Tag Archives: observations from a women’s transition

“This is an evolution not an event,” I added sincerely as I sat with a colleague on the eve of his first major downsizing.  He was the CIO of a major insurance company.  It was the early 90’s. None of us were fatigued yet by downsizing.   He was visibly worried as he sat thinking through the likely impact of a meeting scheduled for the next morning.   I was on my soapbox of ‘enlightenment through defining a problem correctly.’  I urged him to think about a broader set of actions: the message to the employees who would stay, the required behaviors of his management team in the days and months that followed, his willingness to help those who would be on the receiving end of a sobering message. Continue reading →