How many companies have you worked for over your career?
Some people find one company and stay with them for years until retirement. It’s rare to find them, but it’s possible to stick with a single organization for 25-30 years or longer.
Then there are some resumes you run across where people flip from company to company every 2-3 years without batting an eye. They aren’t looking for long-term stability and career goals, but rather are just moving on to the next great hit.
So let’s look at this from the boss’ viewpoint:
The Prodigal Executive: How to Coach Executives Too Painful to Keep, Too Valuable to Fire
What do you do when you have an employee that you absolutely, positively must get rid of? You’ve been told to reduce headcount, so who do you look for first?
Look, being fired isn’t a happy time. Much better to be laid off than to get Trumped by surprise.
Here’s a list of THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE MOST LIKELY TO BE FIRED from any job, according to BusinessWeek:
- VICTIMS. People who continually complain about their circumstance, the company, the people around them. Are they always annoyed at what’s going on around them? Do they bring the mood of the room down when they walk in?
- NON-BELIEVERS. If you are continually rejecting progress, maybe it’s you that is holding the company back from succeeding. Being willing to move forward, rather than trying to identify all the reasons why something couldn’t work, can be viewed as an obstacle to get rid of rather than an asset to keep around
- KNOW-IT-ALLs – Those that succeed the most are not those who already know everything around them, but are those willing to learn and try something new. Don’t adhere to old thoughts for the sake of it being tried-and-true in the past. While having that historical knowledge is usually a benefit, sometimes a new attack is what’s needed most.
So let’s think back to when you were last fired. Which one of these three roles were you?