What Getting Made Redundant Actually Taught Me About Visibility

When it happened, the first question wasn't practical.

It was personal.

"But I did so much. How did they not see that?"

If you've been there - or you're there right now - that question deserves a real answer.

The Honest Answer

They probably didn't see it.

Not because you weren't valuable.

Because value that isn't visible doesn't exist in the room where decisions get made.

Restructures aren't emotional.

They're commercial.

Leaders sit in a room with a spreadsheet, a headcount number, and pressure to cut.

They protect what they can measure and justify in sixty seconds.

Everything else is at risk.

The Audit Most People Skip

Before you step into your next role, do this.

Look back at your last position and ask honestly:

1. Could my manager describe my impact in one sentence? Not my role. Not my responsibilities. My impact.
2. Was my work tied to something the business measured? Revenue. Cost. Risk. Efficiency. Team performance. Or was it softer than that?
3. Did I make my value visible consistently? Not just at performance review time. Weekly. In conversations. In results.

Most people answer no to at least two of those.

That's not a personal failure.

It's a skill gap - and it's fixable.

What You Do Differently Next Time

Three commitments before you start the next role:

Commit #1: Know the numbers that matter

In week one, ask your leader: "What are you measured on this quarter?"

Then make sure everything you do connects back to that answer.

Commit #2: Translate work into impact weekly

What you did. What it changed. What's next.

Three lines. Every week.

Commit #3: Make your value visible before review season

Don't wait for an annual conversation to prove you matter.

By then, the decisions are already made.

The Silver Lining Nobody Talks About

Redundancy is brutal.

But it's also the clearest feedback you'll ever get.

It shows you exactly where the gap was between the value you were delivering and the value that was being seen and moving the business forward.

Close that gap in your next role.

And you'll never have that conversation again.

You weren't made redundant because you weren't good enough.

You were made redundant because the value your position presented wasn't visible enough.

That's a solvable problem.

Start solving it now - before your next role begins.

If someone you know is processing a redundancy right now, send this to them. It won't fix the pain. But it will shorten the gap to what's next.

#TransformingTheGame