Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Framework and Questions to Help Determine When to Move On

In the United States, Joe Biden chose to stand down from the Presidential campaign, a momentous decision not only for the selection of the President, but for him personally.?

We all know athletes, musicians, actors/actresses, politicians, and others who tainted their legacy because they overstayed at their job.?

Let me suggest that we all face the challenge of knowing when to move from a role, job, company, or career. Others have offered thoughtful insights about quitting, but I want to highlight staying or going as a way to move on, hopefully, to better opportunities.

Deciding to stay or go ultimately remains a personal choice, but can be improved by not relying on a single (and often impulsive) criterion (e.g., I don’t like my boss or I got passed over for a promotion).? Let me offer a framework for making more systematic and thoughtful stay or go decisions that I have found helpful for myself and others.

The demand/resource framework has been used to explain how to ensure mental health or employee experience by balancing work demands with resources to avoid burnout or boredom (figure 1).? We have identified five “resources” that help employees manage their work demands (figure 2).? Similar logic has been used to create the corporate athlete and to help adolescents develop. When these five resources become demands (blue arrow in figure 1), it may be time to move on. ?

Across these five dimensions, let me share 10 criteria and subsequent reflection questions that may bring more rigor to the stay or go decision.?

?Physical: What does my body tell me about moving on?

1.???? Listen to my body.? Often unrecognized emotions and stress show up in our body and physical well-being which might include weight gain, illness, insomnia, fatigue, or loss of energy.

Reflection question: Do I attend to what my body tells me about my physical well-being?

2.??? Recognize contextual changes.? The rapid pace of change (call it volatility, agility, turbulence, transformation, or uncertainty), means that what “got you here won’t get you there”.? Contextual change means that work requirements have moved on with subsequent new expectations, accountabilities, and actions.? Replacing the dated past with reinvented new opportunities for the future comes from adapting to contextual change.

Reflection question:? Do I feel invigorated or fatigued by the contextual changes in my work setting??

Intellectual: What does my mind tell me about moving on?

3.??? Savor accomplishment.? Most work comes with milestones or accomplishments that define success.?? People may stay too long when they don’t fully appreciate their successes and/or keep extending aspirations beyond abilities.? Celebrate success and move on before peaking and eroding impact.

Reflection question: Do I believe that I have accomplished what I have intended?

4.??? Reflect on learning.? Learning comes from reflecting on the past and anticipating the future.? When learning stalls and routines replace originality, complacency often follows which signals moving on.

Reflection question:? Do I spend more time looking back at or recycling/repackaging what has been done or forward to creating what can be done?

5.??? Anticipate what’s next. ?Sometimes people leave a work setting without a clear sense of what’s next.? It is better to be pulled into new opportunities than to be pushed out of existing roles.?? Anticipating future opportunities requires honest assessment of current and future skills required to fulfill those opportunities.

Reflection questions: Do I have somewhere to go that entices me?? Do I have (or can I learn) the skills required for my next move?

Emotional: What do my emotions tell me about moving on?

6.??? Attend to my mental health.? Mental health has become the post pandemic endemic as many struggle with depression about the past, anxiety about the future, and loneliness in the present.? Loss of mental health affects self-confidence and creates an emotional drain. The work setting continues as primary setting for mental health.

Reflection questions: Do I wake up excited about or dreading the opportunities ahead during my workday?? Do I feel emotionally drained from my workday?

Social:? How do people around me react to my staying or leaving?

7.???? Recognize social impact.? Even in hybrid (or work from home), work is a social event, both in terms of colleagues and of those who benefit from the work.? When colleagues are supportive teammates more than adversaries and when work creates value for others beyond oneself, it is easier to stay.

Reflection questions:? Do I receive support to stay from my peers?? Do I believe that my work creates value for others??

8.??? Seek advice from peers.? Research has shown that when we have strong ties with valued advisors who care about us, we thrive.? In deciding to stay or go, those who care about us may see more clearly what might be in our best interest.? We may be blinded by our sunk cost, ambition, or perceived skills and not see clearly the implications of staying or going.

Reflection question: Do I listen to those I respect who advise me to stay or go??

9.??? Empower rising generation.? We have talked about elegant exits where it is important to leave on good terms, celebrate successes, and prepare successors who will build a better future.? Being a mentor to and having confidence in the next generation informs the stay or go choice.

Reflection question:? Do I mentor and make room for the next generation so they can evolve what I have done??

Spiritual: How does my work give me a deeper sense of meaning or purpose?

10. Pursue values.? In our study of abundance at work, we found that meaning and purpose (believe) comes from work that coincides with ones’ values, often aligned with “spiritual” (not a religion) aspiration.?Organizations that pursue purpose driven work that matches personal values create meaning.? Work with a meaning deficit becomes onerous.

Reflection questions: Do I believe that my work contributes to living my values?? Do I feel that the values of my organization align with my personal values??

Conclusion and Implication

Like President’s Biden withdrawal, the decision to stay or go becomes a very personal choice.? When intentional about the choice based on a set of criteria and reflection questions (see figure 3), the choice leads to positive outcomes for the individual and others.?Hopefully, President Biden finds personal peace with his choice.?

I continually ask myself these reflection questions to make my stay or go choices and I hope business and HR leaders can do so with those they lead and coach.

Which of the criteria and questions are most helpful to you?

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Dave Ulrich?is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at The RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value.