A friend of mine was the chief operating officer of a profitable media company that merged with a competitor.Under the merger agreement he was slated2） to be an integral part of the newly formed company's senior management.But he didn't see eye to eye with the new CEO on major issues.As a result，he is out of a job.When I had a chance to commiserate3） with him and find out what he planned to do next，he told me：“Mark，I frankly don't regard this hiccup4） in my career as bad news.But my family and friends seem to think it's a major calamity5）。I'm 50years old and，with my stock and severance6） package，I don't need to rush back to work.Yet everyone is urging me to get back to work immediately.The longer I'm unemployed，the harder it will be to find a job.I'll be 'damaged goods.' I don't think I'm risking my career by taking a well－earned break.”
The more I thought about it，the more convinced I was that my friend was taking a remarkably enlightened app roach to this“calamity.”Most people who have been suddenly put out to pasture tend to panic，when，in fact，they really should be maintaining their poise and sorting out their options.The interesting thing about career panic is how many ways it manifests itself.Panic isn't just the sweaty－browed terror of searching for the next job.It can also be a failure to say “no” to a job that's wrong for you，a failure to consider all your options，or a failure simply to put the unpleasant memories of your old employer behind you.
All these mental errors，which might be obvious if you could distance yourself from an admittedly stressful situation are forms of panic，as are the following two points that even the smartest people often overlook.
1.Don' t feel you have to show everyone you were wronged.The normal impulse when you've just been axed——and this applies whether you've been axed from your job or fired by a client or lost a major account——is to show the world that you w ere some－how wronged.People regard the loss as an attack on their image and self－esteem.So，in a slight state of shock，they immediately dive into the same situation，as if that will show the world that they haven't lost their touch.In other words，they panic.They fail to step back and ask themselves whether they should be doing that job in the first place，or if they like handling clients or servicing accounts.
Some years ago I knew the chairman of a n American industrial company who was forced out of his post after a losing bitter takeover battle with a foreign conglomerate7）。This chairman，already in his 60s，could easily have moved on to a second career as a well－paid consultant，giving speeches，lecturing at business schools，and functioning as an eminence8） grise in his field.But losing his company rankled him——to the point where，within weeks of his departure，he announced that he had acquired control of a new company and planned to compete directly with his old company.I'm sure this decision was totally ego－driven；he wanted to show the world that he hadn't lost a step.Unfortunately，running a start－up company is nothing like running a large organization.Tasks that he could delegate to several layers of staff in his previous life were now his alone to do.Without his old company's resources，he couldn't function at his best.
Within a couple of years，he realized he was miserable，and it showed in his company's miserable performance.He lost money and prestige by this misbegotten9） attempt to show the world it was wrong.I can't help thinking that he could have rounded off his career m ore gracefully if he hadn't pressed the panic button，if he had waited a few months to get a more objective look at his options and perhaps watch some interesting offers roll in.
2.Don' t bad－mouth your exemployer.Feeling bitter towards a former employer（or client or customer）who has treated you badly is one of the more interesting forms of panic，because it's so predictable.For that reason alone，people should be shrewd enough to swallow their bitterness.Over the y ears，I've met dozens of people who have literally made second careers out of bad－mouthing their ex－employers.I don't know what perceived injustices or psychological pressures force them to behave this way，but it's not rational and it rarely helps their cause.
For one thing，trashing your former employer is a classic case of looking backward rather than forwards.Perhaps more important，speaking ill of your old company doesn't speak well of you.A friend who had been particularly ill-served by his longtime employer once told me the smartest decision he made after negotiating his severance was to promise himself never to say anything bad about his old company.“I suppose it made me look like a noble fellow to some people，that I could let bygones10） be bygones.But I had a more practical motive：I didn't want to sever my ties with all the talented people I knew at the company.I doubt if my ex－colleagues would be so co－operative if they knew I was going around trashing the company that was signing their paychecks.”
