This is what a former boss of mine told me, many years ago, as his “let go” speech.

It was a small company, where I joined with much motivation, stepped every day outside my comfort zone, worked hard day and night (literally!) to produce results.

But it was an economic recession period and the industry I was working in at that time was one of the most impacted.

To some extent, I must admit I saw that coming. But I did not take the drive to do something about it. I preferred to tell myself instead that I was too busy with my job and working to reach the targets to have time for my own career planning.
However, when I heard this phrase, I felt like it kicked directly into my self-esteem.  I was told I was “useless”, even though I spent sometimes 20 hours a day working.

It took me three months to recompose and understand that my only fault was not putting myself and my professional future on the priorities list. When I eventually got back up, I promised myself to never leave my professional future to chance anymore. Ever.

So, even though after that episode I joined a great company and had great roles, I always looked on how to develop additional skills, took on new projects and new challenges, had a plan in place.

If you faced similar situations, know that it is not your fault. Look after your self-esteem and don’t let others decide what you are worth.

But it is the responsibility of each of us to drive the wheel of our career and determine our future. To not leaving it to chance but work to grow ourselves and develop new skills, as part of a plan that we build for ourselves.

What would be one action you can take for your professional future, today?