The CEO of Booking Holdings once got laid off. He shares the two things he learned from the experience.

"After earning an MBA from Wharton and a law degree from Harvard, Fogel worked in investment banking at Kidder, Peabody & Co. He told Business Insider that when the firm merged with Paine Webber, many bankers were cut. What struck him, though, was that some of his colleagues were retained when he wasn't - a detail he said shaped how he viewed the situation."

""Are you not good? Are you just in the wrong department in investment banking? Or, are you just too expensive?" Fogel said, recounting the questions that lingered in his mind. Fogel, who has now been CEO at Booking Holdings for eight years, said that losing your job can be "extremely traumatic. " However, the experience ended up being one of the defining moments of his career, he said, and taught him two critical lessons."

Glenn Fogel was laid off from an investment banking role at Kidder, Peabody & Co. after its merger with Paine Webber. The layoff left him questioning his performance, departmental fit, and cost to the firm. The experience proved extremely traumatic yet became a defining career moment that prompted reassessment of goals and values. The severance process involved an HR meeting, a nondisparagement agreement, and being escorted from the building. That treatment influenced Fogel’s approach as CEO, leading him to emphasize respectful handling of employee exits and to apply lessons when conducting layoffs at Booking Holdings.

Read at Business Insider