Episode 6: Navigating Uncertainty: Mindset, Preparation & Grace Through Career Transitions

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💡 Episode 6: Navigating Uncertainty: Mindset, Preparation & Grace Through Career Transitions Summary

In this timely and supportive episode of The Joy CEO Podcast, host Lori Pine offers a grounded, compassionate guide for high-achieving professionals navigating corporate reorganizations, layoffs, or role uncertainty. Drawing from her own experience and her work as an executive coach, Lori shares both mindset shifts and practical strategies to help listeners stay anchored through professional transitions.

Whether you're preparing for a potential change, dealing with a recent layoff, or supporting someone who is, this episode will equip you with tools to stay steady, proactive, and empowered—even when the ground beneath you feels uncertain.

If you’ve ever struggled to separate your worth from your job title, this conversation will remind you: you are your greatest asset—not your role.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• You Are Not Your Title

Lori shares how to shift your mindset from job-based worth to a deeper recognition of your inherent value.

• Ground Yourself Before You React

Use practices like journaling, gratitude, and breathwork to stay emotionally steady during turbulent times.

• Update and Prepare—Even If You're Safe

Lori encourages listeners to regularly update their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and personal brand to stay ready—not reactive.

• Relationships Are a Career Lifeline

In moments of change, reach out. Networking doesn’t mean asking—it means connecting and showing up.

• Uncertainty Can Be an Opening

Career disruption is often an invitation to realign, evolve, and grow into something new—on your terms.

🔎 Mentioned in the Episode:

• Lori’s personal experience navigating corporate restructuring
• Tips for journaling, breathwork, and daily grounding
• Relationship-first approach to networking
• Why gratitude is a resilience tool—not just a feel-good one
• Hula hoop Theory in Episode 2

✨ Reflection Prompts:

• How do I define my worth beyond my title?
• What support systems do I need to stay steady in uncertain times?
• Where am I being invited to evolve professionally—even if I didn’t choose this change?

🧠 Who This Episode Is For:

• Professionals facing corporate reorganizations or layoffs
• HR leaders looking to support teams through transitions
• Women navigating career changes with clarity and self-worth
• Executives and managers committed to leading with heart—even in disruption

📩 Want to Go Deeper?

• Connect with Lori on LinkedIn for more leadership insights
• Explore coaching options at loripine.com

Share this episode with a colleague navigating change

⭐ Leave a review to help others find heart-centered leadership tools

🎧 Subscribe to The Joy CEO Podcast for more grounded growth

📅 Book a no-pressure discovery call and let’s map out what aligned success looks like for you now.

You don’t have to keep carrying it all alone. And you don’t have to keep proving your worth. You’re already the asset.

Let’s build from there.

—Lori
The JOY CEO

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Joy CEO podcast. I'm Lori Pine, your host for this episode, and I am really delighted to talk to you today. We are gonna talk about a subject that is near dear to my heart. One I am experienced many times, reorgs, layoffs and leadership, how to stay grounded when the ground shifts.

I mean, what is going on right now in CPG and really in many industries, it seems like we've got a massive recalibration going on. Every time I look at headlines, I'm hearing about another major company who's announcing reorgs and downsizing layoffs are coming. And every time I get on a client call with one of the women or men that I coach, I'm hearing their anxiety and their nervousness around their position, what's happening within their organization.

Are they safe, are they not? And so what we're hearing and what we're seeing is that companies are definitely tightening their belts and that that ripple effect is creating this anxiety and tension amongst employees, and you may be one of them. So if you are listening in today. Buckle your seatbelt because I am going to prepare you for some of the things that you can do.

I'm gonna try to normalize some of the feelings that you may be feeling, and I'm gonna give you some sound tips that you can actually do and take things that are in your hula hoop that will make you feel a little bit more in charge of your own destiny as opposed to feeling victimized by what it is that your company may or may not be doing.

