We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Holveck. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.
Hi Laura , really appreciate you joining us to talk about a really relevant, albeit unfortunate topic – layoffs and getting fired. Can you talk to us about your experience and how you overcame being let go?
In March 2023 I retired from the U.S. Coast Guard after serving as an officer for almost 22 years and completing my education and training at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. I have a family with a history of military service, and I felt in a way obligated to accept my appointment as the youngest child. During my career I felt successful, promoted, was viewed as someone to “get the job done” and spent the majority of the first half of my career flying CG helicopters. I was lucky enough to earn a funded position to attend graduate school and studied Industrial and Organizational Psychology. This return to school as a wife and young mother after serving for 11 years made my studies very reflective since I had work experience. This schooling evolved who I became as a leader, an officer, and a person. Learning about the theory behind human behavior, especially in the workplace, gave me the “formula” for interactions and made me better. I then went on to be in a role at the CG Academy where I was leading a team of officers and senior enlisted in the military training, administration, and development of all the cadets. During this time, I made the hard decision to not go back to flying. This decision was hard for me to verbalize to others because it was not what is expected, it is not what you “should want to do,” it is not recommended for continued advancement in the military promotion process. But in my heart, when I looked at my babies and my husband, I just couldn’t do it again. It meant uncertainty every single day. It meant not knowing if I would die in a crash. It meant stress and anxiety. But it also meant that the thing that I had put SO much effort and hard work into achieving, I was choosing to put aside. My entire life I had been wired to go for the next challenge after every achievement. What’s next? What is expected next (by the world, by the organization)? But I was brave, and scared, and said aloud verbally and in process to the CG, “I am choosing a different path.” A path using my new knowledge to help train and educate the existing and future Coastguardsmen. And I felt relief and a bit of shame.
A year after this decision, my peers and I were reviewed for promotion to the first senior officer level. I was not selected. And when the senior officer notified me, I was heartbroken, and I felt betrayed. I had worked so hard every day doing the job, standing the duties, going on deployments, being the one that the command could rely on. And then my one decision to not return to flying was the one action that eliminated all of it. None of it mattered to the organization. That’s how it felt. And I felt betrayed because in my heart, I thought that the quality of my work and reliability of myself as an officer would overshadow that one element of choosing to not be operational for my next assignment. But I was wrong, and it hurt. I felt anger and failure.
I went on to serve in different teaching and training positions for the remaining half of my career and absolutely loved teaching. The exponential impact I made on the CG teaching positive leadership to cadets and officers it huge and I’m reminded of it frequently when I see a previous student -both cadet and officer – who were impacted in my class.
Being “passed over” by the military is something I was ashamed to admit because I was embarrassed. However, through my position teaching, I was on the road a lot to deliver classes and would see my classmates, now promoted, and would have to salute them. Would have to acknowledge the differential in my rank, not openly, but we wear our rank openly, so the artifacts of the military uniform are present and being assessed with each encounter. It was hard. Annually I would be reviewed for promotion by the organization and annually I was required to be notified by my commanding officer of being “passed over.” It was just like ripping a scab off every year. It always took me a few steps backward on any personal progress I had made in healing from my experience of feeling like a failure and the feeling of betrayal.
Over the years, I learned to define what success means to me. Success is not achieving the highest rank possible. Success is not seeking an opportunity presented to you unless that’s what you actually want to pursue. Your gut tells you. Our rudimentary knowledge base in our brains tell our gut and our gut tells us what we think of a scenario, you just need to listen. When you think about the end result, does your gut tell you that it’s something you want to pursue or not. Sometimes we will choose the discomfort of pursuing a goal that’s outside your comfort zone, and that’s great. But this doesn’t equate to success unless YOU decide it does. Not the organization you work for. Not the systems of the organization. Not what other people tell you success equals. Only each person can know what success is to them. And the more you work on peeling back the layers of this self-reflection, the more at peace you will feel in your life.
To me success is enjoying my job, having harmony at work and at home, keeping my fitness a priority, and my children having opportunities, safety, and love. And right now, I’m winning.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
After retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2023, I started a position giving back to my CG community at the non-profit, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association. I am lucky to fill a new position as the Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and Career Services creating opportunities to put in front of CG Academy alumni and the Association members for personal development, professional certifications, job opportunities and assistance with transition from the military. What I love about my job is helping to minimize the anxiety that comes from the transition from the military, whether it be at 5 years, 20 years, or 30 years. Every person has the same worries of the unknown during transition. My goal is to help with that transition through services for resumes, interviews, job search and preparation. I enjoy finding professional courses and certifications that can help our constituents expand their resumes, help them personally develop and fill a gap in the offerings from the Coast Guard.
The great thing about our career services is that they are open to everyone even if you are not a CG Academy alum or current Alumni Association member. Anyone can take advantage of most of the offerings via our website and I hope you take a minute to check it out: www.cgaalumni.org/careerservices
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Being aware of your personality traits and your personal values are critical to your success as a human. Personality awareness will increase your effectiveness in your work relationships and interactions and also in your personal life. You learn how to accept the ways people different from you operate in their daily lives, and how it might differ from your own preferences. The goal is to not be frustrated by this, but to accept and be aware of the differences so that you can learn how to communicate and work with them successfully. This will result in more harmony in your environment. (I recommend the DiSC assessment by Wiley.)
Having clarity on your personal values seems straight forward, but have you ever actually forced yourself to determine the top 5 values that drive your actions in your daily life? It is much harder than you might imagine. Do you show these values in your daily actions? If not, why not? Gaining this clarity will help you articulate to the people in your world how you operate, and what you prioritize. It will also give you clarity on if your workplace is a good fit for you. (I recommend the book The Leadership Challenge on the topic and research on values.)
Being an advocate at the table for the introverts and the people who don’t have the confidence to speak up is critical. You will build relationships in this manner based on trust. For example, in a meeting if the discussion is dominated by the extroverts, take the opportunity to ask the quiet person at the table “What do you think?” This allows them the space to have a voice, and they will appreciate that space. You will be seen as an advocate for others, and it will make your team stronger.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
In my current role, my number one priority is meeting our constituents where they are and providing them with developmental opportunities that are beneficial to their careers, whether still in the CG or after. The demand has primarily been for professional certificate opportunities. We have had success with Lean Six Sigma, reflective courses on what to look for in transition from the service, and professional maritime licensing. I am always looking to partner with organizations or people who have this to offer, but in a virtual environment with a price point that is accessible for all income levels. The next goal I have is to offer a Project Management certification. Helping our veterans transition and succeed after the service is a great way to say thank you. The restrictive and formulated military system often prevents our members from achieving these types of courses due to time restraints, geographic displacement, cost, or the challenge of military qualifications not technically transferring to industry, such as maritime licensing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cgaalumni.org/careerservices
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-holveck-business-professional
- Other: lholveck@cgaalumni.org
