At a Loss About Your New Boss?

Some years ago I had a new boss experience.  Here’s a short summary.

We were reorganizing the company again—the fourth time in my six years at the firm.  The new president had invited the entire headquarters staff into a big conference room and proceeded to tell us all there was nothing to worry about.

“It’s just like when birds are sitting on a telephone line.  You clap your hands, and they all fly up, but then they land again in a new configuration,” he alleged cheerfully.

My assistant, usually very discreet, leaned over to me and whispered, “What an ass.”

And there you have it.  The new boss had arrived and my future was in limbo.

You Have a Choice

When you consider that some 500,000 executives change jobs every year in our target geographies, frankly, these situations are happening all the time.  [Read more.]  In response,  you as an executive may not be able to change your new boss, but you can definitely change how you feel about him or her or indeed, about your job.  You have a choice.

Or, in some cases, actually, you don’t.

Take the US federal government, for example.

When a new president enters office, leaders across the federal government switch. As many as 4,000 political appointees can be replaced and over 400 government agencies might welcome new leaders.

A CEO would tell you, […] no other organization is run this way, that you would take 4,000 of the top leaders and fire them, between 11:59 and 12 p.m. on Jan. 20,” said Valerie Boyd, the director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization. “Not only does that represent a lot of turnover in itself, but the process to replace those people is getting harder and harder for each successive president. [See source.]

And in 2025 we may be seeing even more change in the federal ranks than normal.  In fact, one source tells us that online searches for international jobs spiked five-fold on November 5th in response to the US election results.  (By the way, we are the leading international career management firm. And we cover more than 12 time zones in case that is relevant.)

As always, our advice is to see your career as an income-producing asset. (Of course, we also see it as as a source of joy, fulfillment, intellectual stimulation, and community.)  So, occasional review of your career portfolio only makes sense.  That is why we begin each career change program with a bit of soul-searching.  We call it the Clarity Program©. It helps executives reconsider their career targets, often leading to pivots, changes of industry, new roles, and even moves from the public to the private sector (and vice versa).

Here are a few examples:

Vincent Capodicci – After spending more than 30 years in the federal government, most of it overseas, Vincent wanted to be a full-time husband and father to his young family. That required leaving government for the private sector.

“Clarity helped me think beyond ground-level, physical security, which had been my focus before, to a higher-level, more overall, management of security. It broadened my horizon under the security umbrella,”  Vincent told us.

After several weeks of interviewing, Vincent was offered a position in which he would oversee all security aspects of the organization’s government defense contracts. The compensation package was everything he had wanted and more. [Read more.]

Jocelyne Moussavou – As chief of staff to the head of a municipality in southern Florida, she helped run operations, coordinate alignment between various stakeholders, and develop and implement complex policies within a dynamic political environment. About a year into the role, Jocelyne realized the lack of upward mobility. To grow professionally, she would need to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Jocelyne found her Clarity Program experience eye-opening, ultimately landing at the VP level in the private sector.  “This transition has been a complete industry change and it’s been fabulous!” she told us.  “I couldn’t have dreamt this opportunity in my wildest dreams. Every aspect of what I identified as my dream job has been met in this role!”  [Read more.]

We could go on for days listing clients’ positive experience with our career change program because we have been helping executives reenergize their careers for more than 30 years.  That’s partly why Forbes has repeatedly cited us as one of the best in the business even though we work for candidates, not employers.

Take Preemptive Action Now

So you need not put up with that new boss or wait for the axe to fall.  You can take preemptive action now.  For background, you might also want to read Laid Off, Laid Back, or Laid Plans?

But does it pay to invest in your career?  Here’s how another of our clients put it:

“There was a significant amount of work that I put in during the three months leading up to that interview. From reflecting on what I wanted to do, to recognizing my skills, to building up contacts – I was prepped for that interview. That is due to The Barrett Group, no question about it!”

When Ray received the initial job offer, his career consultant provided critical assistance in the compensation negotiations. This resulted in a much more attractive package.

“This is where TBG really earned its fee. Thanks to Isabelita [his career consultant], I was able to understand quickly what should be in the package and, so, negotiate a better one,” said Ray.  [Ray Cleary, Read more]

Frankly, there is an ill-understood opportunity cost to executives who stay too long in a position.  As we mentioned above, you would never leave your financial portfolio to stagnate over the years.  You or your wealth advisor probably review it frequently and make changes as the market evolves.  And so it should be with your most important pre-retirement asset: your career.  For more evidence, read Results Don’t Lie: It’s the ROI!

In other words, if a new boss prompts you to reconsider your career, he or she may be doing you a huge favor.  We have helped thousands of executives clarify their career targets and then go out and discover the career they have only dreamed of. 

Indeed, there is no need to suffer in silence  Shrug off that feeling of helplessness and take action today.  Reach out to The Barrett Group.  We can help!

Peter Irish, Chairman
The Barrett Group