I’ve decided to take a different approach for Twenty Twenty Thrive with this blog and provide more direct insight and practical advice about preparing to exit your corporate career.
My mission is to help people who feel trapped by a corporate career to see that they have options – and that their skills, experience and knowledge are in demand.
Through the research for Corporate Escapology and since, I’ve spoken to hundreds of people who’ve been in various stages of exit from ‘just thinking about’, to ‘I’m off‘, to ‘I’ve left‘ and beyond – and several who’ve moved back.
And I want to share the benefit of their collective wisdom.
I thought, given it’s January, I’d start with the big question: Why?
Why do you want to leave?
Are you being pulled towards something new or different, or pushed from something you don’t like – or is someone or something pushing you?
For most people it’s a blend. And that’s a good thing because change theory says most of us won’t move until something painful is pushing us away AND something appealing (and reasonably well formed) is pulling us towards something else, usually progress. Both Push and Pull forces – here’s an exercise you can try from my book.
The danger comes when we’ve begun to hate what we do and emotions control our preparations (or lack of preparations) – and when we’re too idealistic or unrealistic about what we’re moving towards.
Every so often, I would hate my job. It was often sparked by an individual (e.g. boss) who was limiting my autonomy or my options, someone making me feel small – or when I was feeling uninspired by the company’s vision or its leadership. Or when the work had become a drudge.
I’d fantasise about a dramatic resignation; I’d really “show them”.
Fortunately, I was never so brave (or stupid) to follow through, but I have coached people who were – and the outcomes, I’m afraid, weren’t good. In most cases the company said sayonara and the individual was left to leave – Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Even Think About Collecting the measly £200.
Same for The Dreamers (this is me) who fantasise about how green the grass is everywhere else apart from where they are today.
It’s easy to imagine a perfect world, much harder to access it: real life gets in the way.
Again, my experience of coaching people who have left their corporate careers, proves unequivocally that there are always trade-offs in what we do next. Especially for those of us who leave to work for themselves.
Work is often harder, the strains greater, the insecurity and imposter syndrome more intense. But the positives on offer include pride, autonomy, playing to strengths, flexibility etc.
Being realistic about your reasons for leaving – as well as about where you’re heading – is critical.
Each week I’m going to try to give you five practical tips based on what I’ve learnt from my own experience and from the experiences of others.
Here’s some things to consider when answering the question everyone will ask: Why on earth are you giving up something you’ve worked so hard for?
Find your North Star – I like the concept of a destination, but a flexible one: it may take time to get there, there may be other destinations en route, the destination may be wrong. In my book I talk about my North Star being how I want to work, rather than what work I want to do. I’m looking for Autonomy, Variety and Pace in everything I do. When these three are balanced I find myself operating in the North Star zone I defined as I walked away from my career.
Set some boundaries – there’s a risk we jump from the frying pan into the fire because we may be attracted to something new, but don’t give enough thought to what we want to leave behind. These Red Lines could concern ways of working (e.g. hours, culture. role), how we feel about work (e.g. sense of belonging, purpose) or the type of work and sector.
Look for adjectives – don’t feel obliged to get too precise too quickly when trying to imagine your new life. Think instead of how you would like to describe yourself and your life: flexible, valuable, in-control, predictable, wealthy etc. You can always get more specific with OKRs later.
Keep Asking Why – this is a tried and tested approach to get to the root cause of something, so we understand its underlying reasons. It’s worked really well for some of the clients I’ve worked with asking “And why’s that important?”, when they say “I need to replace the income” or “I want to work three days a week” or “I want to run my own business”. By working at a deeper level (e.g. it’s about status or feeling valued or equal in a relationship, or a desire for autonomy) we become more open to other, potentially lower risk, opportunities and ideas.
Write stuff down – obvious, but it’s staggering how many people think, with all of life’s hustle and bustle, we can trust our brains to remember things. Also, you can BS yourself less when you put pen to paper.
So that’s it, Numero Uno in the new format – please do let me know any challenges you’re facing or questions you have about exiting or life outside and I’ll add them to the list of topics I’m planning to cover.
And do please share this blog
with someone who needs it – there seems to be a lot of people who’ve started back to work under the cloud of redundancy, so let’s help them see they have options even if they don’t feel that right now.
And, here’s more – today Season 2 of the Corporate Escapology podcast starts with the very lovely Kirsty Lewis of School of Facilitation (another contact from La Superconnectrice
). Before launching her own business, Kirsty worked for almost eight years as an Associate, a really smart bridging role from full time employment.
Listen here on Spotify:
Or watch us here on YouTube:
Quick plug as well – Escapology Live, my group coaching programme, sold out in a week…so I’ve opened up another five week programme for Cohort 4 starting January 29th. If you or anyone you know might benefit from learning together – through exercises, feedback and discussions in a really safe, supportive environment, you can sign up here. I discounted it to £70 and think I’ll just keep this price so it’s fair. I’ll post out a signed copy of the book to any takers who haven’t bought a copy already!
