Earlier today, I received some pretty awful news in regard to my employment with one of my clients. For one reason or another, I will no longer be working for them, nor will I receive any compensation for the hard work I put in over the last two years. This came as an absolute shock to me because things were going ridiculously well and out of all the possible things that could have happened to me today, this would have been last on my list. Total shock.
And then just a few hours ago, it was learned that Joe Paterno, famed head football coach at Penn State, was fired amid a child sex scandal. Paterno had been the head coach for the Nittany Lions for 46 seasons, was the winningest football coach of all time and up until this point had never been part of even the smallest of recruiting violations. College programs around the country would always “try to run their programs like Penn State” and even though Joe agreed to retire after the season was over, the Penn State board of trustees decided it was time to fire him (4 games left in the season).
I’ve always admired the guy and loved the passion and order Paterno brought to the Penn State program. The last five – ten years has not produced the best of results, but this year Penn State leads their conference and Paterno was expected to retire on a high note. Instead, he is fired amongst the largest collegiate sports scandal ever, and that’s saying a lot considering my University of Miami did some terrible things over the last few years.
Details on this scandal are still coming in, but it would appear criminally, Paterno did nothing wrong. He was alerted of a terrible thing one of his former assistant coaches had done, and reported it immediately to the athletic director at Penn State (his superior). But Paterno knew he should have reported the incident to the police, or done more than he did, as he states in every press conference he’s had since the news broke. Alas, Penn State felt it necessary to fire him immediately, rather than let him retire on his own accord. Penn State will be forever changed, as will college football, as will the victims of this scandal. The greatest collegiate coach of all time was fired … something I also never expected.
The moral of my story you ask? Well no matter how secure you think you are at your current place of employment; you’re not. Whether for good reason, or for no reason, your job can disappear in the blink of an eye and it’s important to make sure you have a back-up plan, and a back-up plan for the back-up plan. Never take ANYTHING in life for granted and work hard to ensure in the toughest of times, you will survive and thrive.
Keeping all of your eggs in one basket makes your eggs vulnerable. Similar to investing, spread out your securities so if you lose one, you have others to count on. Today, I’m learning that the hard way.
- Featured in the Carnival of Financial Planning
The Begging Line
Plan for the worst, hope for the best and always keep a positive attitude during difficult times.
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I couldn’t agree more with this post. I have seen people in very high positions, 7 figure jobs, be “relieved of their duties”.
Regarding Joe Paterno … I was up last night when it was announced he and the University President had been fired and quite frankly, I think that was 150% the right decision.
I was thinking what I would do if something along these lines popped into my life. I seriously couldn’t think of waiting less than 8 hours to go to the authorities – even if my own livelihood was at risk. We can all find different jobs and roles, but what we can’t replace is our integrity or our moral compass. I mean 10 years had passed, and Joe Paterno didn’t take the time to ask the assistant again who saw the incident to exactly clarify. That is not leadership and my opinion, someone as well regarded as Joe Paterno put the reputation of the university over the monstrosity of what happened to that poor boy in the shower.
People throughout Penn State administration that knew anything of the case should be absolutely ashamed of their personal ethical standards.