Why It Was OK When My Employer of Eight Years Decided That It Was Time For Us To Part Ways …

Unexpected events tend to bring focus and clarity to the party when they come, even if it takes us a while to catch up. In April of last year, the founder of a business that I helped to create, an outfit that I still own a meaningful piece of, decided that it was better for the company if I moved-on. And though that came as a surprise to my conscious mind, it was clearly something that I had been looking forward to for a while.

That said, the timing was weird.

We had just returned from an epic family adventure to Thailand, the first trip outside of the U.S. for the kids … and … we were literally moving into a new house when I took the call.

My wife was writing a check to pay the movers when the phone rang, and she could tell from the look on my face that something peculiar was being discussed. We ended-up negotiating a mutually beneficial split, and although it’s taken some time for me to see things clearly, the longer I’m away from this gig, the more I see that it really was time.

Through the summer I worked to rebuild the consulting practice that I’ve always gone back to in these situations. I also grew a garden in our new side yard. And, I was able to work with some really interesting companies … mostly on strategy.

In August, one of my consulting clients offered me a CEO position to create a holding company above his six food businesses.

Clarity runs on it own time.