How to Leave a Job: A CEO's Perspective

I have never seen a playbook on how to gracefully exit a company, but it can be done. I have left companies and I have been left, and usually it is a rocky process with carnage of various sorts left behind.

Although it is rare occurrence, there is a great way to move on, causing the least amount of pain for yourself, your peers and the company that you were a part of and supported you.

Now this does not apply to employees who get fired, or for employees that leave scorched earth behind them, this strategy is for people with integrity that believe that they did a good job for their company and their company did a good job for them. This is for individuals that value their reputation, their legacy and most importantly, respect the team they are leaving.

We are in a new era where most people don't stay at a company for 20-30-40 years. Check LinkedIn profiles, more and more people spend 1-3 years at company and move on to something new.

Leaving a job can be a result of many things including seeking a new opportunity, a desire for change, a relocation, a decision to go travel the world as well as countless other great reasons to take on whatever next challenge that you want to pursue.

From a CEO's perspective, these are all admirable motivators to move on, and in some cases, even enviable (especially the travel dream). In today's economy, at least in our industry, unemployment is very low, and demand for experienced employees is very high.  A CEO's job is to create a company and culture to entice employees to want to stay based on the team and the opportunity in front of them.

Regardless of why you are moving on and leaving your job, there is a fantastic way to not only stay respected among your peers, but also to prove once again how great and loyal of an employee that you are, even when giving notice to move on.

First, you communicate your desire to move on as early as possible. Even if your goal is to start looking for a new job, share that plan with your manager. This may sound scary and counter-intuitive, but now you can avoid two major challenges that most others experience when looking for a new job while still working at another.  

Your manager will now have time to try to hire a replacement, and if they are successful while you are still there, you can even help train this new employee. In exchange, you can get flexibility to go on interviews instead of faking being sick or pretending to have a dentist appointment at 2:30 on a Monday (just so you know, no one is buying that). Again, it sounds crazy, but it is the ultimate maturity and a show of mutual respect between a good employee and a good company.

There should be no downside from either side if you can get past each other's egos. The employer does not want to be left in a bad position with the exit of a good employee, and the employee can now take the proper time to find the right role for themselves and not have to lie to their manager and peers throughout that process.

Let's say you get an opportunity that you can't or don't want to refuse that comes out of the blue, or that you get invited by a rich friend to circle the world in a yacht; the best move is to again, communicate right away what your plans are for yourself.  

Based on your position and responsibilities, the company may need more than 2 weeks notice to transition such a good employee out. If at all possible, find out quickly how much time your manager would ideally need for you to reasonably stay. If it is more time than you expected, find a way to compromise, including a potential stay-bonus for extra time as well as flexibility in hours during that extended term. Figure out a win-win that allows for a mutually beneficial ending instead of a negative experience for either or both parties.

You may read this and laugh as either a CEO or as a departing employee because it is a much different perspective than the normal friction filled event. But that is the point.

Why cap off your job with an ending that diminishes all the good work that you did and all the great relationships that you built. Its likely that someone is going to ask that company about your time there one day -- maybe not your next job, but likely the one after. 

As a CEO, if I hire someone and they tell me they can't start right away because they need 3-4 weeks to transition respectfully from their job, I feel even better about the person that I just added to our Team and culture.

It is natural for employees to come and go, whether working for a company for months, years or decades. It is just part of normal career paths and life changes. I believe this can be a great event and not the disrupting and stressful eruption that often follows leaving a job.

What's your vision of an ideal transition? I would love to know and learn!