Most organizations regardless of industry, size, or uniqueness, experiences times of great expansion and times of reduction.

No one is immune, not even the federal government, which is known for its ability to expand in spite of whatever is happening in the economy. And if you believe juggernauts like Apple, Amazon, and Google could never experience times of reduction – think again. All these companies have already experienced times of reduction in the past and, eventually, they will again (if they fail to innovate). Even the most successful companies have to keep up their stock performance, and layoffs are an unfortunate part of that formula when a company hits a growth plateau or declines.

I’ve worked for and consulted with numerous great organizations that have experienced both times of growth and decline. But the way I survived those times of decline was to make myself as valuable as possible to the organization. I wanted to make it absolutely impossible for my bosses to let me go, and this is how I did it:

1. I looked forward to my next impact instead of resting on my laurels.
2. I assumed the best possible outcome, got into the fray, and stayed visible to management, instead of assuming the worst, running to the fringes, and hope that the “Death Angel of Layoffs” would pass over me.
3. I led and got involved in the most important projects, instead of settling for the easy ones.
4. I took on broader responsibilities whenever I was asked to do so, instead of staying comfortable in my then-current role.
5. I over-delivered on what I said I would do, instead of doing just the minimum to get by.
6. I continued to innovate, instead of believing that we were beyond innovation.
7. I kept learning, growing, and pushing my skills and abilities further. I even got certified in my field.
8. I kept my head up and my smile on, instead of assuming the emotion and body language of someone who has given up and is about to be layed off.
9. I was willing to jump in, help, and simply be valuable, instead of holding back, going to the bench, or heading for the sidelines which would have guaranteed that I would get layed off.
10. I said “how”, instead of saying “no”. “No” was simply not in my vocabulary. “How” opened up vast possibilities.
11. I stayed close to my network when times were good, so when times changed, reaching out to them was a natural continuation of our relationship. They weren’t just people I called when I needed something.
12. I polished up my resume and cultivated other opportunities before anything could happen to me, instead of simply expecting something to happen.
13. I reduced my lifestyle, and set aside more savings, instead of not having enough to live should a layoff happen.

Layoffs are a change that you can’t always predict, and they can happen for any one of a number of reasons. It may be the company has to make its numbers to please Wall Street, that jobs went overseas, that the company was purchased or merged with another company, or it may be that the economic environment has seized (as in 2008). The best we can do is to prepare adequately for them. To be honest, I feel I’ve been very lucky. But I also believe I had some hand in creating that luck by intentionally doing the things I did above.

If you are in a situation like the one I just described, and you think your job might go away, it may not be too late to prepare and possibly change that outcome.

Question: What layoff-proofing strategies have you used or seen in the past? What has worked? What hasn’t worked? You can leave a comment by clicking here.