Recovering from Career Crisis

If you haven’t heard, today shock waves went through Wall Street. Sadly, I know how these employees are feeling. It’s de ja vu back to my experience with the Andersen/Enron debacle.

Going through a corporate crisis is not something I recommend. Though I have to say it has made me stronger. For those personally impacted by the changes announced today on Wall Street, I do have some advice that can help you not only cope with the situation but use it as a springboard to take charge of your career.

—Take stock of what you do have. It’s amazing how crisis puts things in perspective. Be thankful for your health, friends, family, skills, experience, savings. It will help you see that you have support to move on.
—Realize that this too shall pass. You have recovered from career setbacks in the past. You will recover from this one. Reach out to others who can share advice and ideas-former colleagues, mentors, recruiters, career coaches.
—Focus on what you can control. I remember being angry with management for the Andersen situation. It was frustrating to see something end with so many good people impacted. However, I’ve since realized that everything happens for a valid reason – even the tough situations. I focused less on my anger and more on my abilities to create a new career. In fact I can honestly say that the end of Andersen meant the beginning of my new career in coaching.

If you weren’t personally impacted by the fallout on Wall Street today, I’m sure many of you know someone who has been. Consider calling or emailing to check-in. That was my first reaction when I heard the news. See if you can offer any help, even words of support would be of use to people in this challenging situation. Besides by offering help now, you give to your network. And you never know when you might be the one taking that assistance in the future.

Has your career been impacted by corporate crisis? Have you recovered from crisis like these in your career?