by Mark McCormack
我的一個朋友在一家贏利豐厚的媒體公司做經理，這家公司后來與它的一個對手合并。按照合并協議，他被選入新公司的高級管理層任職。然而在重大問題上他和總經理意見不合，于是失去了工作。當我有機會向他表示同情，了解到他的下一步意圖時，他對我說：“馬克，說真的，我并沒把這個事業上的小小不順當回事。但我的朋友和家人卻覺得這是個了不得的大災難似的。我已50來歲了，憑手里的股票加上離職金，用不著趕緊再找工作。可人人都催我馬上再找一份職業。我失業時間越長，找工作就越難。我就得成'廢品'了。可我理所當然應該休息休息，并不認為這是在拿我的事業冒險。”
我越琢磨這件事，越確信我的朋友面對這一“災難”采取的是一種非常豁達開明的態度。多數被突然解職的人容易驚惶失措，而實際上他們應該保持鎮靜，選擇出路。有意思的是，事業上的恐慌可在多方面表現出來。恐慌不僅僅是頭上冒汗，心里害怕，急著再找一份工作。它也使你面對一份不適合你的工作說不出“不”字，忘記考慮所有其他的選擇，也不能把關于從前雇主的種種不愉快的記憶從你腦海里抹去。所有這些思維上的錯誤都是恐慌的表現形式，你要是從大家公認的艱難環境中脫身出來，就能對它們看得很清楚。下面還有兩種應避免的恐慌形式，即使絕頂聰明的人也常常忽略。
1.不要老覺得你應對所有人說你受到了冤枉。你一旦被解雇——這里既指失去了工作，也指失去了當事人或主要客戶——最常見的沖動是向全世界宣布你多少受到了委屈。人們覺得失業是對他們形象和自尊心的一次打擊。為此在輕微的震驚之中，他們立即再度陷入同樣的窘境，似乎以此就能向所有人表明他們仍未失去能力。換句話說，他們變得驚惶失措。他們不能退一步問問自己，是不是最初應該做那份工作，是不是喜歡和當事人打交道或為客戶服務。
幾年前，我認識一位美國工業公司的經理，他和一家外國聯合企業展開一場相互吞并的競爭，結果失利被迫辭職。這位經理已是花甲之年，完全可以另辟蹊徑，去做收入不菲的顧問，四處演講，到商學院講課，在他的領域當一個無冕之王。但失去他的公司使他氣憤不已，以致他在離開幾周之后就宣布他又買斷了一家新公司，并打算直接與他過去的公司展開競爭。我敢擔保這一決定純屬是受自尊心的驅使；他是想讓人們瞧瞧，他沒有失利。不幸的是，管理一家新公司和管理一個大企業完全是兩碼事。過去他可以把任務交給層層下屬去做，如今他只得事必躬親。沒有了他過去公司的左右依仗，他無法發揮其才能。
不出幾年，他意識到自己痛苦不堪，這悲慘的局面也體現在他公司的經營上。他想讓人們知道他受到了冤屈，但這一幼稚可笑的企圖卻讓他失去了金錢和名譽。我禁不住想，假如他沒有按下恐慌的按鈕，假如他再等幾個月，更加客觀地審視他的選擇，或等待一些讓人感興趣的機會的降臨，他本是可以為他的事業畫上一個圓滿句號的。
2.不要說你從前雇主的壞話。對從前曾待你不善的雇主（或當事人及客戶）產生憎惡情緒是恐慌的一種更需注意的形式，因為這種情緒是完全可以預料到的。僅因為此，人們應該放聰明一些，盡量忍受心中的不快。過去若干年中，我曾遇見過好幾十個人，他們沒有說從前老板的壞話，但卻創出了第二份事業。我不知道是一種什么樣的委屈感或心理壓力強使某些人去說別人的壞話，但這樣做是不理智的，對他們的事業無補。
首先，詆毀你的老雇主是典型的向后看而不是向前看的做法。也許更重要的是，對你從前的公司進行攻擊并不能說明你就一定好。我有一個朋友，受到了他共事多年的雇主的特別不公平的待遇。他對我說，在他談妥解雇費后，他所做的最明智的決定就是永不說他公司的壞話。“我覺得我的做法使某些人認為我特高尚，能既往不咎。可是我有一個更實際的動機：我不希望斷掉我在那家公司結識的與所有有本事人的關系。要是我從前的同事知道我到處說發給他們工錢的公司的壞話，他們還能再跟我合作才怪呢。”
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