CIO —

1. Your company is sold
2. Your company is not making money
3. Your company pursues a strategy you didn't support
4. Your span of control has been reduced
5. You're left out of key meetings and decisions
6. You're not getting buy-in
7. You have to fight tooth and nail to get anything done
8. You have a new boss
9. Your top priorities don't match up with your boss's
10. You can't attract top talent
11. You screw up big-time
12. You engage in an unethical activity
13. You're on bad terms with a colleague responsible for generating revenue
14. Your boss places unreasonable demands on you
15. Your boss minimizes your accomplishments
16. Your boss hires an executive coach for you
17. Your boss asks you to work on "special projects"
18. You see a confidential search ad that describes your job to a tee

Has this happened to you? You're headed to a meeting with your boss, and when you reach his office, you find the corporate attorney and/or HR director with him. The next thing you know, the tag team is telling you, "We no longer need your services," and they're ushering you out the door. (To read about one CIO's experience, see What It's Like to Lose Your Job.)

The first time it happens, it can come as a complete shock. But chances are there were early warning signs that indicated your job was in serious danger—warning signs you missed.

"I've seen a lot of people get blindsided," says Dan Coffey, a consultant with Spherion who helps executives who've recently lost their jobs find their next one. He estimates that 50 percent of people fired are caught completely off guard when they should have been aware of the evidence against them.

To help you decipher the signals, we've compiled a comprehensive list of red flags. Learn them, and you may be able to take measures to get yourself out of a precarious position—before the only exit route is through the front door while carrying a cardboard box.

• 1. Your company is sold. "If your company is sold or your division is sold, you have to realize your job could be affected no matter what level you're at," says Coffey.

  Job-saving tip: "Always have your slide deck ready that shows the value you are providing to the firm so that when your company is taken over or you get a new CEO or CFO, you're Johnny-on-the-spot ready to explain your value," says Karen Rubenstrunk, a recruiter with Korn Ferry International. The mistake many professionals make, she says, is waiting for their scheduled meeting with the new management to make their case. "They don't recognize how important it is to make that first impression," she adds. Fail to have your self-promotional sales pitch polished, and you're at the whim of others' perceptions of you.

• 2. Your company is not making money. If your company is unprofitable, it's ripe for some kind of change whether it is job cuts, reorganization or the pursuit of a new business strategy, says Coffey. Either way, you have to realize your job may be in jeopardy.

  Job-saving tip: Coffey advises professionals to pay particular attention to the way their department is viewed inside their companies for further clues. If their function is viewed as a commodity, the board may decide to outsource the entire department or replace the department head with someone cheaper to cut costs. Either way, start looking for a new job.

• 3. Your company pursues a strategy you didn't support. If your company decides to centralize or decentralize, grow through acquisition or divest businesses, and you didn't recommend the move the management team is making, you're going to be perceived as not being on the proverbial bus, or worse, not having the skills necessary to take the company in its new direction.

  Job-saving tip: Start making a list of companies that could benefit from your experience, and work on arranging interviews with them.

• 4. Your span of control has been reduced. "Any reorganization in which you no longer have the full span of control [that you had prior to the restructuring] is a sign that you're getting moved out," says Korn Ferry's Rubenstrunk. "If part of your organization was taken away, there's a reason. And it's probably because people didn't feel you were up to the task, regardless of what your superiors tell you," she says. If your boss tells you he's reassigning some of your responsibilities to another executive to lighten your heavy load, don't believe it. It's just a diplomatic way for the boss to say he no longer believes you can do the job.

  Job-saving tip: Do the best you can in your reduced capacity and start looking for new work.

• 5. You're left out of key meetings and decisions. "If you are a respected technology person, you're asked for your opinion," says Rubenstrunk. So when you're suddenly no longer asked to weigh in on budget changes, staffing decisions or process-improvement initiatives, it can signify many things: that your company doesn't view IT as strategic, your peers don't see you as strategic, your C-level colleagues have lost confidence in you, or you've become an impediment to getting things done and they'd sooner move ahead without you.

  Job-saving tip: Start returning recruiters' phone calls and rebuilding your network.

• 6. You're not getting buy-in. Not being able to get approval for your strategy, individual projects or budget can indicate that your fellow execs no longer support you. It can also indicate that your proposals are not aligned with the business. Either way, it shows you're not in tune with your colleagues or your company's needs. You can't be effective or successful without buy-in.

  Job-saving tip: Allan Sommer, CIO of Kraton Polymers, advises executives to talk with the individuals who are not giving them the support they need. He recommends saying something like, "I'm sensing an issue around buy-in. On the last three projects, I got support from HR and finance but not from you. Can you talk to me about that? Do you think we're making investments in the right areas?" In so doing, he says, "You show you know what's going on and that you care about their opinion, but you have to be ready for a confrontational discussion."

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