Influence and Impact

CHAPTER 10Getting Over the Job You Thought You Had: Managing Emotions and Moving Forward

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

—Søren Kierkegaard

Coming to the realization that the job you have is not the job you thought it was can cause you enormous emotional turmoil. Hopefully, you realized this quickly and have not invested a lot of time and effort into the particular path you had been on. For many, however, this self-awareness may come after years of focused effort, and may disrupt plans and dreams you have had in place for a long time.

Frank had successfully moved from consulting to marketing to managing a small business unit within a global pharmaceutical firm.

Quickly, however, Frank became mired in a range of difficulties in his new job. Two of his team members, including his operations head, were difficult to manage and resented his presence in “their” company. In addition, he identified a number of issues with logistics and supply chain that had not shown up under the previous general manager. Production slowed, and the FDA identified quality control issues at one of their facilities. The global head of operations demanded extensive detail on a weekly basis, and sent in a Six Sigma team from headquarters to evaluate their processes.

It became clear that Frank was unable to leverage his strengths as a strategic thinker and insightful analytic marketer in this job. Conversely, he disliked conflict management and over time grew tired ...