A Great Resignation

“I am so proud of you. It takes a lot of courage to do what you’re doing. I wish I could do that too.”

I heard it at least a dozen times in one form or another. Friends and colleagues alike shared an odd combination of curiosity, jealousy and cynicism about my decision to leave my job as the global marketing leader (CMO) of Honeywell, a multinational, Fortune 100 corporation with a market cap exceeding $150B. I had built a career over two decades that was both professionally and financially rewarding. I was pretty good at my job and I had no pressure to leave.

But I did.

As unique and personal as my situation felt, I quickly realized I was not the only one making this life decision right now. The Great Resignation has been deemed a crisis for employers in multiple industries and a turning point in how they look at the employee experience. While this narrative is compelling, only time will tell whether this is a temporary phenomenon or if this changes the job market forever.

I can’t speak for the millions of people who left their jobs this year or those that never returned to them after the crisis. I can only share my story and hope its anecdotal value helps clarify how someone could make this kind of decision and how I have benefitted from it.?

Over the years I have learned that I am a walking contradiction. Impassioned and relentlessly ambitious and yet uncertain with my career direction and evolving life goals. I imagine that’s not unique for most people, but for me the dichotomy of the two created anxiety and ultimately unhappiness. I helped do amazing things at Honeywell, work I am proud of and that I know contributed to the company’s success for many years. And yet I never really felt the rewards of that success. Never raised my arms in victory as I crossed the finish line. Never had that sense of euphoria from achievement that I perceived others did. Let me say that I do not think this was my employer’s fault. My bosses over the years were both engaged and complimentary of my performance and rewarded me well for them. No, this was clearly my issue. And I needed to resolve it or risk my happiness for years to come. That’s why I made the decision to leave.?

When I left I decided to take a few months sabbatical to clear my mind, take care of some physical and mental health issues and explore what I wanted to do when I grew up. Call it a mid-life crisis (though I did not buy a Ferrari), a need to reflect with a clear head on what I have accomplished in the first half of my life and decide what I want to achieve with the rest of it.?

I meditated daily, exercised, caught up with old friends, made breakfast and dinner for the kids and spent hundreds of hours writing in my daily journal, scribing multiple short stories and even penning the first half of a political thriller. My sabbatical helped clear my head, opening it up to possibilities I couldn’t see in the constant chaos of professional life.

Clearly, a sabbatical is not for everyone. Heck, I don’t think it’s really for most folks (if you are interested in exploring this path, check out a few lessons learned I collected at end of this article). It was a godsend for me. I realized that I am not defined by my career accomplishments, that being a good father and husband pleases me far more than professional recognition and reward, and that I have many goals outside of the corporate world I want to achieve. The world needs chief marketing officers and finance directors, software engineers and project managers. But it also needs authors and entrepreneurs, philosophers and public servants, parents and coaches, artisans and reality TV stars. OK, maybe it doesn’t need that last one. The point is, why do we need to define ourselves as just one.

That said, I also came to realize I love the corporate world. I thrive in a fast paced environment and I have talents and experiences that I know will help companies grow. I will be choosy in my next adventure and I think I have earned that luxury. I am looking for a home where I can be vested in its mission, a place I can lead and develop teams to transform the future and yes, to have a lot of fun winning along the way.

So what’s next for the lost talent created by the Great Resignation? I don’t think it’s lost at all. It’s renewing itself and preparing to come back stronger. At least it is for me. COVID may be the worst crisis in our lifetime and I mourn for the millions of lives lost. But like all tragedies, the unintended consequences of the global pandemic opened the aperture to things I never thought possible.

Today, I read through my half finished novel and realized that I can’t wait to write the final chapters. I’m excited that they will be the climax to an epic tale yet to be told. I am glad I have been able to write so much and I’m proud of the words on the page. But it’s as unfinished as I am. It's time to re-enter reality and it feels great.

So, anyone hiring?

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SEVEN LESSONS LEARNED BEFORE YOU DECIDE ON A SABBATICAL

I thought it may be helpful to share a few things I have learned that could help anyone considering making the decision I did….

1 - Make sure you have the financial cushion to take a real sabbatical. If you are worried about paying the rent or for your kid’s college, this may be a little too radical a path.

2 - Don’t forget that this decision affects your family too. Talk it over with your partner and even your kids before you take the leap. Finances aside, the change can impact family dynamics in ways you never considered.?

3 - Set goals. I wanted to write a novel, enjoy some long weekends away with my wife, catch every baseball, soccer and hockey game my kids had, and read as many books as I could. Your goals can be as ambitious as you want. For me, they helped ground me over time and gave me purpose.

4 - Have a daily plan. While lounging on the couch and “finishing” Netflix sounds appealing (and I did have a few days like that), you may feel a tinge of guilt and perhaps reverse the benefit of the sabbatical. Some days I calendared my schedule, giving myself tasks hourly throughout the day. But most days I kept my schedule loose, instead assigning a certain amount of hours to each activity (two hours of writing, an hour of exercise, etc.).

5 - Make sure you do some self reflection. Don’t worry, I am not talking about intense psycho-therapy (unless you want it). I am recommending you simply look back on your career and what fulfilled you professionally in the past, what made you happy and what were you good at. Use this to help shape what you want to do next.

6 - Don’t expect an epiphany. I admit, I expected an “aha” moment like I’ve seen in the movies where you suddenly realize your life’s purpose. It didn’t happen. What did happen was a slow accumulation of ideas that excited me, some that scared me and others that bored me. All that has helped shape my thinking as I re-enter the market.

7 - Set a timeline for yourself at the beginning. I set it for two months. I unplugged my professional network, and pushed off recruiters and generous offers from friends and former colleagues to help me find my next gig. It was not easy to resist the pull, but I knew that if I kept that lifeline out there, I would never truly detox and reap the rewards of the time.

Good luck