Rob T.
Advisory Council Member @Harvard Business Review
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WORK HISTORY
Advisory Council Member @Harvard Business Review
The HBR Advisory Council is a unique online research community sharing views and opinions with peers and the staff of Harvard Business ReviewProviding insight to shape the content developed and enriching HBR\'s understanding of expert perspectives on ideas from HBR and the wider world of management and leadership
SKILLS
ABOUT ROB T.
It all started on the absolute worst day of my career when I sat down in the uncomfortable little chair across from the director of human resources. He looks nervous, fiddles with a pen, and refused to make eye contact with me. Uh-oh. This can’t be good.My heart is now racing faster with every moment of silence. Anxiety is increasing…“Rob, I have some bad news…”Before I share what followed another awkward pause, I must warn the rest of the story might make you think less of me… But, here it goes…Whispers that a layoff was coming were growing. They happened before, but I had never been through one.Silently screaming in my head - “PLEASE! Not me. Not now.”The director picks up the conversation, “We’ve made a decision to lay off a significant number of employees.”My head drops…He continues, “…and I need you to help me with handling these.”What the…? Me? I’ve never done anything like this?The churning in my stomach is replaced by a pit as I imagine being responsible for people feeling just as I had moments before.My moral compass starts spinning at 100 mph.Do I refuse this request and join those who would be unemployed by the end of the day?What would you do?I begrudgingly delivered that gut wrenching message to more than 30 people that day.As each person came in; one-by-one, I forced myself to look into their eyes. I owed them respect and knew I needed to feel the full weight of what was happening.Begging. Tears. Cursing. And even threats.I didn’t tell my young wife what happened that day. I did kiss and hug my kids extra tight that night. Sleep was not possible that night, but one thing surely was - a decision.I would do 3 things moving forward:1. Position my family for weathering any layoff by increasing my earnings significantly.2. Make companies successful and layoff resistant.3. Help at least 10X the number of people I had to layoff that day. Over the next two decades, those all became realities as I.• Advanced to become an executive at almost billion-dollar company, securing my family’s financial future.• Spearheaded $227M+ in annual sales growth,$9M+ in savings, and grew businesses in US and in Mexico, China, Germany UK, and France.• Trained over 1.8K people, created opportunities for thousands, and advance careers and double earnings.Interested in confidently landing the job of your dreams or taking your business to the next level, banking the income you deserve, or adding me to your network just-in-case?Connect with or message me. I\'d love to hear YOUR story.
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