead of the curve that matters.

In the event I will also share how you may want to take this further and offer you a thank-you gift for attending and being part of my event.

Attending the event will give you value and equip you with steps to stay ahead.

👉 Register today - spots are limited: Register Here