5 Signs that It's Time to Look for a New Job

The adage is true: people don't leave a job, they leave their manager. And, because managers are so integral to building a positive work culture, when the culture is toxic, it's the manager's fault. No one deserves to spend the amount of time that we invest at work only to be unhappy, disgruntled, confused, and worried. If you're reading this article on LinkedIn and any of these 5 signs apply to you, click the Jobs button on the menu bar and see what you can find.

The directions are never clear or consistent

One of the most important aspects of work is that we feel a sense of purpose, and we know that we're making a contribution that has a positive impact. That doesn't happen if the vision isn't clear, and the vision comes from the top. If your boss is constantly changing directions, asking you to do something and then changing her mind, you're going to suffer from a lack of professional satisfaction. If this describes your work environment, get out of there.

You can't trust your coworkers

One of the questions that Gallop asks survey respondents when gathering data about working conditions is whether or not they have a best friend at work. It's somewhat of a surprising question. We don't always assume that we'll go to work with our best friends, but in strong working cultures, co-workers can become best friends quite easily. The opposite is when you're repeatedly concerned that you're being lied to, micromanaged, one-upped, and left out. In cultures where the boss creates competition, fosters favoritism, and perpetuates secret-telling, no one can trust each other. If that's the case for you, it's time to get your resume ready.

Great people are dropping like flies around you

When one or two people in your organization leave because of upward mobility in their careers, that's good news. But, when talented people are jumping ship and making lateral moves to other teams and other companies, there's a problem. A great culture attracts and retains it's best people. When the folks with the most potential are getting new gigs, that's a sign that they don't feel supported and they don't like the direction in which things are going. If you're seeing this happen around you, follow them out the door.

Stuff gets dumped on you without warning

If you have a boss, you've probably been dumped on before. It happens. When it does, the boss should be apologetic because this new urgent work is taking time from your other important projects. When the boss is always dumping new things on you in a way that makes it impossible to keep up, that's just not fair. Worse yet is when it's just all of the stuff that the boss doesn't feel like doing, and when it doesn't go perfectly, you get blamed for the outcomes. If this has happened to you more than once, pack your bags.

Sunday is not a funday

Sunday "scaries" are real. When the weekend ends, anxiety about the workweek can set in. It's not normal, though, to feel this way every week, and too many workers have normalized the Sunday Blues as just part of the way things are. It's also not normal for Sunday to be the beginning of the work week altogether. If you're getting regular emails from your boss on Sunday afternoon with items for early in the week (or even the next day), you're working in a toxic environment. The best bosses protect time off, including the weekend, which should be dedicated to your family and your recreational hobbies. If you can't remember the last time you had a full weekend without work or you dread Sunday because it just means that Monday is almost hear, you need a new job.

Leadership Challenge:

If you're unhappy at work and you don't know what steps to take next, start by expanding your network. Find 5 people this week who have what seems to be your dream job, and reach out to them to set up a 30-minute virtual meeting. Even if only one person responds, you'll gain incredible insight into what they do, whether or not they love it, and how they ended up where they are. Do that week-over-week, and you'll begin to develop a sense of how you might make a change to get your professional life back on track.