What do you do if a layoff has long-term effects on your leadership career?

Experiencing a layoff can be a challenging situation. It is normal to feel emotions associated with a layoff - disappointment, frustration, or anxiety; acknowledge them! Take time to reflect on your career goals, strengths, and areas for improvement. Consider what you’ve learned from your previous role and how you can apply those lessons moving forward. Cultivate resilience by focusing on your ability to adapt, learn, and bounce back.

Use this time to reflect on your experiences, skills, and areas for improvement. What lessons can you learn from the layoff? How can you use these lessons to strengthen your leadership skills? Connect with former colleagues, mentors, and industry professionals. Networking can open up new opportunities and provide valuable advice and support.

Reflection is one of my most favorite keys to learning and evolving. The best things in life isn’t always about what’s in our bank accounts or materialistic possessions, it’s bigger than any of these. How about how you feel? How about your peace and happiness? How about healing yourself on all levels of your existence, mentally, spiritually and emotionally? When you truly go within to reflect on your life, you gain clarity and mastery to effectively lead and guide others.

Experiencing a layoff can be a challenging setback in one's career, particularly in leadership roles. Remember that setbacks like layoffs are a natural part of the professional journey for many people. By approaching the situation with resilience, determination, and a proactive mindset, you can overcome the challenges and continue to progress in your leadership career.

Your network is one of your best resources after a layoff. The research shows that “weak ties” - people we are acquainted with or loosely connected to - are our best resource for finding a new job and becoming aware of what’s possible as a next step. You can use your network to find a next step and to seek support if you’ve been out for a while. This is also a great time to extend your network and meet new people who might be able to support you on the next step of your journey. During this time, it can be helpful to reach out to old connections, seek social support, and learn from your network to make the most of it.

Consider further training or education to enhance your skills. This could be a formal degree, online courses, or professional certifications. This not only improves your skill set but also shows potential employers your commitment to continuous learning. It’s important to maintain a positive mindset. A layoff is not a reflection of your abilities or value as a leader. Stay confident in your skills and abilities.

Having a good network group is important, especially in the area of business development and marketing. Expanding your network and connecting to other likeminded individuals can give you a boost in your ability to create and build long lasting results. To be called a leader is to become one who can be trusted enough to lead effectively.

If you are the true Leader, it will not be difficult to adopt to new skills and enhance it. As a Leader you need people & resources management skills. That remains same irrespctive of industry / Product. You may have to learn some more details about product or technology. Certainly you will have to put some extra efforts to learn but you will have team to explain and make you understand.

It’s one thing to be gifted and another thing to be skilled with your gift. When you have a skilled hand in your crafting, you need dedication and focus to enhance your skills in the best way possible. Whatsoever you’re gifted at or skilled at, be humble enough to learn from successors in such field of expertise. Adopt certain modalities that works best for you, but ensure you craft your unique experiences because that’s what’ll make you standout.

Personal Branding plays very important role in building your own network & influence other people, in particular recruiters. While trying to build your Brand be authentic, be real and share real own expereinces. Do not fake anything. You need to be different and demonstrate what unique value you bring to the company.

If you are reading this and still employed in leadership don’t waste another day not building your brand/network. Finding an exec job will not be through applying but via your network I spoken with some many execs that haven’t had to find a job in decades that now feel helpless trying find a job after an unexpected lay off. Critical to stay in touch with peers within your community, exec that have left your orgs or other conferences/organizations. Easiest is just being active on LinkedIn and spending a small amount of time each week to devote to this. Other advice is build 2 -3 consulting areas with largest ROI. It will keep u sharp while you search and could turn into a full time role

For you to get the visibility you deserve, I believe personal branding is a tool for national and global endorsements. When you brand yourself, you simply telling the public that this is who you are and this is what you can do as far as rendering your services is concerned. When you fail to brand yourself or services, your potential clients and customers will be affected by your inadequate quality of information you provide

Below is a step-by-step strategic road map. Step 1: Self-Discovery: What leadership skills I should develop? (e.g., Communication, Strategic Thinking) Are there specific industries or leadership roles that spark my interest now? Example: A manager who led a downsized team might discover to strengthen their Crisis Management skills and explore opportunities in Turnaround Consulting. Step 2: Strategic Repositioning: Based on your answers, research the top in-demand leadership skills for your career path. Identify skills gaps and explore training programs to bridge them. Step 3: Leverage your existing network: Reconnect with former colleagues and online communities to expand your professional circle and stay updated on trends.

Having experienced a year long "gap". it's important to first, give yourself some grace. In many areas, or professions, it's a challenging time for looking for a new job. Accept that your next move might be a lateral, or even a switch from a leadership/management role to that of a senior individual contributor one. A famous episode of Friends featured the word "Pivot", and this might be key, don't overly focus on one area, you ignore other opportunities. Overall, stay positive, and keep moving forward. Take free training, read up on technologies new to your area, network, build your LI presence, you never know who you might network with!

Before any other the others can take place effectively, a mindset shift will have to occur. This shift isn't just about thinking positively, it's about thinking differently and using all your successes documented and undocumented to expand the usage of your leadership skills. You are leader for a reason, find that unique sweet spot and use it as your own and not just as a part of a job title...

Be kind to yourself. Understand that the person you have developed into is still there and is still very valuable to others. Secondly be bold. Take this opportunity to explore what you want to do next don’t just jump into the very next opportunity that pops up or was similar to what you were doing. Take the time to assess where you want to go next.

If you feel setback by a layoff. Use it as a chance to reignite your leadership potential. Self-Analysis: This starts with introspection. Leadership Legacy: What are my proudest leadership accomplishments? What skills can I leverage? Example: A laid-off director reflects on their success in building a high-performing team through effective coaching and delegation. Further Question: How can I translate these strengths into a compelling leadership narrative for future opportunities? By revisiting your successes, you identify transferable skills and build confidence. If you feel like this isn't sufficient, feel free to DM for further discussion.