Chief Change Officer - When Loyalty Meets Layoffs: Benedikt Oehmen’s Mission to Guide Others Through Career Challenges – Part One

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Part One. Layoffs and corporate shake-ups seem to be the norm these days, and Benedikt Oehmen has lived through it. After 17 years at Blizzard, known for its iconic gaming creations, he faced the unexpected reality of layoffs. While his time with Blizzard was largely rewarding, the ending was a difficult transition. Today, Benedikt is using his experience to support others in similar situations, sharing practical advice and his “Big Three” strategies from his book to help people overcome setbacks and thrive again. Key Highlights of Our Interview: From Physicist to Gamer at Blizzard From 17 Years of Loyalty to Facing Layoffs: When Blizzard Prioritized Profit Over People “I started with Blizzard in 2005, and by 2018, after 13 years, the focus had shifted from creating epic experiences for gamers to just making more money.” Breaking Free from the Corporate Overlord: Coaching Passionate Geeks on Their Own Terms “Bound to a corporate overlord who tells me what to do and where my priorities are. And all my efforts basically go towards making rich people even richer in a sense." From Panic to Possibility: How to Flip Career Transitions into Exciting New Opportunities Learning in Disguise: How the “Big Three” Turns Mistakes into Milestones “Being kind to me is all about self-acceptance, embracing the good things in our life and not looking at what we think we are missing.” Connect with us: Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Benedikt Oehmen ______________________ Chief Change Officer: Make Change Ambitiously. Experiential Human Intelligence for Growth Progressives Global Top 3% Podcast on Listen Notes World's #1 Career Podcast on Apple Top 1: US, CA, MX, IE, HU, AT, CH, FI, JP 2.5+ Millions Downloads 80+ Countries

Hi everyone, welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. I'll show it is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. Every day, it seems like you can't escape meals of layoffs, corporate downsizing, or restructuring. Today's guest, Benedict Ullman, has been directly impacted. Benedict has spent 17 years with Blizzard, a market leader in creating epic gaming experiences. In today's workplace, loyalty to employers, or even employers' loyalty to employees, feels like a relic of the past.

So how was that experience for him? For the most part, it was positive and enjoyable. But then, things shifted. Hearts were broken. Homes were shuttered. Now Benedict is turning that experience into something powerful. He's built a full-time practice to help others navigate similar challenges of layoffs and downsizing, offering a shift in mindset and sharing the principles from his book, where He lays out his big three strategies for stepping out of the shadows and moving on better, faster, and stronger. Welcome, Benedict. Welcome to our show.

Welcome, Benedict. Welcome to our show. Hello, thanks so much for having me. I'm feeling very honored among all your distinguished guests to be here. Benedict, you've written a book which is freely available. Through this book and your coaching practice, you're helping people through career dilemmas, layoffs, and various forms of corporate downsizing. I'm sure many listeners are eager to hear more about your insights, your philosophy, and your approach to these challenges. But before we dive into that, could you share a bit about your own story? Where are you originally from in Germany? What brought you to France?

And what did you do there? Let's start with your background and then we'll explore different parts of your experiences in more depth. Okay, sure, sounds great. So, I'm born in Germany, close to Cologne and Düsseldorf, so in the western part of Germany. In 2001, I moved to Heidelberg to study physics, and did my bachelor's degree there in physics and asked myself what do I actually

want to do with this once like in real life. And my brother made me aware that Blizzard, which was one of my favorite gaming companies, or Z, my favorite company of all times when it comes to games at the time and still is. He said, hey, they're looking for support staff for the Game Master, for the in-game customer support. That's all. Let's take a semester off of physics and see how the real world looks like working for a real company in France, close to Paris. And so I sent my CV, I had an interview and said, awesome, when can you come?

And then basically took the semester off, started at Blizzard. I loved it so much that from the half year I was taking off originally, that quickly became one year. Then I changed from customer support to community management and communications. And then I stayed for 17 years total instead of a quick semester. And then going back. Wow. You've stayed with one firm for 17 years, taking on multiple roles. Talk about loyalty in today's workplace, loyalty to employers or even employers' loyalty to employees feels like antique.

