🎙 68. How to Handle Layoffs

podcast

Mar 20

the spiritual 9-5 podcast transcript

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Episode Published on March 19, 2024

Transcript:

Intro to the Intro

This episode is a semi-personal statement on layoffs, an update on the Spiritual 9 to 5 podcast episodes, and an invitation or a giveaway for those in need. If you know someone who has experienced layoffs, please share this episode and the one coming up with that person or even your network.

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I believe that working can be one of the most spiritual paths that we walk.

Whether that work is turning your passion into a business, or sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, or anywhere beyond and in between. And yet, we often take the way in which we show up to work for granted, even though it's where we spend the majority of our time.

Here on The Spiritual 9–5 Podcast, we talk about that. We talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about the 9 to 5, we talk about what it's like to be multi-passionate, and talented, and inspired, and also utterly demotivated.

We are here to support you in your work, whether your work is sacred to you, or just something that you do to get by. We are here to help you see and know yourself a little bit deeper, and to inspire you to show up no matter what it is that you find.

I'm your host, Marie Groover, and like you I am as multi-passionate as they come. I'm the founder of two businesses that are here to bring the soul back into the office. I, too, work a 9 to 5 in corporate tech.

I'm a surfer, a writer, a philosopher-artist, if you will, and I'm so excited to bring you this episode today. If you haven't, please leave the show a 5-star rating, and if this episode resonates, consider saving it and sharing it with someone you think it would resonate with too.

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Hi, friends.

I'm going into a rant. This past week, I spent about six hours, maybe seven, recording podcast episodes – interviews with folks about their experience in the corporate world, climbing the ladder, moving through layoffs and terminations and big life transitions. I have been so excited to record these episodes and to share them with you because I've been witnessing the corporate world, but especially corporate tech, the tech industry, because I'm so close to tech, just discard people again and again and again and again over the last two years.

What I'm referring to is layoffs. And I understand various business cases for laying off a small or a large portion of the workforce. I don't disagree that sometimes it's the best way or that sometimes it's the right thing to do. I'm not anti-layoff, but watching it from the sidelines in the last two years has been really hard for me.

You know, when I left Instagram, I picked up LinkedIn, and when I picked up LinkedIn, what I saw on a recurring basis was an onslaught of announcements for being laid off or news articles about another company doing a mass layoff and post after post after post of people on their last week of savings faced with homelessness, entering the really scary avenues of the unknown, and so many of them. And my heart just hurt seeing it. And then I delivered a workshop for a small team at a massive tech company that did do recent layoffs, just prior to the workshop, and was in progress to do another round or two of either layoffs or reorganizations or both.

And the workshop that I led, it was centered on role function and the identities that we attach to, based on our job titles or functions, and the beliefs that we perpetuate that hold us back because of this. The team was really open and receptive. And at the end, a woman spoke up and said, “I don't feel safe here.”

‘Here’ being her company on her team, she said, “I don't feel safe here because I don't know if I'm going to get to stay here. And I don't know if I should be looking at other teams or other roles or other companies. I don't know if I can rely on my paycheck. I don't know if my work really matters or not and the extent for which I should keep doing it. And I'm exhausted.”

And when I heard her say this, I felt this stab in my chest because for months I had been thinking about the people being laid off and let go themselves, but I hadn't even considered the survivor's guilt paired with the fear of being next for the people who remained, for the people who hadn't been laid off or hadn't been laid off yet.

I hit some sort of limit of observation, and I started talking to people and reaching out to my corporate friends and connections. And I started pitching a free workshop for establishing psychological safety during the season of layoffs, during the season of the unknown.

And what I found was that many leaders in the corporate space, at least those that I'm connected with, those that I highly respect, by the way, were not interested in such workshops.

It seemed that many leaders had already moved beyond the destruction and expected their organizations to pick themselves up and keep going. One person that I talked to who I love and respect so dearly, a mentor of mine, someone I consider a true friend, I pitched this free workshop to him and he liked the idea, but he wanted me to place an emphasis on the positive side. Like to put a positive spin on it. And rather than focusing on the negative, to instead help people shift into an abundance mindset, pulling them away from a mindset of scarcity.

Because not only were these people still there, they had made it, but on top of that, their organization was performing better than all other orgs. So there was a bit of wanting everyone to keep up, wanting everyone to shift, to be excited, to see what the leadership team was seeing, to feel proud, to see the possibilities in front of them. Meanwhile, there felt as if there was still a focus on…mmm…the scarcity that remained after layoffs, or after one round of layoffs.

Now, because I was simultaneously trying to sell something, even a free something, and because I was trying to genuinely help, and because I was eager to deliver more services on behalf of Essential Teams, I really wanted to meet him where he was. So I was like, yeah, let me sit with this. In the moment, I kind of liked the idea, shifting from scarcity to abundance.

If you're connected with me on LinkedIn, you will have seen some scarcity and abundance posts maybe a month or so after that initial conversation. And if you're not connected with me on LinkedIn, let's connect, by the way. But anyways, I was posting these things as I was processing and gleaning wisdom through my process.

Then the more I sat with it, the more I saw. The more I talked with people, the more I realized that we need to address what is real and true before we can change our state of being.

That, to try to plant positivity or abundance where psychological safety was not available is like trying to convince someone who is homeless to drop $20,000 on a career and leadership coach. If you don't have money for food, you can't begin to fathom having money for something that absolutely can help you, but something so frivolous as that, right? Being able to pay for something like that comes from a place of privilege. And sometimes being able to experience and focus on abundance comes from a place of privilege. And I don't mean privilege that is handed to us. I mean the privilege that we experience when we are fully resourced.

