How getting fired inspired me to find my true calling

I have never told this story publicly.   Immediately after it happened, I was embarrassed. Mortified.  

I was fired.  The scarlet word in a career. 

But there's always a silver lining, right?  Without being fired from a job, I never would have found consulting. And I never would have become an entrepreneur.  

Here's my story.   

I had worked at one organization for a long time.  I learned so much while I was there but towards the end I had plateaued.   I was in meetings all of the time and always felt behind at work. I also didn't know where I was going professionally.  Without consulting anyone, I started looking for a role where I thought I would be more valued. More responsibility. More money. More perks. I thought that would be the elixir to my career stagnation.  

Through LinkedIn, I was sent a cold email by a hiring manager.  I had heard about the organization in passing but didn't really know much about it. Between some red flags in the interview process and conversations with my wife, I should have not taken the role. It ultimately was a bad cultural fit.  I didn't have a good rapport with my manager and the scope of my work was more about maintaining the status quo.

I got pulled into my manager's office three weeks into my job and was given a final written warning (note there were no prior informal or formal warnings before). Reading the warning was a classic case of going up the ladder of inference. Taking facts about what I did and making huge leaps about what my intentions were.

I got scared. I cried at home to my wife. Felt like the end was near. I tried to salvage the situation but still felt miserable.   I started talking to some trusted colleagues at previous jobs. Mercifully, two weeks later, I was fired.

After being fired, I sent an email out to a number of trusted friends and colleagues. I got the highest email response rate of my life, with several ideas and calls and meetings. I ended up consulting three weeks afterwards, getting my first taste of being a business owner. When I had the opportunity (again!) to start working for myself with the birth of my daughter over a year later, I took it. And have never looked back.

What I learned

Being vulnerable has been a lifelong process but I have learned that exposing oneself, asking for help, and being really honest with yourself have been accelerators of my growth. Focus on your own development. Get a mentor. A career coach. Find an accountability partner. Build one good habit at a time.

Cultivating your current network and building new relationships allowed me to land on my feet softly and quickly. I had never truly realized the power of my network and giving to others until I was in need. So, take your closest people out to lunch every so often. Make that phone call to say hi. Drop a text or email of encouragement when someone gets a new job, has a baby, or celebrates an anniversary.

Career paths aren't linear. It took me over 15 years to realize what I really wanted to do, and create a career path with intention. Focus on your strengths and passions and be willing to explore and make mistakes. Don't settle but also learn to focus on non-negotiables and make compromises.