Dear friend, this is impressive. You have earned such praise. Ask Bill if you can use him as a reference. You may want to weigh using this letter as part of applications. Talk it over with him.
If anybody asks you why you left XYX you can honestly say budget cuts were the cause. Financial mismanagement at the corporate headquarters results in laying off senior managers because of cost factors. This is honest. Moreover, people know it is common practice today.
As I type this, I am wondering if you would be street smart to have Bill serve as a reference as needed and provide a shorter statement of support. Otherwise, it could come across as defensive to some readers. KISS, keep it simple stupid. Or as the old street saying in New York goes, "You can say too much."
The use of this letter, of course, also depends on the job for which you are applying. If it is management, it may be a plus. If it is for teaching, you may scare other administrators as a potential in-house threat. This is why the use of Bill as a reference and the amount of information he provides hinges on the context, job, employer.
I have finished a research study for XYZ. During the process, I discovered hostility on campus against me behind the scenes, since some staff and faculty perceived me as a threat. This is one of the reasons why I have advised creating a separate XYZ Institute, apart from the regular governance system, in order to avoid sabotage and enhance off-campus, online outreach, which is where the real market is, not on campus. Sadly, people behave in such ways. So weigh how you deploy this letter.
Again, it depends on the context, who reads it, the kind of job for which you are applying, and your sense of how much of a threat you may be to the hiring persons, even if it is their false perception.
What strikes me is how your situation reminds me of Harry Pink's classic Free Agent Nation. which came out in 2000. It predicted the loss of loyalty, the social contract, in the workplace. You and I grew up with a strong work ethic, which taught us that if you worked hard you got rewarded.
In fact, organizational politics today have negated the wisdom of yesterday. In fact, they are changing the rules on us, and we must unlearn what we thought to be true. In fact, I have mulled doing a book entitled Unlearn, which would examine this looming disconnect between the rules of yesterday and the emerging Darwinian rules of today.
Yes, it hurts to work hard, succeed, and then get the shaft. I worked as technology planner for XYZ, 1992-1998, and I won awards from the Wisconsin Senate, Governor, and State Telecommunications Association for my work. Yet, after I planned, funded, and set up a $1-million wide are network to connect 28 public libraries across 5 counties to the Internet and each other, I got canned.
The reason was I fought hard to defend the project against attacks, so it was easier for the system to throw me overboard in the end and start over with a new IT guy who had not made enemies in the region. I landed in the hospital twice from the stress of the turf battles.
I promised myself that I would never work for anybody else again. I would work for myself, as a free agent, without any expectations of fair, loyal, ethical treatment.
XYZ threw you overboard after years of loyal quality service. XYZ threw me overboard too after year of loyal quality service. We are, sadly, simply widgets today, disposable widgets. This is why we need to unlearn the work ethic with which we grew up and replace it with a more Darwinian outlook. Above all, if possible, go into business for yourself. It gives more control, income, and security than begging for jobs.
Yes, we are unlearning the rules on many, many levels in our society, sadly. However, the powers are changing the rules; we must adjust to the environment. If it is cold outside, dress for it. If it is hot outside, dress for it. As my PH.D. advisor taught, "The environment is all-powerful." I have seen nothing to contradict him. The environments around us are changing, and we need to change with, adapt to them, Darwinian style.
Yes, "When in Rome do as the Romans do." Or, as I am finding, carve out your own space, agenda, authenticity, and avoid playing workplace games. Go into business for ourselves. At our ages it makes sense.
We need to keep in touch to help each other. One of the rules of survival today is to create support networks that stand aside, outside our jobs, since jobs come and go. I hope this has been of help to you. Paul
IMAGINEER
www.paulrux.net
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