How to Quit Your Job

Jodi Glickman

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Jodi Glickman for the Harvard Business Review blog (February 14, 2011). To read the complete article, check out other articles and resources, and/or sign up for a free subscription to Harvard Business Review’s Daily Alerts, please click here.

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For the 8 million plus people who are still unemployed (and hundreds of thousands more who are underemployed) it’s hard to fathom quitting a job you have. But even for the gainfully employed, the last two years have been anything but a party — everyone’s got more work and nobody’s moving up. Fully 84% of US workers say they plan to look for a new job in 2011.

If you’re someone who is dissatisfied with or unchallenged by your current role and you’re considering cutting the cord, keep in mind the following: how you quit your job can be just as important as when you do so and where you go next. Here are three key steps to keep in mind as you take your leave gracefully:

Take the High Road
Help Find your Replacement
Stay in Touch

Take the High Road

Whether you’ve outgrown a once-fabulous job, become bored with a humdrum one, or had enough of an intolerable boss, you owe it to yourself to leave on a high note and not burn bridges.

No matter the situation, it doesn’t do you any good to rant and rave to your boss or stick it to him just because you can. Airing your grievances post-mortem might make you feel better, but it won’t help your career any.

Instead, as you go in to give your boss the news (in private and before you tell anyone else) focus on the reasons why you’re looking for a new opportunity, joining a new firm or traveling abroad for a new adventure. Keep your comments positive — state why you’re excited about the change; express gratitude for all he has done for you and acknowledge the personal learning or growth you current position has provided (there is always learning, even in tough or stagnant environments).

If you do have harsh criticism or feedback that you think can/will make a difference, then plan a separate conversation with your manager after you’ve given notice. Don’t save it for the exit interview — who knows where that black hole of HR information goes? Instead, share the feedback firsthand with your boss with the express purpose of helping the team or organization work better going forward.

Allison, this is very hard for me, but I’ve decided to take a new position with Honeydrop.

I’m exited about the opportunity but do I appreciate all of the time and energy you’ve invested in my career.

Jonathan, I’ve decided that next month is going to be my last. I think you know how challenging its’ been over the past few months here and it just seems like the right time to move on. I’m going to take with me a lot of valuable lessons about client service and business development.

Find your Replacement

Two weeks’ notice is standard — at the very least you should commit to that. If you have flexibility and want to show you’re really a class act, however, offer to stay on to help with the transition for a few extra weeks. Better yet, work on finding your own replacement. In today’s uber-connected world, it’s not hard to imagine having a qualified friend, former classmate or LinkedIn connection who you think might be a good match. Exiting stage left while simultaneously leaving your team in new/good hands will be remembered long after you’ve gone. Added bonus — it will help to relieve your conscience if you feel bad about leaving.

Stay in Touch

Finally, even though the old model of working for MaBell for 30 years and then collecting retirement is wholly obsolete, there’s still no reason to sever ties with the people you’ve been spending 8-10 hours a day with lately.

Companies are increasingly realizing the value of their alumni networks.

In the same way, your former colleagues or managers are a valuable asset to you as well–and not just for the sake of the cliché reference letter (though that may be a consideration). More importantly, that network may come in handy for the innumerable unseen opportunities that will likely present themselves over the next 10, 20, or 30 years.

Who knows where you’ll end up after this new job? The world is mobile. Keep your network of trusted friends, colleagues and advisors warm. If you’ve done good work, built real or meaningful relationships, or even just gained a valuable skillset, don’t throw away all of that experience by pretending these years of your life didn’t exist.

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Jodi Glickman is a speaker and founder of communication training firm Great on the Job.

Her book Great on the Job will be available in May 2011. Follow Jodi at @greatonthejob.

How to keep your “bus” off Burn-Out Boulevard

Jim Collins evokes a much-discussed metaphor in Good to Great when he suggests that business leaders get the wrong people off their (presumably built-to-last) “bus” and get the right people on it.  He also expects the leaders to chart a proper itinerary and keep the “bus” headed in the right direction.

