My hands were sweating, my legs were shaking, and my voice was breaking.
It was 2022, and I was about to tell my boss that I was quitting because I was moving to a new company.
It was a very complicated moment. I had been with that company for eight years, the people there were my “second family”, and I felt that I was betraying them.
After the initial pleasantries, I found the strength to pass the message because, at that moment, I thought it was the best for the business. For me as a business.
Do what’s best for the business
If you remember, every time you go through an induction program at a new job, or when you study anything related to administration, one of the first phrases you hear is “do what’s best for the business”.
This applies to multiple situations, but the first one is when you are a manager and there is a colleague who is not performing well. Many companies ask you to put your feelings aside and do the right thing for the organization.
I think that is a fair concept, one that helps many people justify in their minds the decision of letting somebody go, or not promoting a person to a new role.
I agree with the idea, so much so that I think all of us should apply it to our own careers.
You are The Business
My proposal is that you consider yourself “The Business”.
If you start taking this approach, you will prioritize yourself above anything else. For instance, if you need to pick between staying at a company that is not treating you well, even though you have been with them for over a decade, or leaving for a new job that is being offered to you.
What is best for “The Business”? What is best for you?
The answer will be found by putting your feelings aside and making the call that benefits you the most. It is also a call for honesty, with yourself and with your employer.
If you are not satisfied with your current situation, it is better if you leave the romantic side of the equation aside, write down your reality, and make the decision based on what is best for you.
This is not about being disrespectful or ungrateful to those who have given you a job. This is about looking out for yourself, just like most companies will do when the time comes to choose between you and their well-being.
Write down your reality
When I say write down your reality, I mean it literally. Take a piece of paper, or open a note on your phone, and treat yourself the way a company treats one of its departments when budget season comes.
A company looks at numbers. What is this department costing me, what is it giving back, and is it growing or is it flat?
Do the same with yourself.
What are you being paid, and what would the market pay somebody with your experience today? Not five years ago. Today.
What have you learned in the last twelve months that you could not do the year before? If the answer takes you a while, that is an answer too.
Who would call you if your company disappeared tomorrow? Not who likes you. Who would hire you.
And the one nobody likes to write down: how do you feel on Sunday night?
Nobody has to see this paper. But once it is in front of you, in black and white, it becomes very hard to keep telling yourself that everything is fine because the people are nice and the coffee is free.
Companies do this exercise every single year. Most of us have never done it once.
The industry is not waiting
Our industry is changing at a pace that is hard to keep up with. AI, consolidation, automation, and many other factors are leaving many without a job because companies make decisions based on what is “good for the business”.
Again, that is a fair approach.
I am just asking you that, before you are caught in the middle of a merger or a technology upgrade, you consider your options and make the decision based on what is good for you as a business.
Long story short
I walked out of that office in 2022 with my legs still shaking. But I walked out knowing I had made what, at that time, I thought was the best call for The Business.
You are The Business. Run it like one.
P.S. If you do the exercise, keep the paper. Do it again in a year. The Business deserves at least an annual review.