Whatever the reason for the firing, the most confident of administrators will encounter feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy upon being dismissed. It will naturally raise feelings of anger, spite, vindictiveness and bitterness. The first reaction of anyone is typically to look outside of oneself for "the real reason" or for someone to blame. Whatever actually caused the termination may be something that can never be fully comprehended or articulated, even by the board of education. "We just don't want you to lead our district anymore; we need to make a change" are difficult words to hear and a bitter pill to swallow. Good reasons exist for why the ousted superintendent should keep those natural feelings of anger and pain in check and not vent to a potential successor. The author of this article offers a list of those reasons, and a discussion of survival skills to former superintendents moving on after having been dismissed from their former positions.