I recently served as a panelist for a conversation about young professionals getting into the non-profit industry. An attendee (incongruously, I might add) asked, “Is it hard to leave your job? As in quit?”
I answered immediately: “You are always replaceable.”
My fellow panelists and I all smiled at one another and they chimed in that they, too, thought quitting was easy. No biggie. Have an exit strategy, if at all possible.
Quitting a job is a form of boundary setting – practically and emotionally. You’re saying no to one opportunity so you can say yes to another. What struck me in talking with my fellow panelists afterwards is how that act of assertion is preceeded by self-awareness and a balanced ego. It requires that you actually do know what’s good for you, that you can hold on to yourself in the face of resistence, whether it be internal or external. It also requires accepting that yes, you are ALWAYS replaceable.
Tags: career
