Quick Tip – They'll Be Ok

It’s hard to leave a good team behind – Issue #103

You might be delaying your departure from a company because you love your team. When you work with great co-workers, you feel guilty about leaving them behind.

However, sometimes you have to leave for your career to keep progressing. I’ve been in that situation.

Things happen at work that make it clear that it’s no longer going to serve your career goals:

• It could be a new boss, and you already know that it’s not going to work out with this person.

• Perhaps a re-org has ruined your chances for a promotion.

• Maybe the company is struggling, and you see that the long-term trend is down, down, down.

You know you need to leave and find a better opportunity.

However, you feel bad about abandoning your colleagues. You’re worried about people being able to pick up the slack when you’re gone. So, you stick around longer than you should.

Yes, you should be a good colleague, manager, or leader. You should take care of your team. You shouldn’t just bounce out of the company on a whim.

But you also need to take care of yourself!

No one else cares as much about your career as you do. Would someone else sacrifice their health, happiness, career development, and financial growth for you? I doubt it.

I’ve been in situations when I knew that I had to leave and find a better job. In all of these cases, I worked with a great team. I felt close to them, and many of them were friends.

So, I had honest discussions with the people I trusted. I let them know that I would be leaving. Often, many of them wanted to quit too. The situation at the company was negatively impacting all of us.

After I left, some people came to work for me at the new company. Others interviewed at other companies and wanted my advice and guidance to land those jobs.

Here’s the thing: life goes on. You may feel irreplaceable, but the company will hire someone, get them up to speed, and soon you will be a fond memory.

They will be ok. Don’t slow down your career because you’re worried about the company or team. Take care of yourself!