You’ll Never Succeed in this Business

You’ll Never Succeed in this Business

“You’ll never succeed in this business.” That’s what my boss told me in 1988.  He didn’t just say it, he memorialized his  opinion in a two page letter-just to drive his point home!  He identified everyone of my known  shortcomings and added a few I’d been unaware of.

I took that letter home, threw it on the floor of my closet where it remained until years later-around the time Dise & Company was named to the Weatherhead 100 for the first time.  I wish I’d kept it. What fun it’d be to have it on display in the Dise & Company lobby.

Every day our outplacement/career transition practice gives us the opportunity to meet professional men and women who’ve received similar messages from a boss. It’s hard to come back from such severe criticism, especially if you get fired or laid off in the process.  But come back is what they do-and usually much better than what they left behind.

From time to time I ask myself, “Did you succeed because of that letter or in spite of it?”  What do you think?