So let's dig in. You know, the headlines are reading all over the place. Procter and Gamble, 7,000 jobs are being slashed. PepsiCo 28,000 jobs over the past year, trimmed globally. Unilever, 6,000 jobs trimmed globally over the past year. General Mills cut 800 rules. Heinz Kraft, cornell Dr. Pepper are all kind of speculating and rumors, and there's some are confirmed, some aren't.

But this is the nature of consumer products goods. And quite frankly, I think this is the nature of big companies that every couple of years they rightsize the business. They go through these restructures, they see what's working, what's not working, and they're constantly trying to make sure that their p and l's work.

And it's this balance of do we have the right people in the right places? Do we have the right number of people for what the business needs? And. There is a reckoning going on right now. If you think about it, if you think about what's happening with AI and the way the retailer landscape is shifting, the way the consumer demands are shifting.

And so if you are A CEO, running a major CPG company, balancing your p and l is your number one priority so that you can return stockholder share value. That's your job. And this. People is the largest line item in your p and l and you've gotta get it right. Now, on the one hand, you also know that you can't run your company without really good people.

So how do you balance that? And it's the never ending cycle for a company. Now you as the employee really get caught in the crossfire, and I know this because I personally experienced it myself. You are sitting in your desk, maybe it's at home, maybe it's in an office, and you're watching all of these emails fly. And perhaps it's a really transparent email from the company that says, this is what we're doing, but maybe it's not so transparent.

Maybe it's much more cryptic, and you have to read between the lines. And then all this fear creeps in and you're sitting at your desk wondering, do I have a job? Do I not have a job? When is it coming? Is it now? Is it in a month? Is it six months from now? And if I have a job, how many jobs will I be doing?

Will I be doing, doing three jobs versus the one job I do now? And if I get to stay, how much work will it be versus what I currently do? And so it's always this, you know, balancing of, I hope I get to stay, but holy smokes, what is it going to be like if I get to stay? So if you are experiencing any of this.

Keep listening because this episode is for you. Okay? Let's normalize that you are not alone. Let me repeat that. You are not alone. It feels like you might be, but there are so many people, thousands and thousands and thousands of people at this point who have gone through corporate restructures. I personally lived through 14 of them.

I think I lost count at 14. I know what it is like to have your future decided in some backroom conversation that you're not even invited to. It's debilitating, crippling, infuriating, even. Those calibration conversations are so critical to your career, whether you stay, whether you go and you get zero input.

So what are the things that you can remind yourself of right now? One, this is not any indication of personal failure. Reorgs happen all the time. They are a way for the company to right size a balance sheet, and it is not indicative of your personal worth. So let's make sure we're really clear about that.

Two, these are financial decisions. They are not a reflection of your value or your work ethic or the contribution you have made to the organization. And three, even the highest performers can get caught in a corporate shuffle. That happened to me. I got the highest rating. I was in the top nine box of the corporate performance structure.

And my entire team was literally wiped off of an org chart, the entire team. And so it didn't matter what my performance was like, they made a decision that the function that I was in was no longer necessary. The entire team was eliminated. All of us, we were eliminated. So the reframe for this is, this isn't the end.

It might be a moment that you can actually reclaim yourself to pause and pivot. Okay? Now you need mental preparation. This is where you're gonna reclaim some of your power. So here are some mindsets for you to start to incorporate in between what might be some anxiety, some nervousness, some fear about what's happening around you, the what you know and the what you don't know, the what you're making up, the, what you might be gossiping about and really ruminating about.

So mindsets for you to really soak in. One, you are the asset, not the role. You are the asset, not your role. You may work for a powerful brand, but you are also a powerful brand. So let that be a reminder that if you have not worked on building your own credibility as a brand, now is the time to do that.

And we're gonna get to that in just a few minutes. Detachment is strength. Really, your identity is bigger than your title, but it's so easy during these times to get swept up into all of the small talk and did you hear, and Oh, I heard and what happened? And all of that kind of gossipy, chitter chatter that really just kind of sucks you in.

