The Executive's Guide to Mentally Recovering From a Layoff
By Jess Lane, Founder of The Full Cup Co. Career Design Strategist | 20+ Years Fortune 500 | MA Psychology, Pepperdine University
No one really tells you how to mentally recover from a layoff.
How to rebuild your identity after decades of building it.
How to go from grieving your old life to rebuilding your new life.
Did you know there are specific psychological principles you can apply to your transition that were developed to help people exactly like you?
So in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re teaching you how to recover and rebuild from one of life’s hardest transitions… a layoff or unexpected career change.
We borrow from Schlossberg’s Transition Theory framework to help us understand the key components of career transition through a mental health lens ->
Situation
First, you need to define the situation. This defines the specific characteristics of the transition itself.
Trigger: What caused the change? If it was a layoff, acknowledging it was out of your control and accepting it is a huge first step.
Timing: Is it happening at a good or bad time? Even though a layoff is never perfect timing or always welcome, is this also maybe a good time to take some time off, focus on what’s important and think about what’s next?
Control: Is the change voluntary or involuntary? If you weren’t able to control your exit and got laid off, that doesn't mean you have no control over what happens next or are helpless.
Role Change: Does it change your daily identity? If you get let go from a role, does this change what you do everyday otherwise? Think about your daily actions and activities…what were they? What do you want them to be? Can you start to bridge the two somehow?
Duration: Is the change permanent or temporary? Most likely in a layoff, the change is permanent, so grieving the loss is important before trying to move onto the next thing.
Support
It is important to get support and develop an intentional support network during this time. Support can look like:
Types: Family, friends, coworkers, professional networks, coaches and mentors.
Functions: Functions of support include financial aid, emotional support, and practical advice.
Atmosphere: Is your environment stable or chaotic? Ensuring you have a calm nervous system to work from is key.
Self
Turning inward is of the utmost importance during this time. Here’s how:
Personal View: Get very clear on your key motivators and drivers. These will be your key differentiators in the future of work.
Psychological Resources: Your outlook, resilience, and values will be what propel you forward.
Experience & Meaning: Have you handled a similar change before? What meaning do you want to create from this experience? Are there other experiences that have carried great meaning for you? You will find strength in sitting with these questions vs. rushing to what’s next.
Strategies
Be Proactive & Take Agency: Taking direct action to alter the problem. You can only control yourself, not the job boards. What can YOU do today to help yourself in the future of work?
Control Meaning: Changing how you think about the event. This may be one of the greatest things to ever happen to you, but if you let it take away your power, it will. A mindset shift is necessary once you have grieved the role.
Manage Stress& Well-Being: Sleep, exercise and nutrition are part of setting up a solid foundation for a new chapter.
Rebuilding for The Future of Work
Once you have stabilized,the best advice I have for anyone going through a career change right now is to ditch your resume for a second and start leading with your entire life.
What else makes you feel good about yourself besides your job title?
Here's why I ask -> Our entire subconscious objective as humans is to feel good about ourselves.
Because of this, cognitive dissonance is a major factor during a layoff or any unexpected career change.
This happens when we have experienced tension around conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviors and it's usually when it affects our self-esteem, self image and identity.
We are trying to reconcile all of the years of effort, prestige, influence, feeling good about ourselves with the fact that it was just taken away within moments.
With who we were then (just a few moments ago), vs. who we are now.
We have to grieve what we feel we've lost before we can begin something new. Old titles, identities, personas and ways of being that are no longer.
Trust me, I've been there after working as a senior leader on brands like Porsche, Michelob Ultra, The RealReal and then getting laid off after 20+ years.
My occupational identity as a part of those brands was a key driver of my overall identity. And that's human, we can't externalize all of our value.
Because one minute, you’re riding high on things like ->
• Your title
• The size of your team
• Your company/brand name or prestige
• Your salary (and/or bonus)
• Your last performance review
• Your associated perks, such as travel and/or entertainment
• Your tenure or influence as a result of the things above
And the next, those things are all gone.
That's why it can feel like we are stripped of our worth if our careers take a sudden turn, for whatever reason. And that doesn't feel very good.
So, what now?
First, we figure out what else makes us feel good about ourselves outside of our job titles. Then later we figure out how to market that and make it successful.
I'll go first ->
• Creating
• Building
• Empowering
• Innovating
• Helping
• Caring
• Volunteering
• Activism
• Connecting
• Being a Dog Mom
• Staying Active & Healthy
Start leading with your life. You.
Who you are to the core and the value you bring.
Not the title you lost.
This will get you the furthest after a layoff and in the future of work.
You can (and should) still learn AI.
But, also learn how to differentiate yourself as a human.
Know what I mean? 🙃
Jess Lane is the founder of The Full Cup Co. and creator of The Career Design Method™. She has 20+ years of marketing and business leadership across Fortune 500 and high-growth technology companies including Porsche, Visa, Michelob ULTRA, and TheRealReal, and is completing her Masters in Psychology at Pepperdine University. She helps professionals design and launch their next and best chapters yet.