Change Jobs or Stay Put?

"Everything will be alright in the end.  If things aren’t alright, you’re not at the end."

This is a quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a movie about life changes.  (Beautifully filmed in India – see it!)  The moral of the story is it’s never too late to have what you want in life.  You just need to know what you want and be open to finding it.

So, are things alright for you right now?

Sometimes at work I felt like things were hopeless.  I worked for an idiot (more than once), management was going in a direction I didn’t agree with, or I felt like the situation was so screwed up that nothing short of nuclear annihilation would fix it.  My favorite fantasy in those situations was picturing myself stepping off onto a dock and walking away as the ship went down behind me.

Over the years I learned that bad times don’t last forever.  In some cases I made a change, and in other cases things just worked themselves out.  When you find yourself in the middle of your own version of bad times do you grit your teeth and stay put, or do you step off onto that dock and walk away?  Here are three questions to ask yourself:

How much of this is your ego?   Are you pissed off because you’re insulted or succumbing to your inner diva/divo because someone disagreed, questioned or doubted you?  Are you in over your head, scared and not asking for help? Be honest no matter how humbling.  Your ego is a not a great decision maker.  You may need to change your situation, but your ego is not a good judge of when to take action.  I’ve known so many people who walked away from a good job because their nose was out of joint confident that the place would crumble after they were gone.  They were always wrong and were the ones who suffered. 

Is something going on that goes against one of your core values?  I had cocktails a few months ago with a former coworker who was thinking of quitting a company she had only been with for a few months.  She felt that the company’s management was not acting with integrity, and integrity is very important to her.  She sets the bar high for herself and for others.  She had no qualms about walking away.  She never looked back and didn’t spend a minute questioning her decision.  She found a great job with another company – case closed. 

What would it take for the situation to be better?  Is this something you can influence or control?  Or are you in a job you’re really not suited for? Is success possible? Would you recognize success if it smacked you in the face?

This takes perspective, objectivity, and a positive state of mind.   So often people can’t define success or can’t define what they want.  They just know that they want the bad stuff to stop, and right now isn’t soon enough.  They can’t articulate what ‘good’ looks like. 

Create a detailed picture of what you want and identify what’s most meaningful.  (We can’t always have every single thing we want…)  Then figure out what it will take to make that happen.  If you can fulfill the meaningful portion of that picture in your current situation, stay put.  It’s not time to leave yet. 

If you can’t, and you know you’re being objective and realistic, begin to take matters into your own hands.  Do not…repeat…do not burn bridges, get angry or resentful, or slack off from doing a good job for the company whose logo is on your paycheck.  Do reach out to your network and begin exploring what’s going on elsewhere in your company and at other companies.  If you haven’t built up a network outside of your current company, begin right now by finding former coworkers and friends on Linked In. 

Contact me if you want help.