Tuesday, April 21, 2009

To Quote Lazlo Bane, I'm No Superman

One of the inescapable ironies of my situation is that shortly before I was laid off, I publicized a book called Bulletproof Your Job. It offers a number of strategies for avoiding a pink slip by making yourself a visible and valued employee, not only to your boss but to your boss's boss. It's a smart approach, but it comes with no guarantees. I'm pretty confident I was visible to and valued by my boss and my boss's boss, right up to the moment all three of us were booted out the door. Unfortunately, there's always another layer of boss. This űberboss is often the one who will determine your fate, and when they decide to shut down the entire division you work for, you can wear Kevlar and be from Krypton and still take the hit. These days, no one is bulletproof. Some layoff scenarios are just too apocalyptic to survive, even for the visible and valued.

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