Just this morning, I called a client to confirm his appointment with me.  The only number he’d given was his cell phone, which I dialed.  For approximately three full minutes (I timed it), I was constrained to listen to a piece of music the man obviously thought would entertain his callers.  Although the music was pleasant, I found it rather excruciating.  I had to listen to the piece in its entirety until his actual voice mail kicked in, allowing me to leave a message.  But that, too, was another minute’s wait as I was treated to the man blessing me in two languages and asking me to have an absolutely wonderful day in the light of the Lord.  As he represented business, I found the patience to hang on … by a thread.

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When an animal displays a high level of intelligence and sociability, biologists and nature lovers praise the creature for its almost human qualities.  The inference is that human beings possess the most highly evolved brains of all the life forms on Planet Earth.  However, there is much that we can learn from the animal kingdom, particularly those of us who seek gainful employment in this lean economy.

Consider and contrast the ostrich and the chimpanzee.  The ostrich, at the first sign of danger, takes the most expedient route by burying her head in the sand.  While this strategy protects the most vital organ, the brain, it leaves the rest of the animal exposed to an untoward fate. It also effectively cuts her off from the rest of the herd (there is indeed safety in numbers).

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Commanding officers and enlisted service people in every branch of our military often strategize and live by an interesting and sound concept whose adage advises, “If you want to eat an elephant, eat it one bite at a time.”  Unless stranded on the African veldt or the jungles of India with the barest of supplies, our armed forces are not advocating initiating a giant barbeque featuring a pachyderm as the main menu item.  Rather, the United States military recommends that, when confronted with an enormous task, one should break it down logically and methodically into manageable parts and then tackle each portion one step at a time.

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Several years before Taylor Hicks was crowned the 2006 American Idol winner at the famed Kodak Theater, it was a much smaller stage that he claimed in his native Birmingham, Alabama.  In a venue called The Open Door Cafe, Hicks and his band mates tossed up a mixed salad of classic-bluesy rock and Southern rock, a Ray Charles’ heartbreaker, and some of Taylor’s original material.  Peppering his set with observations tossed out to the audience, Taylor noted rather wistfully that, “The blues don’t pay.”  Quickly and prophetically, he then added, “But they will someday; they will.”

Although Taylor’s public pep talk underscored both his devotion to his music and his commitment to landing a lucrative record contract, it also presented a dichotomy.  The kind of music that swept commercial radio represented a calculated, formulaic route too narrow to allow the undeniably talented and diverse, albeit unknown, artist to set off on a path of his own making.  Taylor understood that in order to get his foot in the door, he had to reinvent or repackage himself, balancing the primal need to remain true to his musical roots with the necessity to market himself to a broader audience.  As demonstrated by his song choices and as demanded by the judges throughout the Idol process, these were the decisions that informed Taylor’s strategy.

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The process of confronting one’s own termination can be rather similar in its phases to the loss of a loved one.  This is especially true of employees long embedded in their career with one particular company.  The immediacy of disbelief is followed by a sense of betrayal, engendering the next stage, which is anger:  itself a two-edged sword.  Properly channeled, righteous anger can serve as the impetus through which you vow to succeed and begin to do so by devising a well thought-out job search.  Directed inward, however, with self-recriminations of – “What did I do wrong?” - anger may lead to depression and ultimately, inertia:  the inability to move forward.  The longer you are held captive by your emotions, the more difficult it is to resume your entry into the work force.

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Looking out on the morning rain,
I used to feel so uninspired.
And when I knew I had to face another day,
Lord, it made me feel so tired.
Before the day I met you, life was so unkind,
                               But your love was the key to my peace of mind.
                                Aretha Franklin – “A Natural Woman”

Although the Queen of Soul first belted this hit over the airwaves more than three decades ago, its sentiments are as relevant now as they were then.  Today, every media vehicle teems with negatives.  Browser pages on our computers greet us each morning with news of natural disasters, violent crime, and the ever-sinking economy.  In such times, we grasp for and cling to encouragement wherever we may find it.  When truly fortunate, we are directed to something whose intrinsic worth is more far-reaching than immediate forms of respite and motivation.  Often, that “something” is a “someone:”  a role model.  Neophytes in business have dedicated mentors; sports figures have team captains and coaches.  While these are avenues and examples of traditional role models, we sometimes find our guiding lights through routes perhaps not as obvious as these.

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