When you started it was the greatest place to work in the world.
You looked forward to each and every day.
You didn’t mind working 50, 60, or 70 hours a week.
You were passionate about the work you did and the organization you worked for.
And then somewhere along the way things began to change.
Ever so slightly you started to dread each and every day.
You started doing the bare amount of work to get you by each week.
You started to lose passion for the work you did and the organization you worked for.
The place you once believed was the greatest place to work in the world, was becoming the worst place in the world to you.
Things began to change for the worse. The camaraderie that once existed amongst you and your team has turned to animosity towards leadership. Leadership, which once believed in open lines of communication, has turned into mushroom managers. You’re friends and family take notice of your recent change in attitude.
You’ve lost faith. You no longer believe in the work you’re doing. You no longer believe in the organization you work for.
But what can you do?
You can try and right the ship at work. But its difficult to change a ship’s course when you’re dealing with a crew made up of mushroom managers.
You can try and tell yourself that things will change for the better. But you’ve been telling yourself that lie for years.
You can put your head down, keep your mouth shut, and be thankful that you have a job, doing work you’re no longer passionate about, for an organization you no longer believe in. This sounds like the most logical choice doesn’t it? The reason I say that, is because that’s the choice people make each and every day, and one of those people, may be you.
But what if you made a different choice? A choice that isn’t as safe as keeping your head down, your mouth shut, and being thankful for a dreadful job. What if you chose to leave?
I can hear you now. “Are you out of your mind Arthur? I have a family, I have a mortgage, I need healthcare, etc.”
I’m not telling you to get out of your seat right now and walk away from your dreadful job without some sort of plan. What I’m telling you is that life is too short to do work you don’t believe in and to waste your time at an organization you don’t believe in. When you stop believing in your work, you’re doing a disservice not only to yourself, but to the organization.
The safe choice is to stay where you’re at and hope things change. But you and I just agreed that you no longer believe in the work you’re doing, or the organization your work for. It’s time to make a choice, not a safe choice, but a choice to leave.
You’ve made the choice to leave, now what.
You’ve just made a difficult decision. You decided to change your path. You’re convinced you no longer believe in the work you’re doing, or the organization that you work for, and you want to leave them. You want to pursue other opportunities and work for an organization that you’re passionate about. But where do you start after you’ve made the decision in your mind to leave?
1. Kill the negativity
You’ve been talking with employees and family members about how horrible your current situation is and how nothing is going to change. Granted you may be right, but it’s time to stop being a Negative Nancy and start focusing on your future. If you can’t make changes at your current organization then there is no need to harp on the problems—no one is listening. Negativity is like cancer to you and your future goals. Eliminate the negativity from you daily work rituals, by focusing on where you want to go and where you want to be.
2. Where do you want to go?
Everyone wants to leave, but not many people have thought about where they want to go after they leave. So start by asking yourself the right questions:
- Do I want to stay in my same line of work? If so do I have a non-compete clause?
- Do I want to change industries or careers? If so where do I want go?
- Am I ready to move to another state, city, or country?
- What are my strengths and how can they be an asset to another organization?
- Where can I see myself in 1, 3, 5 or 10 years?
- What are my long term and short term career goals? Do they align with the organizations that I’m looking at?
- Do I know anyone in the organization(s)? If so what knowledge can I gain from them or how can they help me?
The above questions should give you a starting point on what you should be considering when you start looking at changing your career path. And when you’ve made a decision about where you want to go, you have to make sure you know the answer to the next question.
3. Why do you want to go there?
You’ve picked a handful of organizations you’d like to explore. They seem like a good fit for both your long term and short term goals. You know people on the inside at a few of those organizations that can get you face to face interviews. But without asking yourself “Why do I want to go there?” you may be setting yourself up for failure. The grass may appear to be greener on the other side, but without an open and honest discussion with yourself you could be walking into another dreadful job.
4. Be the best at what you do.
With the prospect of moving on to another organization, make sure you become the best at what you do right now. As anxious as you are to leave, the ability to find something that fits you well, may take a couple of weeks, months or even a year. During that time you need to focus on killing the negativity and becoming the best at what you do. If you’re in sales, start filling your pipeline, and closing more sales then you ever have before. If you’ve procrastinated in closing that big client, now is your chance to swing for the fences and start racking up the points for you and your organization. When you become the best at what you do, people will come looking for you.
5. Don’t burn bridges.
You’ve heard the stories of people walking out on their jobs and burning all the bridges behind them. This may seem like a good decision if you plan to go it alone, or pursue something in another industry. But why take a risk like that if you don’t have to. I get it; you hate your job and your boss. But knowing that things aren’t going to change when you leave, what’s the point of creating a problem when you don’t need to. Plus if you’re spending your time at becoming the best at what you do, you want be too concerned about burning bridges or getting revenge.
6. Stay in touch.
Some people may look down upon you once you leave. But your friends, your true friends, whom you worked with, won’t look down upon you. They’ll be happy for you. And you leaving, may be the spark that ignites the fire in them, to pursue doing the work they believe in. If you had relationships with the leadership team, don’t ignore them, like they ignored you. Keep in touch with people at your previous organization, maybe it’s a simple phone call, an email, or a LinkedIn Message, a couple times a year to see how things are going and if you could ever help them.
It’s a choice only you can make.
You’re comfortable where you’re at and you’re not overexerting yourself. But if you stop believing in the work you’re doing or the organization you work for, it’s time to make a choice. The safe choice is to stay where you’re at and continue doing the work that you don’t believe in, for an organization you no longer believe in. The safe choice is what everyone wants you to make.
But what about you?
What happens 5, 10, or 20 years down the road, when you look back at your life and realize all of the missed opportunities, because you made the safe choice.
Photo credit: Neils Linneberg
Original article can be viewed: here