Lesley Weidenbener: Letting go of anger after layoff opens the door to opportunity

The crush of news about the thousands of people who have been laid off from their jobs in federal government has led me to reflect on my own job loss 14 years ago.

I’m writing about it today not as a commentary on the actions of President Donald Trump or the state of politics or the work of federal employees. Instead, my goal is simply to share something I believe is the key step to moving forward: Release the anger.

I was the Indiana Statehouse reporter for The (Louisville) Courier Journal on June 21, 2011, when I learned that my job was being eliminated. I had been at the paper for 11 years, and I loved my job. I thought I would retire doing it.

Gannett, which owned The Courier-Journal, laid off 700 newspaper division employees that day. So I was not alone. And yet, I felt very alone.

Bennie Ivory, who was then the editor of The C-J, was incredibly kind when he called with the news. And I realized quickly that he had a difficult job. He was charged with cutting a specific number of positions. Gannett owned The Indianapolis Star, and The C-J could run Star stories. Cutting my job was a better choice than cutting a reporter in Louisville. I would have made the same move.

Still, I sobbed. It wasn’t pretty. But while I was sad and felt like I was losing a key part of my identity, I knew I had to let go of the anger. When you’re hurting and need to act, there’s no mental space for anger. And so I envisioned physically pushing the anger away and replacing it with determination to find the next adventure.

Then I had to act. Some people will tell you to sit back and enjoy some downtime. I am too anxious for that. And I believe your best bet is to strike while people in your network are feeling empathetic to your situation.

I began hearing right away from people who had thoughts, ideas, job recommendations and more. One longtime source and friend, Kate Snedeker, was my first lunch. She told me to get my LinkedIn page into shape. She said I needed to update my information, make more connections and treat my LinkedIn page like the front door to my new job search. She was right. I’ve repeated that advice many times.

I took many meetings that week, sent dozens of emails and got my resume into shape. By the end of that week, I had applied for a job overseeing a Statehouse reporting program for students at Franklin College. I would eventually take that position even though it paid substantially less than I had made previously and enjoyed it for four years.

Some colleagues urged me not to take what they called a “pay cut.” But I knew better: At that point, I had a salary of $0. My new job was a big pay increase! Plus, the job gave me the editing experience and exposure I needed to move later to IBJ.

A few months after starting at Franklin, I went to a journalism conference that was sponsored by Gannett. I saw dozens of people who had been laid off and were there in part to network in a search for jobs. Many had used markers to cross Gannett’s logo off their name tags. Others had simply ripped off the logo. I understood that anger then and still do now. But I’m not sure it was productive. I’m not sure I would have hired someone that day who had ripped apart their name tag.

Let go of the anger as quickly as you can. You will feel better prepared to tackle the next challenge.•

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Weidenbener is editor and assistant publisher of IBJ and assistant publisher of The Indiana Lawyer.