Are you thinking about leaving your job? If so, you’re not alone. Research shows that up to a full 51% of workers are looking to leave their job. What we’ve found is that not all of the reasons people have for leaving are equally valid, which is why we recently shared a list of 5 Terrible Reasons to Leave Your Job.
But sometimes change is not only necessary but also a very, very good idea. Today we’ve got the flip side of the coin—five reasons that you should leave your job and pursue something new.
Reason #1: Your current career aligns with very few of your natural strengths. You’ve felt for a long time like the amount of effort you’re putting into your job isn’t reflected by your performance. It seems like many of your coworkers have an easier time meeting goals and are more satisfied by their work. After taking the Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) and debriefing with your Highlands Certified Consultant (HCC), you realize that the amount of detailed and specific attention your job requires is at odds with your natural ability to quickly make decisions and judgments based on a just a few, disparate facts. You almost never get to use that skill (a type of convergent reasoning, by the way), but instead are required to carefully plan and provide thorough, logical analyses for each step. You can do the work, but it’s counter to your natural instincts and therefore requires additional effort.
Your HCC will provide you with potential career fields where your specific abilities profile is well-utilized. Once you better understand your strengths, you can quickly start to narrow down potential jobs that would suit you better than others. Plus, you can take heart knowing that a career doesn’t have to be quite so draining. In fact, if it plays well to your strengths and abilities, it can even be energizing!
Reason #2: The values of your employer are at odds with your personal values. You’re good at what you do, and you enjoy being competent. However, you often feel tension that you’re not contributing to something you consider worthwhile. The corporate team models a “work-first, family-second” lifestyle that isn’t appealing to you. Most of the senior executives practically live at the office and take a lot of pride in regularly logging 60+ hour work weeks. Also, the product your company makes is aggressively marketed to young teens and you feel uneasy about tempting that age group with luxury goods. A promotion would inevitably mean more time away from your family, so you don’t feel motivated to excel and gain recognition.
Taking the time to research other companies where you could use similar skills but within a different value system would be well worth the effort. Rather than burning out, you could be in an environment where what’s good for you and and what’s good for the company are one and the same.
Reason #3: You’re being pressured into a promotion that isn’t a good fit. As a sales rep for a technology firm, you excel at bringing in new business. Year after year, your performance outranks your peers, and management has decided that it’s time to promote you to Director of Sales. While the raise and recognition are tempting, consider the day-to-day requirements of the position before you accept. If travel, new relationships, and persuasive arguments are what give you the most joy and energy from your job, you might find that sitting behind a desk and reviewing reports all day will quickly bore you.
Whether or not you need to leave depends on how your supervisors respond if you decline the promotion. They might not understand your refusal and will take it as a sign that you aren’t ambitious or don’t want to contribute to the company at a high level. However, it might be possible to stay if you can clearly express why the promotion wouldn’t suit you very well and how your strengths are better aligned with your current position.
Reason #4. You’ve found something new that’s a perfect fit. After careful research and planning, you’ve found a new job that is almost perfectly aligned with your whole self, including abilities, interests, values, and skills. You’ve taken the HAB, you’ve had a two-hour debrief session with your HCC, and you’ve spent several hours researching different career areas, including interviewing people who are actually doing the work. Revamping your resume was easy after spending so much time understanding your skills and abilities, and it wasn’t a stretch at all to apply to a job opening that you were confident would be a good fit. Due to your ability to articulate your strengths and why you were an excellent candidate for the job, as well as your genuine enthusiasm, you were given an offer that you gladly accepted.
We wholeheartedly agree that, in this scenario, you should leave your job and take the new position.
Reason #5. You have new insight from your Highlands Certified Consultant. One of the most difficult things about leaving your job is that, while we often know without question what it is that we don’t like, it’s much more difficult to pinpoint what it is that we want. The more stressed we are, the more difficult it is to get perspective. Your HCC is an objective and trained resource who can give you the framework and tools you need to stop making the same bad choices. Rather than making reactive decisions that improve one part of your life but negatively impact others, your HCC can teach you how to create an integrated vision for your life and career.
Real change is possible, but it’s not easy. Your Highlands Certified Consultant is your guide to help you stay on course, be accountable for each step of the way, and move forward with confidence that you know who you are and what you want.
So, is it time to leave your job? Only you can decide for sure, but we hope you’ll take our advice to heart. It’s easy to connect with an HCC and get started on a path to a more fulfilling career. Contact us today—your future awaits!