Why Executives Don’t Get Employed

We have two types of client. One type we really are amazed that they’re not employed. It completely puzzles us. They’re such great people who do everything we tell them to, and, while they do get employed pretty rapidly, we’re amazed that recruiters aren’t lined up around the block to snatch them away for a choice company. Then there are the other kind…

There — we are amazed that they ever got employed in the first place to be laid off. But we completely understand why they were chosen for layoff or termination. After all, if we, as professional career counselors, dread it whenever they appear on the appointment calendar, their bosses and employees must have dreaded working with them even more. Here are some things that the understandably unemployed do that have kept them receiving that miniscule government check each month and paying COBRA.

1). They think they know better. They’ve paid many thousands of dollars for a top-notch career coach and are completely uncoachable. We’ve had several clients like this. There are people from some companies I just won’t work with. They won’t do anything I say, anyway. They’ll be a pain in the ass, and whine about what we’re not doing for them, even if we haven’t said we’ll do it.

You don’t know better! If you’re going to work with an employment or transition coach, or any other kind of coach, it might be a good idea to do what they say. Try it their way first, and for quite a while. If, after a few months, it isn’t working, do something else. Otherwise, keep doing what the coach tells you.

2). They WHINE! Too many executives get whiney when things don’t go their way. I often want to ask them if they want some cheese with that whine. The ones I really despise are those who won’t do anything I tell them (see above) and whine that our program isn’t working. Reality — you’ve got to work before any program will. Wimpy Whiners are like the 97 pound weakling who goes to the gym and hires a trainer, but won’t show up and won’t keep appointments, then complains that weight lifting is useless. I’ve started asking Wimpy Whiners to leave my program, as all they’re doing is taking up valuable space that a useful person could use.

3). They blame, argue and are generally jerks. I had one client who was in the “C” Suite of a major Denver company who I kicked out of my practice. He was supercilious, would consistently argue with my advice, and torqued off almost everyone I gave him as a referral and almost every other client. Bye-bye. One understood why he was kicked out of the “C” Suite. I’ve had others continually question my advice, scream at me on the phone, and many other inappropriate things. These people almost certainly were hell to work for and either a kiss-ass subordinate or a difficult subordinate. Either way, they wouldn’t belong on MY team.

4). Some are dishonest. OK, this is a very small minority. However, I had a CEO level client who was a pretty consistent liar, and would try to make “deals” that were very dishonest. I have told, several times, the story of how he was dishonest with me, generating other stories of his dishonesty from others. Denver is a very small town. He is going to have a somewhat difficult time finding other work now that he is no longer at his previous position, unless he finds it with someone who just isn’t networked at all….which is possible. But, if someone is networked, they’ll hear earfuls about his lying. You’ve only got one reputation. Guard it with your life. (And, along that line, vigorous defend, as I do, any false statements about you or your business.)

5). Some are very, very cheap. I have executives who whine about paying for coffee with a networking partner. This is very short-sighted. Many executives do incredibly stupid things, like refusing to buy a lunch, refusing to buy a new suit, etc. Don’t hoard money. As Deepak Chopra points out, hoarding money will result in money not coming to you in the flow. Stay in the flow. Buy and pay for what you need and what is necessary.

6). Some are very demanding. Little tin gods only wind up being worshipped by little tin worshippers. The days of the tyrant CEO are long over. While an executive shouldn’t take any nonsense from subordinates nor vendors, every executive these days had better know how to “play politics.” If you do not know how to play politics, you will have a very hard time keeping a job. Subordinates have more power than ever these days…and might wind up as your boss someday (I have seen this happen a couple of times in the last couple of years).

Be nice to everyone. Understand that you are not God’s gift to the world and that people aren’t going to drop everything to respond to you. Be humble and be patient. While patience is not my greatest virtue, it is a virtue we all must learn in today’s world. Being humble doesn’t require you to be a doormat. It does require that you treat all others, even the custodian, with great respect, understanding that the worth of a person is not in their title, salary, the house they live in or the car they drive. These things are far too important in America, but this is changing. Perhaps someday we Americans will understand the important things….like, as Martin Luther King said, the content of a person’s character. Character cannot be measured by bank accounts or titles on doors. It must be measured by the heart.

The executives who do things like the above stay unemployed a very long time. If you don’t want to join their ranks, do the opposite. Be gentle, patient, humble, coachable, honest, full of integrity, and don’t whine or think you know better than those who are experts in getting you employed. If you do not want to remain in the unemployment line, act like those executives that are universally respected and revered, not the greedy, overbearing, obnoxious resident of the “C” Suite of this first decade of the 2000’s. That cowboy mentality is dead and cold. Cooperation and humility are the values currently coming into vogue. It is about blanking time.