“Our fears make us forget how many safe steps you can and should take before you even think of leaving behind what you have.”
As someone whose entire focus is helping people know whether it’s time to move on from a company where they’ve invested a significant amount of time, I love this quote from the book Refuse to Choose.
As evidenced by the Great Resignation, many people are choosing to leave their jobs this year. Sometimes that is absolutely the right next step for someone, but based on my work with clients, people often quit because they have no idea what they want. And when that’s not clear, quitting can seem like the only choice you have.
In my work with senior leaders, there’s extra pressure about whether it’s time to move on.
You beat yourself up for being risk-averse, thinking you should be more willing to take a big leap.
You beat yourself up for growing accustomed to your salary and benefits.
You beat yourself up for feeling stagnant and going along with the inertia of the past several years.
You beat yourself up for being afraid to leave your current company and embrace the unknowns of another role.
You beat yourself up for staying too long and not wanting to fall into being a “lifer”.
But here’s the thing, I absolutely don’t want you to make a move if you don’t know it’s the right fit for you.
Honestly, I’m glad you’re risk-averse, I absolutely want you to take into account your salary and benefits, and let’s NOT take a big leap without de-risking the process as much as possible. I hate that we glorify “quit and do your passion” or just take the leap without doing the work to know if it’s actually going to work for you.
All of this pressure has a silent undertone that maybe it’s time for you to quit, but I think that we don’t focus enough on the question of whether you can re-engage and re-invest in a place that has obviously been a fit for a good number of years. I want you to be able to balance those pressures because I don’t want you just staying based on inertia and reactivity AND there are so many safe steps you have before you jump ship.
It continually amazes me that 50% of people who work with me don’t quit.
Based on my clients’ experiences, here are some of the “safe steps” you can try before leaving:
Articulate your values and understand how your current role does or does not honor and prioritize them
Zoom out and understand what’s working and not working about your current role and experiment with increasing your fulfillment in the specific areas that aren’t working
Track your energy over your workday and look for patterns in high energy and low energy activities
Understand your strengths and your unique value and see how they align with your current role
Look for the areas where you are showing up in ways that are contrary to what you say you want in a workplace
Learn to communicate incredibly effectively with your leadership about what matters to you and how you can mold your current role to be in line with that
Ask yourself what’s important to you in life and understand how work fits into that vision
Create your own definition of the career buzzwords we throw around with vague external definitions - growth, recognition, etc.
And I could go on and on.
So before you decide that you absolutely need a career change, let me invite you to add some compassion to whatever pressures you’re feeling, thank yourself for being risk-averse, and give yourself the space to explore safe steps you can take to find what’s truly right for you.