I had lunch with a former client recently and as he and I compared notes on what had happened to us with our previous companies, it came to me that hard work, creativity, and making things happen can’t guarantee that our jobs are safe. In fact, as we talked about it, I almost felt as if the two things exist on separate, perhaps parallel universes.

We’ll call my former client Joe. He ended up in a senior role with a small company and had, in his words, “the time of his life.” The hours were long but he was building a department from the ground up and he loved his team and was so excited to see things take shape. His boss left and a new boss came in just a month shy of his performance review. That meeting should have been a tip-off–no matter what he said he couldn’t get the new boss to give him anything beyond “satisfactory.”

Things got worse, a lot worse, and as chance would have it, Joe learned about another position through his network. But because he was loyal and dedicated, he stuck it out a few more months until it finally hit him–no matter what he did, he was not going to be able to succeed. He accepted the new position and is now excited to be working where his talents are recognized (as they had been by his first boss.)

While my experience was different than Joe’s, I too had contributed in ways that were beyond my job requirements, but that didn’t keep me from losing my job. What he and I realized is that we’re proud to be strong contributors, we like making things happen, and that there are plenty of places where we’ll fit in just fine. So, besides a really good lunch, he and I confirmed who we are and what we care about. And we also know that we’ll help each other along the way. Not bad at all.