We'll make it to the Top 3, one way or another

I must have heard of hundreds of examples of mergers and acquisitions during my management coursework in college.  We talked about the positive and negative side effects both from a business and personnel perspective.  These were always the go to examples when discussing topics like conflict, expansions, consolidations, managing expectations, corporate communication, regulation, etc.  These situations are so complex and have incredibly far reaching impacts. 

Yesterday marked the beginning of my personal experience with an acquisition.  A public announcement was made yesterday that AT&T was going to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion dollars.  It is planned to be a combination of cash and stock and is expected to close within the next 12 months.  Let me pause for a moment and say that I felt like a rug was pulled out from under me.  I expected a big shake up in the wireless industry over the next few years and T-Mobile was likely to end up merging or being acquired but I was not expecting anything this soon.  At first I was shocked and then a million different articles started popping up which indulged my already wandering and frantic mind.  I was running hundreds of situations through my mind only to continue to arrive at the conclusion that I have no idea what this will mean for me personally.  There are endless possible situations and there just aren’t enough details available yet to anticipate how this will affect T-Mobile’s current employees.  The word condense has been used so I expect there to be some painful changes but there is no way to know where the lines will be drawn.  This is of course all pending regulatory approval but big business has a tendency to get their way so I won’t be surprised if the deal goes through even if it takes a long fight.  The people with the deepest pockets have a tendency to prevail and AT&T has proven that they have some money to throw around.

In church yesterday we spoke about overcoming obstacles and having complete faith in God’s plan for your life.  The example was Jacob and the wall of Jericho.  I admit I was feeling pretty good about my situation during the sermon.  God has a way of reminding us that anything can change.  I am working on putting the lesson to use and accept that for now all I can do is continue to do a great job and hope that there is a place for me on the other side of this deal.  If not then I have to trust that God will help me find another opportunity.  It is very hard for my Type A personality to accept this but I prayed a lot about it last night and I am much more at peace today than yesterday.  It will be an interesting year.  I have a feeling that I will learn a lot and be put to the test not only at work but also in my faith but I am confident that God will create a path forward for me.