By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net
I was reading a great article by national columnist Mitch Albom the other day about dreams coming true and the resiliency of life. Instead of always highlighting my resilient experiences, I thought Mitch’s article throws a perfect resilient strike to what we’ve been discussing over the last year.
The story chronicled a laid off Michigan autoworker who pursued a new, unconventional career direction that all of us can learn lessons from. It is an example of what you have to do – to survive, to endure, to thrive, to adapt, to succeed. It also shows how any of us can reinvent ourselves with tools we already have in our toolbox – or, in this case, a bowling bag.
Tom Smallwood was an autoworker like his father before. Then, two days before Christmas in 2008, General Motors laid him off from his seatbelt assembly job. He applied for many jobs but never received a response. What was he going to do? He was in his early 30s with a wife, I-year-old daughter and a mortgage…and a bowling ball.
Bowling, of course, in normal times is not considered an alternate means of employment. But these are not normal times and Tom was out of options. He had always dreamed of being a professional bowler – as I have always dream of becoming the next Arnold Palmer. Tom had won some tournaments when he was young, but chose the “guaranteed-income world.”
Only, as many of you can attest, what is a guarantee anymore? Jobs we thought we would always have are gone and probably won’t return. Companies we pledged our allegiance are bankrupt. Homes are lost. Neighbors disappear.
So Tom took his bowling ball and practiced every day. If he hadn’t found a job by May, he would try to qualify as a pro bowler. May arrived. He was still out of work. So, he entered the Pro Bowlers Association (PBA) trials. Nearly 120 other hopefuls bowled nine games a day for five days. In the end, Tom was in third place. He’d done it: qualifying for a tour exemption. This meant he’d get a guaranteed spot and a minimum paycheck at each PBA event for a year.
When I was reading the article, the career reinvention theme truly hit the mark. How about you? Are you taking a hard look at your career options? I changed my careers from being a corporate communications executive to a motivational/career resiliency speaker – humbly with a worldwide blog with 1.5 million hits. It’s been hard and sometimes I still don’t roll the ball as smoothly as I should. But, like Tom Smallwood, I looked for a better way and found it. Now it’s your turn to take the next best step for you…
Now, more about Tom.
If Tom’s story ended there, it would serve a purpose, proof that a new “strike zone” can swing within reach, that careers can change directions. While all our stories don’t have great endings right way, Tom’s surely did. He drove his Chevy Impala to the PBA World Championships in Wichita, KS in December.
From the start, he bowled great. And now he was one of the last two bowlers left. (If you would have proposed this as a Hollywood movie, you would have been thrown off the lot.) The other guy on the lane was the PBA Player of the Year. A tall order for Tom.
His last shot. Tom needed one strike and at least seven pins to win. (Yes, the laid-off autoworker from Michigan.) National TV. Lots of money. Fame. And a job! With his heart pounding…well, you can guess the rest. All 10 pins went down and a $50,000 check came next. More than he’d ever earned as a seatbelt assembly person.
He said,” Getting laid off was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. But it led to the best result.”
There’s a lesson for all of us here: The new decade may be the one any of us can learn to reinvent ourselves. For me, Tom Smallwood and, most importantly, you!
Look forward to our chat next week. Thanks, again, for your constant support!