If your basic needs are not being met or are being threatened, you go into survival mode. And many people during this season of layoffs, whether employed or not, are in survival mode right now.

And I want to talk about it because if we leave things unaddressed or unseen, unwitnessed, unheld, they never really go away.

And on top of that, if you have a workforce that is working in fear or scarcity or survival mode, their output will be shit. They will be burned out, drained, exhausted, and not working or showing up with their frontal lobes intact. Like the area of the brain that regulates us and helps us to think and reason and make sound decisions. It gets compromised. Like, I mean, it disappears literally when we go into survival mode.

And that's not something that an inspirational speech or workshop is going to solve. We have to address what is going on. We need to name it. As a leader, you must acknowledge the state of your organization before you can shift it.

And look, it's uncomfortable as fuck to name what is real and true. Especially when people have been hurt or when you've maybe played a part in people being hurt. I fully understand that.

And so this past week, I spent six to seven hours recording podcast interviews with people who have direct experience with both layoffs and termination, people who have chosen a new path, people who have jumped right back into the job market, individuals who are really accomplished, who I really look up to, who shared just some amazing insight and experience and reflection.

And I was so stoked to bring them to your ears in the coming weeks that, this past week, I spent equal time editing or attempting to edit these audios. And man, I don't know if something is in retrograde or what, but after spending hours of time and many late nights, I made zero progress. And my audio files would end up just like wrong, so messed up.

And I don't know why, because I've been doing this for quite a while. And this week, it just wasn't working. And I was so determined, but, we all at some point hit a wall of exhaustion and realized that we need to go a different route.

For me, for The Spiritual 9-5, that route is hiring a proper podcast studio. And I am so excited to be beginning the process of working with Softer Sounds and its owner, Amelia Hruby, who you have had the pleasure to hear on the show if you've been around for a while. Her studio is fantastic, and the interviews I recorded will likely be the first audio files that I turn over to be worked by her team. And that means that it may be a little while before they air.

I am so deeply sorry and sad that I cannot be bringing these conversations to you sooner, because friends, I really feel for everyone waiting around in the current state of employment. Especially in tech.

And I don't want to just keep watching from the sidelines.I want to help where I can.

So if you're listening to this and you've been laid off or fired or you're feeling some kind of way because you didn't get laid off or you're looking for a new job because you suspect that you will get laid off or you're a leader of an organization who's struggling with how to lead and show up as a genuine human, maybe you're feeling conflicted or not sure how to deliver a difficult message or not sure how to name what's real and true or talk to the people in your org authentically, I want to give away five free One-to-One with Marie Sessions in April or May. I'm calling them “One-on-One with Marie Sessions” because they can be readings or coaching or a combination.

I can pull your human design chart, peep your astrology, pull some tarot cards, open the Akashic records, or none of that if you're not comfortable. I can hold space. I can coach you to get clear on next steps. We can dive into your purpose. I can help you update your LinkedIn. I can help you clarify your messaging and guide you through difficult conversations. I can be your hype girl, but I can also hold tremendous stability in uncertainty and discomfort.

So even if we sit in silence together for 50 minutes, I promise that you'll be feeling more grounded, more capable and refreshed. I want to give way more than five sessions to be clear, but with my new job, my capacity is pretty limited.

So the sessions will coincide with the timing of my podcast audio handoff to ensure that I can show up 100%. And sessions will all be held outside of regular business hours. I promise that I will not sell you anything like coaching packages or workshops or anything like that. I actually am totally committed when it comes to private coaching for the entirety of 2024, maybe with the exception of one executive coaching spot opening in June.

This is because I just want to help in whatever small way I can. So you can nominate yourself. You can nominate someone else. You can donate your session to your team. If you're a manager and you want me to come hold space and deliver a workshop on psychological safety.

However, if you are a business and you have access to budget, I will charge you. Outside of that, it's really your time. So if you're interested or know someone who would be stay tuned for the next episode and share this one.

We'll be setting up a form to fill out, throw your name in the hat. And I really hope that you gift yourself this opportunity if calls to you.

And with that, I'm sending so much love until next week.

Outro music 🎶

Thank you so much for listening to The Spiritual 9–5 Podcast. I'm your host Marie Groover and I am beyond honored that you are here. Please follow, save, and rate the show and if you can, share your favorite episode with a friend. It makes the world of a difference.

Connect with me on LinkedIn. I would love to hear from you what you think about the show or my work, so don't be shy.

And I'm always here to connect and support you or your business through coaching, team building, and leadership development. You can find my work in the show notes.

Until next time, Big Love.

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Shownotes:

There’s no secret that the tech layoffs (and other industries, too) have been some of the worst in recent memory. Many are struggling, several months post-layoff, to determine how to move forward through this difficult time. This episode is both a reflection and an offering.

Episode References:

Softer Sounds Podcast Studio: https://www.softersounds.studio/

Links:

Marie Groover https://www.mariegroover.com/

Essential Teams https://www.youressentialteam.com/

The Corporate Psychic https://www.thecorppsychic.com/

Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmariegroover/

Join the Mailing List https://thecorppsychic.myflodesk.com/e7bmhjidj4

The production of this episode was in collaboration with Lyndsee Nielson. See her work here: www.lyndseeloves.com