Job Loss & Jerry Maguire

From today's Wall Street Journal: "The economy lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, government figures showed, the most since World War II ended in 1945. Nearly two million of those losses were in the last four months alone, a sign that the recession accelerated as the financial crisis intensified, and should drag on well into the new year" (see below for the full article).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123150742539367897.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

One might look at the title to today's post and wonder how I might actually link job loss to the movie Jerry Maguire, though I will go ahead and say that it has nothing to do with crazed movie actors jumping on couches and/or screaming at Matt Lauer (I don't recommend either, especially if you'd like to maintain your job and/or dignity).

Rather, I was watching Jerry Maguire the other night when one of the movie's more notable scenes popped up. Recall, if you will, Tom Cruise (fully-clothed) and Cuba Gooding, Jr. (sans clothing) in the football locker room and Cruise's stressed out character starts to lose it with Gooding Jr.'s demanding one. As the two begin bickering forth, Maguire spits out the following line:

"Help me help you," he says. "Help ME help YOU!"

I shut off the TV after that scene but the line stayed with me. Help me help you. Though the movie suggests a different connotation, I believe there is another interpreation--one this strongly linked to the very foundation of coaching.

As a coach, my primary goal is to work with my clients to help them discover whatever it is that would make their lives happier and more balanced. However, the client must truly be open for this kind of relationship; i.e., he or she must allow the coach to really help.

For our generation, at least, this is a time of unprecedented job uncertainty and while the situation is a cause of concern for many people, others are using the time to look inward and figure out what they they'd like to be doing in the long-term. Although unemployement is on the rise, so is the number of people turning to coaches looking for long-term career help. The coaches at ReFresh Your Step are here to help you look through the murky present and into a bright future.