Fear of Getting Fired

I am about 45 minutes into the Movie Up in the Air oh-man what a heartbreaking movie thus far.  The part that was the most disturbing was the part where people are asking what they should be doing that day after they have been fired.  They are devastated by the news that the company that they are invested in, the company that they have worked so hard for is letting them go.

Maybe the reason that this was so powerful is that in my short career I have fired 27 people.  Most of them were “for cause” – but the actual reasons escape me right now.   Just how valid were the reasons for letting them in the big picture?

I have never been on the receiving end of a firing but it does not mean that I did not worry about it.  Part of the reason that I quit my last job was the innate fear in the back of my head that I was going to get fired, not for performance – quite the contrary but because the job was well done and no longer needed.

It is one of the biggest fears that I have…not being useful or needed.  I never want to be in the position that what I do is not valuable or needed; this is why I own my own business.   Part of me believes that as long as clients keep getting value and that I add benefit to our relationship – while we adjust and chance to the business climate.

Is there truth to the statement that “Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s because they sat there that they were able to do it.”  But it is heartbreaking to see it even if on the screen, I am now about an hour and forty five minutes into the movie where he realizes that his world has just come crashing down.   There is a part of not knowing what you want in life that adds to the question of safety and security.

Family fixes all.