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This is why how you handle rejection says a lot about you

2015-12-08 13:38:45

You're fired! Here's how to bounce back after the ultimate professional

rejection.

8 December 2015

When Cheryl Bachelder took over as president of fast food giant KFC in 2001,

she had reached the job that had been her life s goal.

Within three years, after what she described as 14 months of terrible revenue

numbers, Bachelder found herself unemployed for the first time in her career.

She had been fired.

At that moment, you re really mad and you re looking for people to blame,

Bachelder recalled. There was a point where I really dwelled on it.

Bachelder went into consulting. She spent more time with her kids. She served

on the boards of major companies, including KFC s biggest rival, Popeyes

Louisiana Kitchen. And, more than anything, she figured out that she shouldn t

be looking for other people to blame for her firing.

Cheryl Bachelder has learned from previous mistakes. (Credit: Popeyes Louisiana

Kitchen)

CEO Cheryl Bachelder has learned from previous mistakes. (Credit: Popeyes

Louisiana Kitchen)

In 2007, the Popeyes board picked one of its own to become the next CEO.

Bachelder was given the top job at the company and said she was determined to

learn from her previous mistakes.

I just had a better idea of my convictions and what success meant, Bachelder

said. I came to realise the true test of a leader isn t whether I m successful

but whether I can help the people around me reach success.

The new approach worked. When Bachelder took the helm, Popeyes had reported

seven years of declining sales, with dated restaurants and menus failing to

attract customers. But after Bachelder took over, Popeyes increased revenues

six years in a row, adding new stores internationally as other fast-food

chains, like McDonald s and Burger King struggle.

Bouncing back after getting fired and reaching the top once again is a

challenge not all managers will face. But many in senior positions will

encounter some form of professional rejection in their careers. And, it can

come in many forms, from lost promotions, to budget cuts, or high-profile

projects or clients that go to another department or company. Often, the best

leaders have experienced a major rejection, and perhaps a very public

embarrassment, before they reached the top.

The way you bounce back after a rejection is telling. (Credit: Thinkstock)

If you re in a position of management, a rejection is definitely going to

happen, said Sherry Thatcher, professor of business administration at the

Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina in the US.

But when it does, it s important to see every rejection as an opportunity.

How to react

For the manager who s just faced rejection, the first step is to realise that

it s not always about you. If you didn t get the promotion or the new project

approved in your budget, it s easy to view the rejection as a comment about you

as a leader, Thatcher said, instead of viewing it as a setback and taking into

account all the other factors that likely led to the decision.

Often, the best leaders have experienced a major rejection before they reached

the top.

There s always a sense that it won t happen to me if I m smart enough and work

hard enough, that I ll be safe, Thatcher said. That s really not the way of

the world.

Perhaps the toughest part of rejection for a manager is dealing with

professional perceptions, said JP Pawliw-Fry, president and co-founder of the

Institute for Health and Human Potential in Ontario. The passed-over person

will feel like their peers and employees are judging them, and worse,

downgrading their worth.

No doubt those emotions can be trying, often as tough as a death in the family,

Pawliw-Fry said. Searching for a counsellor, someone to talk with about what

happened, is key. But for a manager, it s also crucial to consider the public

perception of how you react.

Emotions can be trying, often as tough as a death in the family. (Credit:

Alamy)

Emotions can be trying, often as tough as a death in the family. (Credit:

Alamy)

Those pivotal moments that phone call delivering bad news or the moment the

HR director handed you the severance package will also be hard to forget. Our

brains often sear high-pressure moments into our memories far more than the

good times. It s our way to learn from what went wrong, Pawliw-Fry said.

The key, then, is to learn from those moments and start thinking about what s

next, Pawliw-Fry said. Consider that Steven Spielberg faced three rejections

from film school before he was accepted or that Oprah Winfrey was fired from

her first job as a TV anchor.

After accepting what happened, the key is to remain authentic, Thatcher said.

If you re the manager of a department and were just passed over for a

promotion, acknowledge that you ve had a setback. If you don t, your employees

might think you re angry and ready to jump ship, which could affect their

performance and reflect negatively on you as a manager.

Perhaps the toughest part of rejection for a manager is dealing with

professional perceptions.

For managers who work internationally, it s important to understand how a

rejection or setback might be viewed by those working in your overseas

divisions. In Asia, Thatcher said, it s rare for companies to make public that

several people are up for one job, to avoid the public shame associated with

getting passed over. In Europe and North America, meanwhile, there s often a

very public competition between managers up for a promotion. This means that if

you didn t get that big promotion, your staff in Germany may expect you to

offer an analytical reaction, whereas your office in China may expect you to

show remorse, even embarrassment.

Back on top

For Bachelder, the experience of getting fired taught her an entirely new way

to manage. When she joined Popeyes, her main goal as leader was to enable her

employees to succeed, instead of worrying about her personal success.

A major rejection can be very embarrassing. (Credit: Thinkstock)

I ask my employees, Why are you here? What s the purpose of your position?

Bachelder said. Once they realise why they go to work, it s a lot easier to

pinpoint their purpose and what success looks like.

Bachelder recounts her fall from KFC and her turnaround at Popeyes in the book

Dare to Serve. In a phone interview, she said she s certain that she couldn t

have realised her Popeyes' success without first facing the rejection of

getting fired. She said: The trials in my life are entirely responsible for

any success I ve had.

If you re a manager grappling with rejection, the message is clear: someday you

ll be stronger for it.