Chad Silverstein reflects on losing his biggest client, Time Warner, which forced layoffs and a two-year rebuild, and later weathered a divorce and remarriage. He argues that major setbacks feel permanent but pass quickly, and urges leaders to stay firm without letting challenges spiral into prolonged stress.
Questions this video answers
Time Warner.
About two years (he says "two years is a blip" and also refers to a "couple years").
April 4, 2025.
Chapters
There were two times where I remember Chet reminded me about how important it is to be patient and how something I was going through was a blip. I remember the first time he told me I was cracking up because I had made a comment about losing my biggest client at the time, which was Time Warner. And it was the first time in my career that I ever had to, like, let people go and go through a little bit of a downsize before we could pick back up the growth, just because they were. They were a huge client of ours. And. And I remember I made the comment, I said, look, it'll take two years to rebuild, you know, and, you know, that one client's loss. And he said, it's a blip. And we were laughing about it because, you know, two years is a blip. Like, whoa. Like, I just remember thinking, there's no way when you're going through something that's really hard, it doesn't feel like a blip, but it is crazy. Time does heal. And looking back at the situation, it was a. Looking back at the big picture. It was a small time frame in the, you know, timeline of. Of how things unfolded at my company. And I could look back now and laugh and say, it was a blip. You know, it was hard. I never had to let people go before, and that was tough. It was trimming the fat in the company and. And getting rid of people who weren't performers. And of course, we got stronger because of that, but was never easy. And the second blip for me was a personal one. It was when I was going through a divorce and I got remarried. And I remember him talking about the blip period and having to go through that, and it was hard. But I think that's important, that when you're a leader, you're gonna go through some periods where they're gonna be tough, but they will pass. They will pass personally and professionally. So think about a blip, and think of it, you know, maybe in a couple years timeframe, and you'll be looking back and you'll see why things happen the way they happened. And you can't be too hard on yourself. We say, you know, hard on yourself, not down on yourself. So, you know, it's okay to be hard on yourself, but just don't make that turn into anxiety or worry or stress.
