11-06-2026
Over-reacting when overwhelmed with emotions
Many years ago, as an influential member of the management team, I disagreed with decisions that were at the very least “unethical”.
I felt it was my duty to do something about it, and I tried to persuade the Managing Director that certain decisions were not acceptable and should be altered.
The MD’s reaction was to get rid of me and shut me up by providing help to find another job on the understanding that I would stop “interfering”.
The company didn’t have any “whistle blower policy” at the time, so I felt I had no option but to put up with it.
Initial reaction
Furious about this situation I decided to act immediately.
I bought a computer, and I quickly sent my CV to a dozen people, asking whether they had a vacancy for me.
In the meantime, the offer of help to find another job materialised and I started working with an outplacement company in London.
During my first session, the consultant assigned to me told me in no uncertain terms that I had made a mistake.
He made me realise that the people I had sent my CV to must have felt in an awkward position if they didn’t have any vacancies.
Instead of helping me, they were more likely to avoid me to prevent further embarrassment.
I realised that I had reacted prematurely and wasted an opportunity to get help from influential people.
Restart
Before getting support from the outplacement company, I was not clear about what I had to offer and what types of roles and companies I was looking for.
At that time my CV was just a long list of roles and job titles.
My mindset was negative: I was angry, and I kept talking about it.
With help from the consultant, I progressively clarified what I had to offer and what I was looking for.
I also focussed on the future rather than on reminiscing from the past.
I identified other people who might be able to help me.
Starting with the people I knew best, I asked for 15 minutes of their time to talk about my search and ask for their advice.
This time I made a point of not sending them my CV!
I was very nervous initially, but I soon realised that people were happy to see me and help as I wasn’t putting them under pressure to find me a job.
Meetings often lasted longer than expected as people were comfortable talking about their business and giving me some advice.
The feedback I received during these valuable sessions allowed me to test the credibility of my objectives and adjust my strategy.
Successful outcome
One of the people I had contacted asked whether I could help their colleagues with a set of drawings in French against which they were preparing a quote for a Canadian customer.
I was pleased to be asked and I spent a few hours helping with the notes in French on the drawings. This gave me an opportunity to learn about the company and meet key people.
To cut a long story short, this eventually led to a job offer by this company where I quickly progressed to the role of Managing Director.
The lessons from this experience have helped me throughout my career.
This experience also enabled me to help other people caught up in redundancies in the many business “rationalisations”, mergers and acquisitions that I got involved with subsequently.
Two key lessons learnt
From this experience I learnt two key lessons:
- Do not react prematurely when overwhelmed by emotions. Instead, pause and take time to consider the options.
- Get help to approach situations from a different angle and come up with well-considered actions.
To be honest this is not easy and I still find it hard to apply these lessons in practice, being used to have to make decisions quickly with little help.
I can help you
Nowadays I work with leaders of engineering SMEs to help them prepare their business so they can achieve profitable growth.
To discuss how I can help you with your specific challenges, please use the link below to arrange a free 30-minute conversation.