Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So ya gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
I am pretty sure The Clash were not singing about career decisions, but the last time I heard this song on The Bat 105 – Austin’s Capital for Classic Hits, it inspired me to ponder a question that almost all people face at some point in their working lifetime. The question of “should I leave my current job?”
Over my 25 plus years in management roles, I was often asked questions that were in essence “Should I stay or should I go?” While I never answered the question by belting out lyrics the way Mick Jones did, more times than not I was able to provide some perspective or at least respond back with my own question. In some cases the person asking the question was a direct report or someone from within the same department. In other cases it was a peer in another department or even on rare occasions a person higher up in the organization. And in yet other cases, the question was posed by a friend that worked for a different company.
In all cases, I am always impressed with the bravery to ask the question and have the discussion. Not everyone is comfortable having a dialogue about potentially changing jobs; so when people engage me on the subject I try and make a true effort to provide valuable insight. I usually start by asking “why are you considering making a change?” The answers vary from a desire for more compensation, to lack of career advancement, to too much travel, to boredom, to dislike of co-workers or company, to wanting to make a radical career change, and to long work days or stress eating away at family time. Depending on the answer to the first question, I might follow up with something like “are you happy doing what you are doing?” or “does your current job make you feel fulfilled?” or the ever popular “so what do you want to do when you grow up?” These will usually spur more conversation and in most cases that will lead to additional reasons for wanting to make a change or not make a change.
Depending on where the conversation goes, I might even use my own journey from which to pull examples of times I either made the decision to make a change or stay put. Granted most of my job changes might seem radical to some, but there was usually some point in one of them that could fit the situation. My first big change from government accountant to Big 4 consultant was driven by a desire to not do accounting, and to lesser extents much better compensation and making good on a “threat” I made to leave the agency I was working in if they moved me on to a team working on what I considered an already doomed project. My next change to leave the interesting world of Big 4 consulting and land in corporate-America was driven by a strong desire to spend more time with my young family. The grind of traveling 5 or 6 days every week was too much. And my latest change from corporate CIO to independent management consultant was driven by the realization the corporate officer role I had chased for many years did not bring the expected feeling of joy. In short, I was not happy and went back to the role, management consultant, that brought me the most happiness – this time without the extensive travel.
Not once did I look back and question my decision to make a change, but trust me, each decision was not made lightly. Any time that “stay or go” question creeped in my mind, I stopped and assessed the situation.
What is making me ask the question?
Is my current role fulfilling?
Am I growing professionally?
Is my current job pulling me away from other more important things in my life?
Am I happy?
In most cases I tried to seek out the advice of others. I also tried to balance that input from others with what my mind and my heart were telling me. In the end, I always went with my heart because I knew that would lead me to make the right decision. There were times the heart said “stay” and others when it said “go”; looking back the choice was always spot on.
Ultimately the decision to make a change is yours to make. Getting advice from others can help bring it all into focus, but in the end you have to make the choice. You can beg and plead for someone else to let you know, but only you can answer the question “should I stay or should I go?”
Robert Not Bob 