Firing Lines

By Patricia Dailey, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/15/2004

For anyone, including scores of restaurant-industry executives, who ever has struggled through the unceremonious or unplanned end of a job and found stigma or a sense of shame in that bitter blow, a word of thanks and praise to The Donald may be in order: Through a steely glower, pointed finger and stern delivery of the suddenly made famous "You're fired," Donald Trump has made it, if not one hundred percent OK, at least somehow slightly less onerous to be whacked on prime-time television and by the strange culture of reality shows, in the real world as well.

As "The Apprentice" played out weekly in millions of living rooms, Trump demonstrated many times over that talented, highly driven careerists get tossed aside like rag dolls—unceremoniously perhaps, but with their dignity, lives and futures fully intact. Two words, denoting dashed hopes and derailed careers, may once have proved a bitter legacy, a wound to pride, esteem and honor. But slipped into popular culture by an oddly coiffed, profit-motivated real-estate mogul, "You're fired" no longer seems quite so devastating.

In the opening address to the Women's Foodservice Forum's Leadership Conference, held in Chicago last month, Edna Morris in her own way unwittingly affirmed Trump's approach to unexpected job changes and loss of leadership. The former president of Red Lobster brought openness, candor and honesty to the usually hushed topic of career challenges that play out publicly in the harsh glare of high expectations.

Looking into the eyes of 2,000 attendees, Morris spoke publicly about the unexpected end of her tenure as the head of Red Lobster. Although such upheavals are hardly uncommon—in foodservice as in other industries—they still are typically kept out of the public dialogue. Morris, though, pulled back the curtain of silence, doubt and self-abnegation, revealing that when you go out the front door standing up, there is no shame or anything from which to hide or deny. Resonant with truth that extends beyond the emotional chaos of job changes, Morris' words have value and meaning that fit many lives and careers:

• Adversity leads to growth and opportunity.
• Rely on the significant people in your life to help navigate the rocky shoals.
• Make certain that other important aspects have not been neglected in the quest to build a career.
• Be honest with yourself, brutally so if that is what is warranted. Define the reality of the situation so it is fully accurate, not a mythology constructed to prop up illusions about a job or a performance.
• Take time to reconnect with yourself.
• Stay positive and keep a sense of humor about the situation.
• Be clear as to who you are, separate and apart from a career or a company.
• Be true to yourself. It is through both successes and failures that characters and careers are built, defined and refined. If a chance is taken, accepting a job that is full of relentlessly high demands, and it all blows up, at least there was valor and courage in accepting those risks.