Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network

submitted by: Skip Torresson, The Stewardship Group

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In May 2001 I found myself suddenly out of a job. My not so challenging and well-paying job came to an unanticipated and abrupt end. A rumored corporate restructuring had, rather simply taken place and eliminated my position along with that of several hundred other executives and management personnel.

Darn. This was definitely not in my plans for the summer. Find another job. What was that cold, clammy feeling? The sudden loss of the JOB resulted in an almost irrational panic. What happened to my security? What about health care and benefits? Who was I without my business card? Was my identity what I did? I experienced a whole busload of questions and emotions any spouse/parent/homeowner/person with obligations understands who have been through a similar situation.

Financially, I was in decent shape. I had several large bonus checks I was due, had a decent severance package, good investments, and some savings to draw upon. I didn’t see any immediate financial concern. Health care would be provided by my employer through the end of the year.

My immediate tactical plan was simple. Take the summer off. Organize my “campaign”. Play some golf. Enjoy our shore house. Start networking. Get my resume together. Meet with the outplacement firm. Get “back in the saddle” and start my official search right after Labor Day.

Great plan. My first “official” networking event was 9/11/2001. I was leaving an Execunet breakfast in Princeton that morning and heard someone ask “What’s going on at the World Trade Center?” More than my job search changed that morning. 9/11 didn’t impact the job market for my specialty (senior sales) that much. I began actively interviewing for senior positions in early November.

I’d never had difficulty interviewing in the past. In fact, most job offers seemed to come very easily and without much effort. My interviews now were different. I found myself struggling in interview situations. I was in my fifties. Interviewing for positions that I was totally qualified for. With a demonstrated history of exceptional performance in similar positions.

I rang up an impressive total of senior level interviews from November through February. There was a consistent result. I kept “blowing” the interview. I left knowing that I’d not done my best. It took me a while to finally figure out the problem. I simply did not want to go back to the corporate world. Truthfully, I hadn’t been happy for many years in the corporate world. The JOB provided benefits, decent compensation, the illusion of security, and a sense of identity. But Happiness? Not by a long shot. The last time I’d been happy in the job? Almost 25 years earlier!

And now? The outplacement team asking tough question. “What do you want to do?” Honestly…..I didn’t know. I had a long list of things that I didn’t want to do. Mostly I wanted this “process” to be over with.

Lots of friends and supportive people helped me through this period. I did a great deal of reading and reflection and came to realize that there were people who were passionate about what they were doing. I remembered that, for several years in my early 30’s, I, too, had been passionate about what I was doing…..working with a group of people I liked, admired, and wanted to be around that was building something we thought was important.

Passion. That’s what I’d been missing in my last job and the one before that and the one before that. I had not been passionate about what I was doing. It was my JOB, not my avocation. My job interviews reflected this lack of passion. True, I could certainly do the work. But, it would have been another job. I would not have been fully engaged. I would not have been “a part of” the new company. In reality, if I’d been doing the hiring, I wouldn’t have hired me!

And what do employers want to hire? Passion. It’s really that simple. And that challenging. Given equal candidates, the candidate with passion will always win. Given unequal candidates, the candidate with passion will often overtake the more “qualified” applicant who is not as passionate.

I began to suspect I was on to something. Was it possible that there were a great number of us in transition who were looking for jobs just like the ones we’d lost…that we’d hated when we had them?

I knew lots of people in transition whose “elevator speech” certainly didn’t sound passionate. Come to think about it…did I know anyone in transition who had been passionate about what they were doing before they entered the job market. Only a handful came to mind and those folks seemed to land very quickly.

Maybe there is something to this “passion thing”.

The question now became “What am I passionate about?” Not an easy question to answer if you don’t know. I didn’t know. I knew that I wanted to know and that, somehow, my being laid off had provided me with the opportunity to live my life in a new, different, and more passionate way.

This insight into passion. This reawakening of the possibility of living passionately once again. The excitement I began to feel as I considered the possibilities helped me realize that my layoff was, in fact, a huge gift. I was being given the opportunity to examine and, hopefully, answer major life questions.

Who was I? Why was I here? What did I want? What is my purpose?

These were not new questions to me. I had been exposed to them several times in the past. Somehow, this time they sounded different. Looking back, I think I gave myself permission to ask them in a new way. With reflection, I reached several conclusions.

First, it had been a very long time since I’d asked what I truly wanted and then acted upon it. I’d been living in the world of “should’s”, “have to’s”, “must’s” and “ought to’s” for over fifty years. I wasn’t even sure I knew how to ask and answer these questions. I was sure about one thing however.

Second, if I didn’t ask them, no one else would.

Third, they demanded an answer.

Five years later….

I am both grateful and pleased to report that I have found my passion. It is using my gifts in service. The journey that brought me to this place had two distinct phases.

First, I needed to identify my gifts. I now know that they included networking, communications, motivation, facilitation, innovation, and gratitude. I delight in using these gifts to help others succeed. I have learned to see myself as a servant and a steward. I am meant to do something with these gifts. I choose to serve.

Second, I needed to decide whom I wished to serve. My clients are servant leaders. Leaders who support their employees, give back to their communities, and view their leadership as a stewardship opportunity. Some are not-for-profit. Some are for profit. A growing number are social entrepreneurs.

I look back on the fourteen months from the time of my layoff and The Stewardship Group’s formation as a rare gift. One that was given to me quite unexpectedly and that I had to grace and good sense to open.

Richard Bach says it best: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.”

The viewpoint five years later is totally different. The line that used to exist between “work” and “non-work” has disappeared. Now, there is just life. That’s what happens when you start to live passionately.

I’ve learned that my life is not about a destination. It’s about enjoying the journey. I’ve met some wonderful sojourners on this new path. They are my clients, my business partners, my mentors, and my friends.

I share my experience in the hope that you may find something of value for your transition. Countless people who helped me. They listened to my “whining” in the early days while reminding me that it was time to get into action. They offered constant counsel and support. They suggested books and workshops that nourished me. They mentored me and praised my successes.

I honor and thank them with these reflections in the hope it may benefit others on the path.