One thing I’ve learned about myself. I have to decide my message, and stay on message. If I get sloppy and deviate, I pay for it later. My head and heart take over, and suddenly I’m blurting out things I can’t believe keep flowing from my mouth like water. And then… oops. What was I thinking? I said that?
So, after a networking breakfast I come out from the restroom to find Blake at a couch in the lobby, with headphones on and talking to a co-worker. I sit quietly and wait, and he points at a list of follow ups (from our meeting) for me to review until he finishes his call. After he disconnects, he tells me how he’d like to discuss our next steps for new business. I stop and look at him. I say, “We need to talk”.
The conversation went like this.
Blake: About what?
Me: I think it’s time for me to leave.
Blake: Why is that? (looking slightly away, reflective, waiting for the unexpected).
Me: Well. pause. It’s something I’ve been thinking about, a lot. And it all started when you and g.f. (girlfriend of Blake’s) took me aside and pointed to my original job description, telling me I needed to move away from client work and go back to business development 100%. Sigh. I want to get out of sales. I don’t want to do this any more.
Blake: Yes, well… (pause), the challenge is, we need this role to be focused right now. I know you have always had a love for client work, but it detracts from what we need at Company X.
Me: Yes, I know. And the other thing that you said that day was that you want to be 100% billable and on client projects. I realized at that moment that it was up to me to sell “Blake” as the product. And I do it, but not as well as you can sell yourself. And so, I decided then, and it was really difficult for me. This all happened so fast. I approached a friend, and now I have an offer, from Company A.
Blake: You do? What’s the role?
Me: My title is XYZ Manager. No longer sales. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do at our company. And it’s not competitive with your company. In fact, there are good synergies and I think you’d benefit from meeting the founder over there.
Blake: Is it more money?
Me: Yes.
Blake: How much? (to which I responded with the number). And then… Shit. I can’t match that.
We ended on a very positive note. With an ever so slight tinge of sadness, we declared how incredibly amazing the journey has been. I composed myself before I let tears flow (couldn’t let myself cry) and we quickly turned to my secession planning.
For your exit speech, I highly recommend that you think about your message points before you give notice. If you don’t want to burn that bridge, practice your sound bites – don’t ad lib! When it comes to telling the “grapevine’, try to be mindful of the protocol and follow every unspoken rule. For instance, everyone knows that Blake needs to tell individuals about change. He has to feel like he’s in control and it puts him in that position of power to be the one. So I made sure he knew that any announcement was his to schedule and control. The comedy will ensue in the next blog!
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