That's not where you are going to find your strength or your power. So I encourage you to really think about. Where can you practice the hula hoop theory? Now, I did an entire episode. I talked about the hula hoop theory. Let me, let me remind you that the hula hoop is where you step into a hula hoop. The only thing you control is what is inside the hula hoop.

That is you. You don't control what's outside of the hula hoop. That is everything else, including your boss, your company, your CEO. A potential reorg. And so what is it that's inside your hula hoop that you can control today, right now, in this moment? Your mindset, your perspective, your energy, what you allow yourself to think about.

Are you in worry and doom and gloom? And worst case scenario, the sky is falling or. Are you hopeful? And do you believe, and do you know that you have talents that can live beyond the current organization that you live in or the current role that you are currently living in? And then watch the narrative that you're speaking to yourself.

Are you saying things like, they don't value me, or are you asking yourself, how do I choose to rise in this moment? There's a very big difference in the two. One is really victimized and the other really empowers your personal strength to move forward. So some grounding practices. Just a reminder of what would be in your hula hoop, daily breath work, minute by minute breath work.

Sometimes we forget to breathe and breathing can just clear some of the negativity out of our space. Journaling. Pen to paper that will really get you some clarity on what might really be the biggest fear. How can you overcome that? What's the next action you could be taking? And then a gratitude practice, especially when we're in the midst of what feels like a tsunami, a gratitude practice will get you grounded in the things that matter the most.

The simple things, health is wealth. Your family, your children, that for today, you have a roof over your head. You have plenty to eat, your refrigerator is stocked. All of those things that you can be grateful for in this moment, in this day. Okay? The next one is your professional preparation. So how do you really start to build your own bench?

Well, let's make sure that your resume is ready and updated, and many people will just update their resume as though it's a timeline. I really encourage you, yes, to update your resume. Yes, make sure that your most current role is there, but also look at your resume and make sure that it tells a story, that it highlights your strengths, your unique abilities.

What separates you from others and makes you jump off of the page. That would make a hiring manager say, oh, I need to have a conversation with this person. Next, start tracking and sharing your wins in real time. Visibility is a real strategy. So often people just assume that others, their managers, their senior leadership, know the things that they're working on, know their successes.

That is not true. In fact, that couldn't be further from the truths. You need to make sure that you are communicating the work that you do and the effectiveness you have on the business. That is not bragging, that is informing, and it is a very effective strategy, one that really will serve you very well.

And then reconnect with people who matter, who have mattered in the past, whether it's a mentor, a sponsor, a peer, and it doesn't matter how much time has gone by, we make up these stories in our head and we say things like, oh, they're not gonna remember me. Oh, maybe they didn't even like me. Oh, too much time has gone by. Not true.

And if it's true, give them the opportunity. To either not respond or to come back and tell you they're not interested. But the truth is, 9.9 times out of 10, somebody is going to be really glad to hear from you. This happens all the time with my coaching clients all the time. They are hesitant to reach out from to somebody from their past, but when they do, it's like kismet.

It's just this joy that comes from reconnecting with somebody who knows them from some other period in their life. So make a list of people that you would like to reconnect with. People who maybe you see on LinkedIn, they're at other companies, they're in other roles. Maybe they've even switched industries.

And you're not necessarily connecting with them because you want them to give you a job, but perhaps they could just share some wisdom. How did they get to where they're going? How did they pivot? If they made a pivot? What do they like about where they're at now? Have they gone through a reorg? Do they have any sound advice for you?

And just open a conversation that's genuine and authentic, and I bet you're going to be amazed at what will come out of that. And then the last for this section is do a personal SWOT analysis. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you need to shore up in yourself? You know, I wish in hindsight that I would've hired an executive coach much sooner than I did.

