Getting Fired, And Other Fun Lessons
Yep, you heard that right. I got fired.
I’m sure most of you can relate that the past couple of years have been hard. I found myself in a position to close down my business and having to go to work for another company, abandoning my dreams of staying self-employed. I didn’t have time to struggle with that decision because I needed to do what I had to do to support my family. In the end, I learned some very valuable lessons:
Honesty is not the best policy in small companies.
You work hard and aren’t ever properly compensated or appreciated for it.
“We’re like a big family,” is the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard.
In 2020, I closed Run My Renovation. COVID had just hit and my next remodel in line canceled. I knew that I couldn’t afford to wait around to see what would happen. Instead, I went to work for another home builder as a Project Manager. At the time, this was the best decision to support my kids and for a good year I didn’t mind working for someone else. The job offered me stability and familiarity, and I liked most of the people I worked with. But fast forward to December of 2021, the truth of what I thought I knew about this company ended up being a lie. Three weeks before Christmas, I was fired.
Having never been fired, you can imagine my shock. And their rationale for doing so was based on their misunderstanding. Sadly, they refused to believe what I had to say and instead showed me the door. Now, in my 10 years of corporate experience, there’s one thing I know for sure: when you have a problem with an employee, you bring it to their attention and put necessary steps in place to address the concern, like a performance improvement plan. You don’t blindside them with an issue they don’t understand and refuse to listen to them. You don’t tell them that “our perception is reality” and “your perception isn’t true.” It’s clear they wanted to get rid of me, and probably for a while. I went from being introduced to clients as “our number one” project manager to being fired, in six months.
I know for a fact that I was good at my job. Had I been fired because I couldn’t perform or because I sucked at the job, this would be a non-issue. But I was good. People liked me (well, I guess not every body, clearly). But this wasn’t about how I performed; this was personal.
This company didn’t operate in the most efficient way, and I made that known to them at my yearly review. They asked for open, honest feedback. They told me that they value my opinion. That is, until my opinion didn’t jive with that they think. It takes a very solid individual to take constructive criticism constructively. Guess I overestimated them.
So here I am, three weeks before Christmas, and the week of the company party. They call me into the office to fire me. No notice, no party, no bonus (excellent timing on their part, don’t you think)? Further, when I emailed them asking to consider giving me my bonus (seeing as how I’d worked 11 out of 12 months of the year for them), they never replied. I never received a call back from the owner of the company, either. What a great way to run a business. I was shocked at their lack of integrity.
When I got hired, I remember the owner telling me, “people will either work for us for a year, or they’ll work for us for a lifetime.” And I can’t tell you how many times I heard, from many people there, “we’re just like a big family.” Really? This is how you treat your “family?” Thank God I don’t have a family like that!
Needless to say, getting fired was a lesson in humility for me. It taught me that, no matter what they say to make it seem like they want your opinion, they don’t. It taught me that in order to stay employed, you need to fall in line like all the rest. Don’t ruffle feathers. Don’t look outside your role. Don’t try to help them grow. Mind your beeswax and tow the party line. The saddest part of all of this is I actually considered them to be my friends. I thought we had a good relationship. I’ll admit, I was very cautious at getting too close, and maybe that was the problem. I made the mistake of opening up to someone in the office early on and getting betrayed by them. From that point forward, I kept my life to myself. But truth be told, I really did enjoy most of them.
The truth is, I have far too much vision to work for other people. I refuse to be confined to a role that inhibits my ability to make change, to be better and to grow. Getting fired was a blessing in disguise for me. I had been unhappy for a long time (it didn’t make my performance suffer, though) and knew I needed to go back to working for myself again. I’ve had big plans in the works for quite some time and am excited to tell you about my next big adventure!