You Are Leaving...Now What?

Deep down in very entrails of your soul you know it is time to transition and leave the place that you have worked for months, years or even decades.  You know what I am talking about...It is called the still small voice of your soul that beckons you to make a change.

My friends did you know that there are three phases or parts to this natural phenomenon?  The first phase is called private departure.  In the private departure phase, you are the ONLY one who knows you are leaving.  The voice is loud inside and quiet on the outside.  Your tactic here is to move into some serious retrospection and answer the question: What do I want to do next?

The second phase is called the inner circle departure phase.  This is the phase that takes you out of retrospection and into extraspection (not a word) and invites others to participate in the process of departure with you.  Keep in mind that you are telling the story to your close circle and be ready for questions to explore.  Safety is key here.

The last phase is called the full circle departure phase.  (Real creative right?) In this phase, you start telling everyone that you are leaving.  You had better rehearse what you are going to tell everyone though or it will feel real strange and will not feel strong.

Three phases, three lengths of time, many emotions and yet in each phase you need a plan to navigate to the next phase.

How do you navigate those phases?

The Person and The Plan

One cannot expect to have a successful career transition without both of these elements.  When I use the word person, I am talking about clarity, preparation and skill development.  Clarity is about knowing what you want.  Preparation is about your resume, company research and interview research.  Clarity is also about having an exceptionally strong mind, which means telling yourself the right stuff.  A person who has worked on his/her person does all this work continually.

The plan is about the company list, the network, the calendar of meetings, the process you go through before each meeting and after each meeting and the execution of the plan.  The plan allows you to have a choice between fear and faith.  If you have a plan, you put your faith in your plan and evaluate it every 90 days or so, without the plan you just kinda go.

The person and the plan go hand in hand.  What are you doing to develop your personness (not a word) and your plan?

Motivation

We landed the biggest deal in company history.  Not only was our sales goal reached for the first time in 4 years, but I was to receive a nice bonus check along with the opportunity to provide nice bonus to my colleagues.  I remember this like it was yesterday.  I was excited about what had happened, yet inside I was deeply saddened.

I thought to myself, I put my heart and soul into this huge deal and yet it was not a fulfilling or rewarding experience.  Sure, I knew that we were truly helping a group of people and a company, yet I knew that I was not truly happy.  The work was not connected to a sense of cause deep down inside.

As I shared in a previous post, the financial rewards typically do not trump work that is meaningful, connected to your cause and is an overlap of who you are.

Ponder these questions:

* If you are accomplished in work that you are not feeling strongly connected to, then imagine what it would be like if you were and imagine the impact thereto.
* Does the six figure income hold you back from the work you know you were intended to create or do?
* What about certainty? Can you handle living in the unknown for a season or more so that you can be deployed in the service of others?
* What does happiness really cost?
* Why does America and Americans in general seem to promote an agenda that is all about security and less about adventure?

Seriously!

Importance of Transition

What do you take with you when you travel?  Obviously, there are things that are non-negotiables, the socks, the toiletries and clothes.   There are things you take with you when you transition in work and life.   Even more important is what you leave behind, that helps others carry the baton.

I realized today that I am taking with me seven exceptional years of great experiences and learnings.  I am also very aware of the importance of making a strong transition and here is why:

• I will pack relationships.  These are foundational to life and work.  I want to make sure I thank the people I have worked with over the years and share the story of what is next.  I do not want to forget to "pack" the people that I have met along the way.

• I will pack gratitude. Gratitude helps put closure on the season in your life by taking stock of all the great learnings and positive achievements.  Thank the people that have helped you along the way. 

• I will leave behind a strong transition plan, which includes the story of the client work and a proper handoff to the staff that will service the clients I have served for 7 years.  I have offered to stay available 30 more days to make sure nothing is missed. 

• I will leave behind words of encouragement to those I have worked with.  It seems that I have a greater sense of urgency to have that tough conversation or tell that person how exceptional they are.  I am also giving some unsolicited advice.  For example: I told a co-worker that she needs to go finish her college education.  

This is a great time for reflection and a great time to focus on the vision for the future.  I leave with a  heart of gratitude and plan to pack those relationships with me.

Emotional Leadership

Anxiety is real. Anxiety can be your friend as it helps your mind know that danger is nearby and could help you avoid a tragedy or accident.  Anxiety or the strong interest to be anxiety free can move you to make decisions that are not helpful to you or others.  

A leader will no doubt experience anxiety. It is the management of that anxiety that will influence his / her followers.  When was the last time you made a decision that would avoid uncertainty and decrease anxiety?   Yet in the end, what was best for you and your team was to be decisive not an avoider.  

Manage those emotions and better yet, know how those emotions are directly impacting your ability to lead with decisiveness.  As I shared before, America, companies, families, children and employees are counting on you to stay inspirational.  A micro-manager does NOT inspire.  They retract leadership and retract productivity.

The Ego and The Heart

The ego longs for the approval of others, the accumulation of stuff and to measure ourselves by achievements.  These three A's can wreak havoc on the heart.  Let me expand on these ideas below:

The need for the approval of others is a trap that can completely derail your course.  It is like a drug, once you get the approval of a person you can be tempted to make it your cause.  It is also incredibly selfish.  A life is lived ultimately for the service of others.  If approval is your motive, then ultimately you are serving yourself.

The accumulation effect creates the facade that we are what we own vs. we are because we are.  In essence the profundity of this ego foci is that security and transcendence comes through the gathering of things, which ultimately only temporarily provide us what we need or want.

The achievement trap really creates an inaccurate measure or method to use to compare my achievements to yours. If I have achieved more or mine created a bigger impact than my worth must then again be greater than yours.  The absurdity here is that all of our collective achievements either for good or evil count and enhance lives.  Instead think of your life as energy being expended for the good of others.

This test will test my mettle to make sure this is about service vs. ego building.  I encourage you to recognize the Three Deadly As in your life and find ways to connect to service and others.

Test The Theory

For the next 12 months, I am going to test the theory regarding work, passion and interests.   It seems that the career mavens, passion gurus and leadership brains believe that one should follow the aforementioned items and the results will follow.

I am going to take them up on this challenge.  I have committed to pursuing the three areas that have the greatest intrinsic value to me and see if positive results follow.  The three areas include career development, leadership coaching and emerging leaders.  I commit to my readership that I will start my own business with full heart and energy and on 4.11.13 report back to this blog with the results.

I will test their theory and I will document my findings.  This all started back in 2009 when I ventured off to explore my heart's passion through a massive career exploration process. What resulted was a picture of a cause which centers around helping others find their own cause and become the best possible leaders in the their work and life.