I actually didn't hire an executive coach until I left my corporate career. I hired her to help me with a big pivot. You know, I left to become a stay-at-home mom when my 17-year-old son was struggling. But I really, in hindsight, now that I understand the value and the power of executive coaching, I wish that I had done that.

Much sooner in my career, I think I would've been a much better leader, a much better manager. I think I would've seen the business differently. And there's a reason why high performing professional athletes all have coaches because they need somebody to tell them where their swings off, where their blind spots are.

As high performing professionals in a business world, we are no different. We could use some of that help to say, Hey, what's going on here? In fact, just this morning I was on a call with an unbelievably ambitious, incredible professional woman and. It came up that she's really struggling with courageous conversations, and so we were able to do some work around that.

We'll continue to do work around that so that she can get to a point where those courageous conversations actually serve her well and get her to where she needs to be leading the organization that she's leading. So what in you need shoring up? Where are your strengths? Look at that SWOT analysis for yourself, much like you would for your business or your customer.

Do it on yourself and see what comes up. And then you can ask yourself, if I were let go tomorrow, who would I call first? Who's the first phone call you would make? And what story are you telling about yourself? Does it even reflect where you're going? So kind of get yourself grounded in those two things, and then perhaps that person that you would call first, you might just wanna connect with them regardless of whether or not you are about to be displaced in a reorg.

Keep those connections strong, relationships matter. Okay, now the physical preparation, so do not wait to update LinkedIn until you need it. Start showing up now. Do you know that only 1% of all LinkedIn users actually post on LinkedIn? So to be on LinkedIn and to have a voice allows you to be seen. Sharing content about your thought leadership, what you do, who you are, how you drive your business, how you connect with others is a great way to build your personal brand.

Next, get on coffee calendars, connect with people and you're not asking for a job, but you're asking for insights and trends and other people's experiences and even some warm intros. If you've done your research, you know who they're connected to, you know that that might serve you. You can ask for those warm introductions.

Join a professional group. Are you getting out? Are you networking? I'm a part of Next up, they were previously Net Network of Executive Women. That has served me so well. I've been a part of that organization for over 20 years. They are a group of brilliant professionals who are really coming together. I can't tell you the amazing women and men that I've met as being a part of that group.

So make sure that you are a part of some sort of professional group that will serve you. And then commit to attending one new networking event this month. Get in the room. That's where magic happens. You meet people, you talk to people, you introduce yourself, and before you know it, a conversation happens.

A door opens, somebody knows somebody, and. You get into activity and flow, and that is so much better than sitting home in your home office or in your work office. Being afraid, scared, and feeling sorry for yourself and victimized taking action and getting out. Okay? So even if this industry is shifting under your feet, it's okay to shift with it.

I encourage you to do that. Don't stay hoping that the ground will stop moving. It's not going to, the ground is going to move. Your work is to move with it and to do the work on the inside of you that needs to change so that you can move along. In closing, what if this is a new beginning for you? Most of us don't like change, but change is so inevitable and restructures are hard, but they also shake loose what no longer fits.

You don't need to clinging to something that isn't clinging to you. Isn't that beautiful? Perhaps something new is calling you into being, and you can follow that even if you're afraid, even if you don't know what it is. So I invite you to reflect and act. I invite you to reframe survival into strategy and then lead from joy, lead from a place that you know you will be okay.

Even when the story you're telling yourself feels very uncertain, you will be okay. You've always been okay. This is no different. If you need a role model, if you need some experience, I went through 14 of these, I bet you could look around your office, your company, and there are many other people who have the same experience, where they've been through multiple reorgs and somehow came out the other side, and many people come out the other side even better.

The same could be true for you. If you need any help with this. Please feel free to send me a DM and I leave you with one last reflection. If your job was gone tomorrow, what would you do first and what would you wish you had already done? So in that reflection, you, you get to see where you might need to take some proactive action now.

Yeah. All right. It's been a pleasure being with you today. I'm Lori Pine, the joy, CEO. Thanks for listening in, and I will be back with you next week.