A New Perspective on Crisis: Opportunity
I had this incredible conversation with Amy K., a professional certified coach with the International Coach Federation, about growth moments and how to turn crisis into opportunity. While the discussion revolved around how I had pivoted from crisis to opportunity in my life, I came away with some great insights about myself, layoffs, and other life-changing moments. We talked about how our attitudes and the attitudes of those around us can make such a big difference in our outcomes: our ability to succeed or fail.
You can listen to the Growth Moment Podcast, Episode 64, “Crisis or Opportunity—Growth Spotlight with Keva Dine, in its entirety here.
Instead of recapping the conversation for you, I thought I’d reflect on what I learned and the insights I’ve gained from my own experiences and the experiences of the hundreds of people I’ve coached and helped to get hired in my 25 years as a creative recruiter.
Tragedies often Create Growth
Growth moments rarely come when you are comfortable, settled, and happy. This fact of life is both true and tragic. I wish we could learn our big lessons in life in easier ways. Although I treasure every moment of bliss in my life when I look back, it was the hardships and unfortunate events that spurred me to embrace change, step out into the unknown and out of my comfort zone, and discover doors and windows of opportunities I would never have seen otherwise.
During the podcast, Amy K. observed, “The Chinese word for crisis contains symbols that represent both the challenge aspect or danger and opportunity. There is a poetic proverb: a crisis is an opportunity riding on a dangerous wind. What a profound thought! It immediately opens up my thinking to go beyond a black-and-white mindset into a deeper dive with layers of possibility.”
During my conversation with Amy, we dared to take that deeper dive. We peeled back the layers of fear and judgment to see that our greatest gifts sometimes come packaged as the worst news we could imagine. Whether that’s getting notified that you are laid off or some other unexpected event, how we handle that moment and the following moments could reveal the most significant opportunities of our lives.
Spotlight a Growth Moment
Amy K., a self-proclaimed growth junkie, started our conversation by asking me to spotlight a growth moment to discuss. When I answered the question, several came to mind. Because we were focusing on a work crisis, I remembered several times in my own life when I was laid off and shared that my husband had also been laid off recently. Listen, the bad news doesn’t always have to come to you. When someone you share a life with loses a job or experiences a setback, the challenge is as much yours as theirs. Am I right? That means that the opportunities are there for you as well.
As you read through my growth moments and the bad news that preceded them, think about your circumstances and how your perspective either propelled you forward or made you feel stuck. If you’re currently experiencing a crisis, I hope you can take the insights and inspiration from my stories and experience a mindset shift that will help open up new opportunities, possibilities, and potential for you.
Here’s a colossal takeaway: Simply recounting my journey revealed that all the steps and bad news I’d received looked like an airplane runway in the rearview mirror. Of course, I never saw it like that as it was happening, but as one thing ended, something better presented itself, or I knocked on a door I would have passed by if it wasn’t for my circumstances.
When my circumstances propelled me into that uncomfortable and awkward state, some of my most potent growth moments also happened. All those opportunities, missteps, and crisis moments finally led me to be recruited as an agent, which led me to get laid off again and start my agency, which I'm still running 23 years later.
Crisis or Opportunity?
One word comes to mind when you’re in a crisis: scary. But when you look at that exact moment from another angle and turn it on its head, a new word appears: opportunity.
I cannot tell you how often I’ve talked to a laid-off candidate; they tell me the same thing. They felt stuck in a dead-end job when they worked for the employer. The joy had left their work. They didn’t feel like they were accepted, valued, and respected. But they stayed on because it was safe. And one day, they didn’t have that job anymore. In some small place in the back of their mind, they were relieved. They couldn’t accept that feeling because they thought they needed to feel shame, rejection, and self-doubt.
Sometimes, things that are good for you happen—even when it doesn’t feel like that in the moment. The same could be said for relationships. You’ve been there, right? We all have. That’s what I’m talking about. Getting unstuck—even if it’s forced upon you is a positive, not a negative.
