Surprise! I've been cheated on and dumped!!!

'How did it happen?'' How did I not see the signs?'' I am just as surprised as anyone about this' 'It's been unexpected in so many levels' 'I thought it would never happen to me', after all, 'I've been always a top performer...'
Well, as much personal it may look like it is about being fired, terminated, downsized or whatever way you want to call it but as many may feel 'dumped'!

Were there signs you missed or just happened from nowhere? It is very likely there were signs indicating changes were on their way in the organization... or not.
1. Less clients or business profit.
2. More time to navigate on the web, to pause yourself during your day, to take a proper lunch out of the office sitting actually on a chair that is not the one in front of your computer.
3. Busy managers in very busy meetings.
4. A salary reduction, salary freeze, review of benefits...
5. Or none of the above.

Some phrases I've heard are:
'I had just played golf with my Manager three weeks before my termination and as I expressed some concern on the business situation he told me to relax as I was well appreciated in the company'
'My manager and I had a talk few days before and he told me I was a top performer that the company would never let go'
' I got a bonus the month before and then, this happened out of nowhere'

What does this mean? Can you do anything to stop it? Maybe yes or maybe not but there are certainly ways to minimize its impact and the transition between jobs.

Some ethical and very basic rules are:
1. Do the best with what you have as long as you have it=your job. Keep performing, do not allow the gossip get in between what you do and your achievements, do not be the 'bitch' at the office and keep the negativity outside of your vocabulary.
2. Keep networking extensively even more on these particular times. Do you still have a job? Great! now keep it that way. Ensure you can effectively highlight your professional contributions and job outcomes to managers, go and meet people from other departments, interact with other managers, expose yourself for success even outside the company. Have mentoring lunches with senior colleagues from other companies you admire, get their sense of the market and even some coaching on how to enable your success.
3. Use simultaneous resources to keep 'live' on the memory of key stakeholders in the job market. Get a linkedin profile, build an anonymous profile at a career job board (e.g. rigzone), google yourself and build your own brand not just on the virtual world but among your contacts.
4. Do not believe you are 'untouchable' but do not over stress about it, either. Keep the perspective and allow the benefits all of the above can bring to your career no matter what.

Build your future today, the one you have worked so hard to get, no matter what.

When it comes to the future, our task is not to foresee it, but rather to enable it to happen. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery