Are You a Team Player or a Ninja?
How Yoga Principles Bring Sanity to Your Work Life

Office worker

If you want to quit your job, make sure you don’t leave your dignity behind. How you leave your job who you are and how you feel about yourself.

These 8 suggestions will help you leave on a good note. They won’t guarantee it, because you can’t control other people’s reactions. But even if there is negativity, if you leave with what cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien calls Honorable Closure, you will be able to feel good about yourself.

1. Do your homework. Before you make the decision to quit, be clear about what your motivation is. Is it because: Career opportunities are limited? There something more attractive elsewhere? This is not the work you want to be doing after all? There is a lack of support from from boss or co-workers, or too much conflict? Some of these reason are because you are moving forward to what you desire. Whatever your assumptions are, have you tested them and are sure they are correct?

2. Never make the decision to leave while you are caught in emotions. If you are really angry, take the time for your rational brain to kick back in. You might still decide to leave, but you can make a rational decision on the best way to proceed.

3. Don’t feel guilty. Your attitude makes a huge difference in how you come across when you tell your boss you’re leaving. You don’t need to feel guilty or defensive about leaving a job. According to statistics, the median number of years in a job is around four years. Some people realize immediately that they have landed in the wrong place. If that’s the case, the honorable thing to do is to move on before it gets worse.

4. If you are asked why you are leaving, be clear, be straight, be descriptive. You are more credible when you share information and facts. Don’t dump a lot of emotional baggage, accusations, or generalities that can’t be verified.

5. Tell your boss before you tell your co-workers so he or she doesn’t hear it first through the rumor mill.

6. Consider discussing your concerns with your boss before you make the final decision to leave. It might be there are options you are not aware of that would affect your decision.

7. Give enough warning so they are not hanging in the lurch.

8. Give it your all to the end. There can be a temptation to slack off when you know you’re leaving. Seeing it through to the finish will help you feel good about your contribution and yourself as you walk out the door the last time.

Annette Richmond interviewed me on this topic and incorporated several of these suggestions in her Forbes article: How to Quit Your Job the Right Way.

Are You a Team Player or a Ninja?
How Yoga Principles Bring Sanity to Your Work Life

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