When 13,000 people at Verizon lost their jobs this week, it took me right back to the day I lost mine.
When 13,000 people at Verizon lost their jobs this week, it took me right back to the day I lost mine.
Not the shock, but the silence that came afterward.
The confusion.
The questions.
The feeling of being both grateful and blindsided at once.
Moments like this always remind me why I created Graceful Exits.
It wasn’t a business idea.
It was a response to a feeling I never wanted anyone else to experience, the feeling of being an afterthought in a decision that reshaped your life.
Companies talk a lot about innovation, speed, simplification, transformation…
But when people are involved, speed isn’t a strategy.
Humanity is.
A reduction doesn’t have to leave people feeling lost.
Leaders don’t have to fumble through the hardest part of their job.
And companies don’t have to damage their reputation in one afternoon.
We can do layoffs with intention.
We can acknowledge the contributions.
We can give people a path, not just a notification.
We can transition with grace, for everyone involved.
Graceful Exits was my way of bridging two truths:
- Businesses have to evolve.
- People deserve to feel valued in the process.
If you’re a leader preparing for a hard season, or you’ve recently gone through one, I want you to know something:
There is a way to do this without losing yourself, your integrity, or your humanity.
And if you ever need support navigating it, I’m here, not as a consultant, but as someone who’s lived both sides.
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