Premium, high value, but very, very few people truly understand the value. How was that experience for you? Tell us about how your roles evolved over time. You mentioned that you studied physics, which I have to admit, I know nothing about. I've always thought people who study physics are super smart. But then, in a gaming company, you were dealing with customers, working with people, and creating games. How did all of that come together for you? Okay, so I started in customer support, so basically helping players in our premier game at that point World of Warcraft if they had any

issues in game. Then I quickly transitioned into community and communications where the team that I worked in is the linchpin between the community and the game developers in the States. It's like we're communicating back and forth. We try to get the game closer to the players, but also understand the players' needs better to feed that back to the developers, especially for the European market and the seven languages that we were looking after. I really loved that part because for me, succeeding together,

that's where my heart beats. And it was in this position, we were responsible for making sure that together with the community, we were creating the most awesome gaming experiences for all players. And that really fascinated me. I loved it and that's why I gravitated to it so strongly. As I stayed in the team, I became more and more experienced with the subject matter. I started training other new community managers

that joined us for different games and different languages. So I naturally grew into a managerial position, where then later on I had my own team of seven people for the seven different languages that we were looking after. And I helped them do the jobs that I did in the past, but for their specific language communities. It was really a magical time. Like we couldn't believe we got so lucky to be working at the single

best company in gaming and having this for a job, making money with it. And basically having this, this, the second family away from home. We all felt like we, we found a second family in Blizzard because everybody was excited and passionate about the same things. And we spent time together doing work and then we played together after work and we saw each other on the weekends for drinks and parties and other things. So it was really our entire world where the people at Blizzard and the jobs that we were there for doing. And that changed somewhat over the years as Blizzard emerged with Activision, which was a big publisher in the gaming industry, and the priorities for Blizzard to our eyes started

to shift. Going from how can we make this the best, most engaging experience for our players to how can we make more money with this? And how can we make this graph go up more quickly? And money is, after a couple of years, everything that we heard in discussions, which was a strong departure

from the original values that brought me to Blizzard, making the most epic experiences with gamers for gamers. Then it came in 2018, so a long way. So I started in 2005. So 2018 was then 13 years in. There was an announcement saying, hey, we need to save money globally. And in our office here in Versailles specifically, we need to reduce our overall amount of people by 30%. And that was a shock to us because many of us, we started with Blizzard as our first company and as I said, it really felt like a family.

And all of a sudden we were to say goodbye to a third of that family and we didn't know if we were impacted ourselves. So a lot of different and difficult emotions came up for everybody. We felt shocked. Oh, how can that be? Like, we've been doing so well and I thought we are still doing well. And yeah, it was a really hard time for everybody involved

and people had many different reactions because in France, after the announcement, it took about a year before that reduction actually took place. So, there was a phase for about half a year, three quarters of a year, where people could volunteer to leave so that the 30% would be filled up with volunteers as much as possible. And during that timeframe, it was getting increasingly difficult because a couple of people said, there's too much pressure. I don't want to deal with this anymore.

I just want to get out. And they left ahead of time. I, for myself, decided I wanted to stay around to help my team through this process. And it turned out my team was completely gone at the end of the process because My team was completely gone at the end of the process because they reduced the entire community team to one person instead of around ten, which was of course a big change. For me, I took it as an opportunity to say, okay, good, this part of my career is done. Let's transition to somewhere else in the company. And I went from a publishing to a production environment and localization.

So the translation of our games and started there as a manager helping the team over there, the German and Italian team in particular, to transition through what we were going through, because now they also lost about half to a third of their coworkers and now they needed to do more with less resources. So there was a lot of change management to be done somewhere where I thought great I can make a positive difference here for the people to actually remove roadblocks, make their lives easier so they can get the stuff that do best, they can get that done with as little interruption as possible.

And that actually worked quite well, but then in 2020, the second shoe dropped and they announced, hey, we're going to close the Versailles office completely. Yeah, it was super tough and everybody that remained in the hopes of being able to keep on with Blizzard, then those hopes shattered. Now everybody was faced with, okay, what am I going to do now? And in that environment, I sat down with my team and said, okay, it is what it is. We all have to go through these five stages of grief again

that we just passed through the year before with many of our friends leaving. But we'll come out of it on the other side. And once you're in a good space to think about it, I want to have a discussion with each of and every one of you. What you want to do moving forward after Blizzard and what we can do right now to get you started on that journey towards a prosperous future where you feel fulfilled and happy

and have a good job even after Blizzard. And that's in a nutshell, where my 17 years at Blizzard. So if I look at your journey, it seems like for the most part, two-thirds of it, your time at Blizzard was quite positive and enjoyable. The Blizzard was quite positive and enjoyable. You had the right kind of culture, a great team, and you were learning through different roles. But then something changed. It seemed like the trigger point was the merger, new policies, a shift in business direction,

and ultimately a change in the overall culture. That's when a lot of changes started happening for you personally, as well as for the team and the things you care about at this company. Over time, especially around the COVID period, you found yourself trying different things, staying engaged in the firm, but the whole environment, helped, shifting, becoming less familiar and no longer the right fit for you. With the downsizing and layoffs, it sounds like that was the moment when it became clear that it was time for you to move on.