Amy K. put it back into perspective: “We’re back to that Chinese symbol that really means crisis or opportunity. It reflects so much of how it's just true in the world: These things that are so difficult—crises and tragedies—so often create growth.”
Finding the Growth Moments
A great coach or counselor is curious. They always want to know more, to dig a little deeper. So it is with Amy K. She wanted to know the biggest Keva lessons from those moments that allowed me to pivot from danger to opportunity or crisis to opportunity.
I’m sharing my lessons with you so you can find inspiration to create your own. I’m lucky. I have always been willing to stick my neck out, I'm not shy, and I’ve successfully avoided the imposter syndrome. I’m sorry, I don’t have a secret to share. It’s just part of my DNA. So, when I was laid off, and other doors opened, I would just go for it.
I am willing to take risks, and I’ve been coaching people who sign up for my brand audits to embrace risk a little bit more in their lives. Another strength of mine is my network. I know people hear this all the time, but it’s true! One of the pivotal jobs for me was with a big recruiting agency. I got the job when a friend I had worked with referred and recommended me and I got hired.
That’s it. I didn’t know what I was doing when I walked in. I just did it, and it worked out. In the end, I was laid off from there, too. And that was a blessing because the person who laid me off told me to go out and start my own business. It helped that they were shutting the whole division down and my colleague told me they would refer clients to me if I went out on my own. So, I did it. And so did they. And now here I am.
My biggest lesson from that experience is just to do it, trust in yourself to do the job, know your value, show others what you can do, and build relationships and trust with the people you work with and for. It would have been so easy for me to mourn being laid off and wish I could stay in the comfort of working for someone else. But, the double doors were being opened for me right at the end of the comfortable job, and all I had to do was take that first step.
Connecting the Dots in a Crisis
Getting laid off, fired, or whatever—we’ve all been through it. So let’s let go of the shame we are supposed to feel and start turning these transitions into opportunities. During the podcast, Amy K. reflected on her journey.
“This is personal for me. I've been laid off several times and straight-up fired once—which is not unusual in startups but increasingly common across all kinds of companies today. Like Keva, doors opened up that I never would have considered, including becoming a coach. Looking back, I see all the stepping stones. one leading to the other. I can appreciate the magnitude and magnificence of the journey, the dots connecting,” Amy said.
During the podcast, Amy asked the audience, “What about you? Have you experienced a career crisis, or are you experiencing one right now? Or are you working through a non-career crisis? Health, relationships, finances, and even identity? Are you only seeing the crisis, or is there an opportunity here? Might there be at least one door opening or a whole hallway of doors for you?
Where might the Keva lessons, the go-for-it attitude, and the willingness to risk fit for you? And, of course, you always have permission for the feelings, the shock, anger, grief, anxiety, and depression. But there is something about owning the crisis, deciding that you will find the opportunity, not just being positive but determined to leverage the moment. Just let the thoughts roll around for now and grab any insights or inspiration so far.”
Tell You What You Want
Why is it so hard to be fired, let go, or laid off? When building something, we are often not ready to let it go or give it to someone else to finish. But when you work for someone else, you don’t own your work, so you must be prepared to give it up and not finish it. It’s hard. I’m not going to lie. But I guess always having that reality check with yourself that you are working on someone else’s dream helps when it’s time to move on.
Knowing that you don’t own your work (unless you work for yourself) can be liberating. Knowing your worth, standing up for yourself, and insisting on getting compensated and recognized for your work is next level.
Once you know your worth, you can decide what you want now and in the future. Make a vision board and write a list or create a journal entry, whatever works for you. But get your dreams and desires on paper. It’s easier to make it a reality if you can see it. If you speak it out loud and you live it.
A crisis is the perfect opportunity to reconsider what you want and use your past growth moments to spotlight current possibilities. Look to your past for wisdom, let go of what no longer serves you, and create the future you deserve.