Making A Huge Career Move After Working Someplace for a Long Time

I just went through a big, public, and exciting career/life change after being at a place for 14 amazing years that filled me with gratefulness, thankfulness, and pride. But I now feel a huge sense of excitement as I join a new team and new work family where impact and helping people find their freedom is the mission. Here are a few random thoughts on why changing jobs from a long-tenured position may be hard, but wow is it worth it…

·?????We underestimate just how far the reach of our community of friends extends. People you have never met will reach out (and maybe knit you a sweater- ask me to show you!!!)?You impact more than you will ever know. You are loved more than you could ever even imagine. We are all so connected. So forever intertwined. Life is so rich. Life is so humbling at its greatness.

·?????Nothing is better than reconnecting with people that meant so much to you but distance took its toll. It’s amazing just how many folks I haven’t seen or heard from in years that just suddenly became reinserted in my life. These re-connections just picked up exactly where they left off – from years or even decades earlier – like time was just paused on a VCR. There is no greater gift than a friend re-discovered.

·?????Before this move, 99% of social channels interactions with me were public for the world to see.?But this transition triggered more private reach outs with my personal texts and DMs just exploding. A big reason is the intimacy – but what I heard a lot of was “can’t respond publicly as I am sure my firm would get mad”.?Folks, if you feel this way, you are working at or affiliated with the wrong firm. Leave and find a place that loves you for you and whom your friends are.

·?????What stands out just as much as the friends that did reach out to me were the people I didn’t hear from.?This transition is more than just a move for me, it was a change for them too. I found that a few weren’t really my friend as I had hoped. While most others struggled with what to say or how to feel about my departure. If this is you, just know my career change was about my personal growth so I can be a better friend to you and a better man for this world – so stay in touch and I am sorry if I hurt you.

·?????Spin does not change the narrative, it just confirms your inability to accept it.?People aren’t dumb and don’t like being put through the spin cycle.?Sometimes secrets have to be kept and timing can dictate messages. But treat people with respect. They know when something is being spun or when its authentic.

·?????Change is hard, but isn’t a bad thing. Imposter syndrome tricks us into thinking that changing from a stale (or toxic) job might not be for you because the outside world probably doesn’t want you. These are lies we tell ourselves. You are good enough. This world will welcome you with open arms. Don’t stay in your fabricated jail cell if you feel this way. The shackles are your fears and your insecurities that you need to shake loose.

·?????Life is short. Time is not meant to be spent, it’s to be invested. If you aren’t getting the personal and professional growth where you sit today, do you really think that its right around the bend? Having a long tenure with a company comes with many amazing benefits – it also brings an increasingly dwindling connection about what else is available for you out in the world. And studies show that this is far more of an issue for women than men.

·?????Investing your time at a place over a long tenure has a lot of advantages. I put in 10 years and then 14 years at my last two roles and I don’t regret a single moment of it. They were pure thrill. But don’t underestimate the joy of meeting new people, the rewards of growing your community, and the growth of learning new things.?I will say it again – life is not to be spent, it is to be invested.?Where are you investing your life?

·?????Friends are portable. The very first and most excited-for-me well-wishers at every career move I have ever made were not the folks I worked with last– rather, the community of friends that I have ported with me along my career journey. These are folks that are forever connected and intertwined in my life. And guess what, you have a ton of these folks and they root you on no matter what.

·?????There are always RATS. Once I knew a RAT that snacked on a rumor and fed it to the top. The good news is that people know a RAT when they see one. RATS will ROB you of your peace. Never PET a RAT as they have corporate rabies. ?If you work with or for a RAT, MAN you deserve better.?How RATS treat others is just practice for how they will treat you.

·?????Set boundaries that are unnegotiables for you at your job. One of my 8 evergreen boundaries that has triggered for me in every one of my career moves is “I work closely with the people I love”. Write down the names of the people you love- I mean really love – the ones you don’t want to live without.?Then when new ones come along, add them to the list, but when a big percentage of them leave or transfer far from you, understand that your boundary has been violated and you have action to take. ??

·?????I got a lot of “I see you are now working with Blah Blah Blah.?I used to work with them 10 years ago and I think that they are ‘blah blah blah’ ”. Or, “I have heard ‘blah blah blah’ about that person – good luck.”??Folks, like you and me, people change and even more so, the successful ones evolve for the better.?I bet that whatever your past opinion of someone is, its highly likely that it is as expired as a rotten jug of milk.

·?????The great companies of the future will be human-centered businesses.?The truth is that the metrics that matter isn’t around growth rates or transactions – they are around happiness, impact, and freedom. Growth is not a mission, it is an outcome.?And if your company’s mission involves bringing joy to people, then the outcome of growth will follow.?Always work for human-centered firms.

·?????It’s a company’s job to try to make you feel valued and heard.?Its your job to determine if they are any good at it. For a long-tenured employee, its easy to slip down the spectrum from “home team discount” to “taken for granted” or worse yet, “disrespected”. If your company doesn’t recruit you every day, you are at the wrong place.

If you read this and consider yourself my friend, but haven’t reached out yet – just know that I love you and I can’t wait to hear from you.?Here I am – [email protected] or text me at 857-207-1671. Don’t worry, I will also be reaching out to you soon too. ?

But if you are a Russian bot or a RAT: you suck…