And now you're channeling that experience into your current practice, helping others who face similar challenges and layoffs. At what point, during or after your time at Blizzard, did you have that destiny like, hey, I've been through this tough experience. Why not turn it into a way to help others? Was there a specific moment that made you realize, this is what I want to do? This is my new mission? want to do. This is my new mission. Yeah. So that was definitely towards the end of my time at Blizzard when I was exploring more and more coaching techniques and more and more workshops with my team to really empower them to take charge of their own destiny and do so

with hopefully a more positive outlook on their own destiny and do so with hopefully a more positive outlook on their own abilities and their own future. And it really starting to make a difference for them, but also for me. In that moment, I realized, wow, like coaching, I really resonate with that. Not telling people what to do, but listening to them where they are right now, where they want or need to be in the future. And then together explore that possibility space of what they can start doing right now

with a long-term view, but very small and iterative steps right now to get to where they need to be. And that's when I discovered for me and said, Hey, after the time at Blizzard, I'll have some time and I have some resources. I'll get certified in coaching. I want to know more about that and I want to be able to do it professionally. And during the following year, I did them exactly that. And that's what convinced me doing that course

with other coaches. Wow, yes, this is really what I want to do moving forward. Because I'm not bound to a corporate overlord who tells me what to do and where my priorities are. And all my efforts basically go towards making rich people even richer, in a sense. And now I have the freedom to work with people that share the same values, that are geeks like me, which to me just means they embrace what they love without reservation and they're not afraid of showing it. So people who do that, they don't need to be gamers, they don't need to be nerds or anything, but they're just unapologetically passionate about what

they're doing and those are the people I love working with because that is my background and that's the life that I lived at Blizzard and I will forever be thankful for having had that time and the opportunities that Blizzard afforded me to grow into that person that I am today who is a lot more safe in his own abilities and okay, not having a normal nine to five job, but being my own boss and having my own company and living a little bit outside my comfort zone and pushing against it steadily.

So yeah, I'll forever be grateful for that and it led me to where I am today and it's a really exciting space. So yeah. It sounds like your journey into coaching was part of your own self-discovery, where you eventually turned that interest into a full-time practice. Now, when it comes to career transitions, people handle them in different ways. Whether the transition was triggered by downsizing, layoffs, involuntary resonation, or simply wanting to do something different, not everyone sees it in a positive light. Some people see transitions as a failure or setback, while others see them as opportunities for growth. While others see them as opportunities for growth. Personally, I see career transitions

as growth opportunities, though I admit that there was a time in my life when I didn't. I used to see them as personal failures, which made the process really tough for me. But back to you, now that you've built a coaching practice and have been working with people, what do you think causes some individuals to struggle with seeing career transitions as opportunities? Why do some people see it as a setback or even feel resentment towards making a change. So to me, it comes down to your point of view and how you choose to engage with that event in your life. That event being you are parting ways

with your former employer, either by your own choice or you're being forced to because you have been laid off or the company is no more. And we can choose to look at that and say, oh my God, this is the worst thing that ever happened to me. What am I going to do now? This is the most scary thing that ever happened to me in my life. I'm being thrown out of my comfort zone.

I had this nice little place where I was good at what I was doing and it was comfortable and I made money and that allowed me to survive and live my life. And that's when people, if you look at it like that, then yes, it's very scary. But you can also choose to look at this energy in your body that you feel, this being scared, is, oh, there's energy in my body, I'm kingly all over. I'm excited for what lies ahead. So instead of looking at what you lost, it's, ooh, wow, so I'm not bound to this company anymore. What other opportunities are there for me?