Because I share Collins’ fondness for metaphors, I now offer another: Burn-Out Boulevard. It is suggested by what Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel have to say about avoiding or escaping from the corrosion trap in which organizational burn-out is certain to occur:

“Clearly, corrosive energy represents the most destructive way of using [abusing] a company’s potential. Yet it can be deceptive, since this trap manifests itself in an energetic way: an organization with corrosive energy will appear highly emotionally involved, creative, and active – but for all the wrong reasons and with a misguided focus, because these forces are invested largely in interpersonal aggression, infighting, and internal rivalries. You will need to act quickly when faced with short-term, corrosive energy.”

Here are the early warning signs of the corrosion trap in which an organization drifts father off course:

1. Polished communication rather than real dialog
2. Denial of rather than dealing with corrosive tendencies
3. Lack of alignment of personal goals with organizational objectives
4. Lack of mutual trust
5. Weak organizational identify

“To keep corrosive forces from eating away at the organizational fabric of trust, mutual support, and identify, [business leaders] need to have a clear picture of the company situation and its corrosive energy…Executive either overlook and neglect, or even consciously deny, the negative forces at work.”

What to do?

“First, as a leader you might not realize that people feel disconnected from the company or top management…To prevent such perception gaps, you should foster cultures that encourage feedback and other forms of extensive communication.

“Second, executives sometimes deny evidence of corrosive energy and do not want to see destructive dynamics, either because they aren’t sure that their past proven leadership can fox the problem or because they fear that acknowledging negative forces in the company will reflect badly on themselves, as a sign of personal weakness…That’s why [they] need to actively work to avoid sweeping negative energy under the carpet…Rather, actively seek for and confront this energy head-on.”

To read Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel‘s brilliant analysis of all this, please check out Fully Charge: How Great Leaders Boost Their Organization’s Energy and Ignite High Performance.

Richard D. Fain (Royal Caribbean Cruises) in “The Corner Office”

Richard D. Fain

Adam Bryant conducts interviews of senior-level executives that appear in his “Corner Office” column each week in the SundayBusiness section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided during an interview of Richard D. Fain, chairman and C.E.O. of Royal Caribbean Cruises. During the interview he observes, “I always find that you learn more by arguing with someone than by just agreeing.”

To read the complete interview and Bryant’s interviews of other executives, please click here.

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Want Clarity? Learn to Play Devil’s Advocate

Bryant: Do you remember the first time you were somebody’s boss?

Fain: Yes, I had just moved to a company called Gotaas-Larsen. I was treasurer. It was 1975, and I was 28 years old.

Bryant: And you were put in charge of a staff of how many?

Fain: Forty, so for me that was a big change.

Bryant: Was it an easy transition?

Fain: Actually, I didn’t find it a particularly difficult transition for me. In my job before that, I had had a fair amount of responsibility but no direct reports. That actually proved to be good training, because I got things done by working with others, and had to beg or cajole to get what I wanted, since I was dealing mostly with people who were either my peers or my superiors. Because I essentially had no line authority, it was a question of gaining people’s willingness to work with me in most cases. So that served me reasonably well when I actually found myself in a position of some authority.

Bryant: So what was your strategy for getting people to work with you before you had direct managerial responsibility?

Fain: I’ve always believed in communication. Everybody has their own style, but what’s worked for me is just to be quite open. If you have an objective, you try to get others to share that same objective. I probably communicate more than most, and I would try to be explicit about what I was hoping to accomplish, and I also listened to what they wanted. I think people are always surprised if you actually listen to what they say.

Bryant: You find that most people don’t listen?

Fain: I’m often shocked at people who will get a question and don’t answer the question that was asked. And usually there’s a very specific question. It’s very much “this is what I would like to know.” And people very often respond with something quite different — “What I think you really must have been asking,” as opposed to answering the actual question.

In grammar school, I did that assignment where you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at home, then write an essay on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And when we came to class the next day, the teacher had laid out peanut butter and jelly and bread and knives. “Now, exchange papers and follow the instructions.” And of course only about half the class was able to make a sandwich.

