Know when it’s time to go!

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I talk a lot about what it takes to find the right corporate fit when planning your next career move. Conversely, knowing when to jump ship is equally important. Successful people have an instinct for when to stay and when to go, while others around them end up being overtaken by events.

The culture of an organisation determines how it behaves towards employees, customers and suppliers; how it reacts to events; and how proactive it is. These are all important factors in evaluating the potential of a career move.

The instinct for moving at the right time stems from being able to sense changes in the shape and destiny of an organisation. An example might be when a culture in which argument and discussion is unwelcome becomes out of touch with its social and business environment. Or when it starts to develop a bloated middle-age spread of hierarchies and status symbols.

But behaviour is rarely consistent.?These orientations won’t necessarily run throughout an entire organisation; sometimes, one sees silos of contradictory behaviour within the same company. If you’re a newcomer, your success will depend almost entirely on whether you’ve sized up the tell-tale signs correctly.

The age of the organisation, the industry it’s in, and what you know of its reputation, do tell you a lot about the culture you’re likely to find. But the fit isn’t absolute and there are no easy-to-read labels to guide you. Rather, the lettering on the labels only becomes clear to the untrained eye once you’re a member of the organisation. And even if the evidence is there already, people don’t always draw the right conclusions from it

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Andrew Garner?is an executive senior management and C-suite mentor. He is the author of the career management manual: ‘Your Career Satnav… Switch It on!’? Get your copy here.

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