Ever Been Fired? Golden Ax Hall of Fame Is Place for You

What do Albert Einstein, Lee Iacocca, Benjamin Franklin and David Letterman have in common?

They all achieved fame and success after being fired from jobs early in their careers, a feat that has earned them a place in the new Golden Ax Hall of Fame.

The hall of fame, which also includes Winston Churchill, Henry Ford, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, R. Buckminster Fuller and, of course, Billy Martin, is the creation of Bob McCarthy, an employment counselor based in Los Angeles.

Being fired from a job for any reason is pretty traumatic, said McCarthy, who has spent the last five years helping people line up new jobs. But the eight success stories who survived their encounter with the ax are proof that the end of a job doesn’t mean the end of a career.

Forge Ahead, He Urges

McCarthy urges clients who have been fired from their jobs to forge ahead.

“You may not like what has happened, you may not agree with what has happened, or fully understand it, but you must accept it,” he said. “And you must take advantage of the situation.”

In fact, “the vast majority of people who are fired go on to something bigger and better,” he says, and the charter members of his hall of fame seem to bear out his theory.

Einstein, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose name is synonymous with genius, was fired from his first teaching position for lack of discipline and routine.

Franklin, the venerated Founding Father and inventor, was fired from a printing job at age 21.

Churchill Got the Ax

A quarter-century before he became Britain’s prime minister in 1940, Churchill was removed from his post as First Lord of the Admiralty following two World War I naval disasters. And Fuller, the noted engineer, was fired from a series of manufacturing and sales jobs early in his career.

Ford was fired from an engineering job in Detroit in 1895 because he spent too much time fiddling with his invention, a horseless vehicle equipped with an internal combustion engine. More than 70 years later, Ford’s son fired auto whiz Iacocca for “personal reasons,” thus freeing Iacocca to lead Chrysler out of bankruptcy and write his best-selling memoirs.

Then there was the time talk show sensation Letterman was axed from his 1974 job as an Indianapolis weatherman for, among other things, reporting a shower of hailstones “the size of canned hams.” Westheimer lost her teaching position at Brooklyn College just before she launched her career as a media sex counselor.

And finally, there’s baseball legend Martin, who is “probably the most hired and fired manager in sports history,” McCarthy said.

Inspirational Examples

McCarthy hopes these examples will serve as an inspiration to job-seekers with bruised egos.

“We’re looking at people who were at the worst possible time of their lives and (later) were on top of the world again,” he said.

The first piece of advice McCarthy gives clients is “don’t panic. A lot of people just go into a tailspin.”

Resist the urge to go on vacation, he said. “It’s natural to want to flee a stressful situation, but . . . (it’s better to) stay home and start planning your next move.”

Other tips McCarthy gives to people who have been fired include:

Develop a financial plan. “Try to make severance pay last 30% to 50% longer than the period you settled for. . . . Stop using your credit cards and contact creditors if you have major credit problems.”

Establish a support base immediately, relying on your spouse, family and friends for love and encouragement.

Develop a resume (two pages or less is ideal) and a plan of attack. Keep in mind that 80% of all jobs are found through personal contacts and networking. “Every person you know knows at least one person you should get to know,” he said, and a list of friends and associates is a good way to begin.

Establish an office at home and set up a daily schedule. Start your day with some physical exercise and use breakfast and lunch as an opportunity to meet with associates. And try to work at least six hours a day.

McCarthy said he hasn’t yet been in touch with the living members of his hall of fame, but he is trying to set up a meeting between Letterman and Westheimer on Letterman’s late-night talk show.

He also intends to name new members to the hall every year and plans to solicit letters from the public on “how different people have gotten the ax and how they coped with it.”

“We are our jobs; that’s how we define ourselves,” said McCarthy. “When someone takes that job away . . . the person’s experience, knowledge, education and scar tissue has not been taken away and that’s what will make them successful again.”