What is it actually that I'm passionate about? What is it that fulfills me? And is there maybe a better fit for me? What is it actually that I'm passionate about? What is it that fulfills me? And is there maybe a better fit for me out there than what I have been doing previously? And if you look at it from that perspective, then change is exciting because now you enter this world of opportunity and the five stages of grief, you get through them a lot more quickly and rapidly than when you look at it from the other side of being scarce and having that anxiety. And if you have said for the first time, yes, it's completely normal to be scared because you lose your safety net and that will always be scary, especially if you have to provide for your family and for your children.

especially if you have to provide for your family and for your children. The more you get exposed to it, right? The more you are getting used to nothing in this world is 100% safe. Nothing is being granted forever. Then you get into the practice of building that resilience and asking yourself, hey, what if tomorrow my workplace changes or my position at work or my responsibilities

or I don't have a job anymore? What can I do right now to prepare myself for that eventuality and the change that is very likely to come in the future at some point. And if you look at it like that, then you can prepare yourself each day a little bit with stuff that makes sense for you in the future. And that may start with looking at what am I actually talking about? What is it that I want to do with my life? And how does it overlap with stuff I can get paid for.

And then you can start building accreditation and you can do research and you can develop yourself into that direction that when the moment comes and you're suddenly thrown out, you have a system in place. You're already on the road to something new. You're like, okay, cool. That was great. I'm very thankful for the experiences. I'm taking all the good things I can from it

that helped me learn and grow and become the person that I am today. And with that set of skills and experiences, let's move forward to the next thing. You've designed a framework called the Big Three. Can you elaborate on that? How do you use these three principles to help your client take better control of their careers in the future? So, the big three is really something I discovered during my last stages at Blizzard and then

the year after when I was getting my coaching certifications and I was writing the book. And they are all about being kind, present and open. And for me, it's a framework that when we just stick to those three simple things everything else falls into place. So being kind to me is all about self-acceptance, embracing the good things in our life and not looking at what we think we are missing. So let's what we talked about previously is this point of view right it helps shape this point of view, right? It helps shape this point of view to a place where we have possibility instead of restrictions. And then

being present is all about enabling that self-motivated and self-driven behavior. Because we look at where are we right now? Where is it actually that I want to go in the future? What are the challenges in between? And who do I have to become to as a consequence of being that person, I will overcome these challenges in my way. And that's then where being open comes in. And we put systems and habits into place to become that person, our future selves that will overcome all these challenges that we currently face one step

at a time. And the beautiful thing here is it's a different road for everybody, but it's always the same framework. And for me, I saw it really work in my work with my former team and colleagues, being kind to them and myself saying, hey, this is a difficult position we are finding ourselves in. It's okay to take time to process it. Once you're in a good position to talk about it,

let's be present and see where you are right now, where do you want to go, and what can we do right now to help you get you there. And then in the being open part, we put specific trainings and certifications and actions into place that you can do little by little to build towards that goal, and it's not that overwhelming anymore. And you'll find a new job simply as a consequence of putting that behavior

into place. So that is what's the big three all about and how they worked for me in a professional life. It's also then how I built my business. Hey, being kind to myself, it's the first time creating a business. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes and that is okay. Mistakes are just learning in disguise in the end. So looking forward to making them because I will learn a lot from them. And then looking at if I want to be at that space and have a successful company for myself and a successful business, what does that look like? And what are the steps that will get me there? And right here, right now, what are the first steps I can start taking and then being open

to putting systems into place for myself to do a little bit every day to become that person who then has that successful business. Talking about the book, how I tested my thesis, saying, hey, I've never written a book before, I always wanted to, but it was always too scary. I just discovered the Big Three, let's try it with this book. And what happened is I reframed, I want to write a book into,

I want to become an author. And an author is just somebody who writes a little bit every day. So I started with five minutes. Five minutes became 10, 15, two hours, three hours a day. And after three months, the book was done. The first proper draft was done. And it was like realizing, wow, it really works.

Like I broke down this super demanding and challenging and threatening goal. Like it was still there, the end goal of writing a book. But since I reframed it to I'm becoming an author now and I'm doing a little bit every day, it just accumulated with time and developed as a consequence. And there I saw I'm onto something because the big three did not only work for myself at work and creating my company, but also creating this big milestone achievement of actually writing a book. And that's where I then doubled down and said, this is awesome.

This is what I want to bring to the world and help people overcome their own challenges and achieve their own goals using this framework that not only works for your career development, but also for your personal development and other goals you may have in your life. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you like what you heard, don't forget, subscribe to our show, leave us top-rated reviews, check out our website, and follow me on social media.

I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Until next time, take care.