Telling signs you need to leave your job
“A common rule we should always try to heed is to detect and fix any problem at the lowest-value stage possible.” Andrew S. Grove’s advice to fix problems when they’re small is a constant reminder that our time is limited and we can’t afford to let anyone ruin our days and waste our time. So when your boss is driving you crazy, trying to prevent you from doing fulfilling work or drain you of any creative energy, stop trying to fix it. Stop trying to fix it while you’re looking for another job.
There’s a level of domineering leadership from which no one-on-one and no open communication can save us. When that happens, we need to remember that we have a responsibility towards ourselves, to create and live the best version of ourselves. So the only sane thing to do is to listen to the symptoms. Then quickly make the decision to be the exact opposite kind of leader. Move fast and move on.
“We live with such ideas about human nature that are so pervasive that we don’t even realize there is another way to look at ourselves” — Barry Schwartz, Why We Work
Detect the signs early on:
- When the financial metrics are your leader’s mission
Note to self: Well said, Edward Abbey: Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. Because yes, don’t you rather work for a business that strives to be a real force for good? Wouldn’t you make meaning before money?
2. When you’re micromanaged
Note to self: True leaders have their people do their jobs without their involvement. Ray Dalio, the CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund: “We want people who know that if the community works well, it will be good for them. We don’t want people who need to be ordered and threatened. We don’t want people who just follow orders”.
3. When you’re not encouraged to talk back
Note to self: It all comes down to honesty: “I never want to be in an environment or around people where I have to watch what I say. If I disconnect what I’m thinking from what I’m saying, that creates multiple threads in my mind, that means that I’m no longer in the moment, and that means that I now have to be future-planning or past-regretting every time I’m talking to somebody. Anyone around whom I can’t be fully honest, I don’t want to be around.” — Naval Ravikant, CEO and co-founder of AngelList
4. When you’re constantly told to seek consensus in the workplace
Note to self: When an unexpected argument is shut down as a potential source of conflict in the workplace, the leader is only inviting fear, dishonesty and status symbols into the decision making process. We can’t build great things when no one is wrong and everyone is right. But we can cultivate an environment where people feel safe to be proactive, and know how to actively listen and effectively communicate. And to avoid any harmful emotions within the team, follow a clear and agreed process: one final decision maker to use the credibility and data leverage to evaluate all stated opinions. The operating principles, Ray Dalio says, need to be “so clearly laid out that their logic can easily be assessed and you and others can see if you walk the talk”.
5. When the work culture has a happiness fetish
Note to self: Do you want to feel like being part of a cult, starting every working morning and every meeting by answering to “what are we excited about today?” Really, even on those days when you urgently need to just dive into work, find your flow and solve some important tasks? Don’t shy away from not being ok some days, it’s ok. Emotions cannot be dysfunctional. All emotions are healthy and serve a functional role, only their expression can be dysfunctional. Instead of forcing people into being cheerful at all times, encourage the cultivation of compassion, effective communication and the practice of mindfulness.
6. When your leader needs to be right all the time.
Note to self: A leader leads by example. If a leader cannot accept being wrong, their ego will always stand in the way. The whole team will start emulating his actions, believing that refusing to recognize when they’re wrong is an expected and valued behavior within the workplace.
7. When you are constantly reminded of the cost of failure. And constantly reprimanded you’re not showing more enthusiasm about the nice cool perks. Note to self: Just leave already.
Bad leadership can poison you. But only if you let it.