It was an interesting learning experience about how much you take for granted. So I listen carefully for exactly what people are saying, what they’re asking about, what their concern is, and I try to be direct when I answer them.

Bryant: What were the most important leadership lessons for you?

Fain: I’ll name a couple. I had been the chief financial officer at Gotaas-Larsen, and we were going through a bit of a transition. So for a period of time, I felt that I was really running the show. I didn’t have the title, but I really felt that I was making the key decisions. And then I was actually put in charge, and I thought, “Well, nothing is different.” And it was really quite shocking to me what a difference it made between being almost the boss and being the boss.

Bryant: And what was the difference?

Fain: There was a sense of responsibility, and the other thing was that everyone was looking to you not just for guidance but for responsibility. And so, when things go wrong, and they always do, you have to maintain your composure and not allow yourself to wallow in the problem. You have to show the confidence that gives everybody the sense that we’re all working to a conclusion and that there will be a good conclusion. And being able to convey a sense of confidence, even in difficult times, was quite a challenge.

One of the things that really brought this home to me had nothing to do with business. We took a group of bankers on a salmon fishing expedition to Laerdal, Norway, and Laerdal is just a magnificent place. It’s beautiful and the river is gorgeous.

But this summer was particularly cold and damp. There were no salmon in the river. It was drizzly and miserable. And my wife took me aside after the first day and said: “Richard, you’ve got to stop apologizing for this. This is a beautiful place. Life is good, and you’re bringing all of us down.” And she was right.

Bryant: What about mentors?

Fain: One of my mentors was Jay Pritzker [the Hyatt Hotels founder and a former director of Royal Caribbean Cruises]. Jay was an extraordinary man. In all the time I knew him, I don’t think he ever agreed with me on any subject, ever. When we would have an important decision at the board level, Jay would be my No. 1 antagonist, and he would argue vociferously against whatever I was proposing and question me in a highly skeptical tone. He was good at it, and he would ask the penetrating questions for exactly as long as it took for any other member of the board to agree with him. And the minute anybody else started to pick up the cudgel and continue along the same path that he had just been on, he would say, “You know, I think he’s crazy, but we’ve got to follow Richard on this.”

It was fascinating. He loved to play devil’s advocate. I love to play devil’s advocate, so we were on much the same wavelength. I always find that you learn more by arguing with someone than by just agreeing with them. And I also realized early on that having to explain something to someone is often the best way to make sure you understand it yourself.

And so part of my management style is to play devil’s advocate. There are people who think that I sometimes forget the second part of the term, but I do find that I learn by arguing with somebody. I learn more about whether somebody really believes their point of view and has thought it through, and it also helps me clarify in my own mind the direction I’m going.

Bryant: There’s an art to doing that, though. You have to make clear you’re challenging people, not criticizing them.

Fain: The first prerequisite is that the person you’re dealing with has to be good at their job and has to have confidence in what they know. I actually find that I will argue more strenuously with those whose judgment I respect more. I’m fortunate that the people I work with are really top of their league. They have the self-confidence to stand up for what they believe. And, in many cases, I’ve worked with them for a long time, and they understand that’s how I work. I do my homework, and I will be challenging.

But assuming they’re successful in presenting their case, they won’t have a stronger supporter, and so it’s worth it. They’ve also seen me switch sides, when it is necessary to provoke a dialogue on the other side.

Bryant: How has your leadership style evolved over the years?

Fain: I understand better now that people sometimes have to make their own mistakes. I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist, but sometimes messing up is one of the best lessons. And so I’m perhaps less likely than I was 10, 20 years ago to jump in and fix something.

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To read the complete interview and others, please click here.

Adam B. Bryant

Adam Bryant, deputy national editor of The New York Times, oversees coverage of education issues, military affairs, law, and works with reporters in many of the Times‘ domestic bureaus. He also conducts interviews with CEOs and other leaders for Corner Office, a weekly feature in the SundayBusiness section and on nytimes.com that he started in March 2009. To contact him, please click here.