I just recently resigned from a really GREAT
job. I didn’t want to, but I had to, due
to life circumstances. Nothing life or
death, but there was no other option. I
was able to leave the company on very positive terms. It was very sad for me to have to leave a
job that I truly enjoyed.
The very day that I sent out my group email resignation
to my co-workers, within minutes, my email inbox was pinging with return
emails. Some people were shocked, some
were saddened, some told me how I would be missed, some told me how they
enjoyed working with me, how they enjoyed my sense of humor, how I had done
such a great job, etc. I was surprising
by the number of emails.
It was like a movie script where the lead
character, who everyone thought had died in a mysterious plane crash over the
ocean but somehow survived, was now able
to attend his own funeral—without being noticed, sitting disguised in the back
row of the chapel, listening to his friends and family eulogize him. People said things in those emails that
truly surprised me. I was not aware of
the impact that I had on some of my co-workers. People made comments after I had resigned,
that they never would have personally made to me while I was still at work. Not to mention the hugs that I received over
the following week. I probably could have worked for years and
never really known how my co-workers felt about me. A simple resignation opened the doors for
emotions to enter the workplace. It’s
similar to the regret we all have had at one time or another when you first
hear of the death of a friend or relative. “ I wish
I would have told him/her how much I
…………. “
It was a great reminder for me, as a manager, to
“pretend as if your staff just resigned” and give them feedback, praise,
emotional support, and help them to feel appreciated – in the moment. Don’t wait until it is too late. In my case, this ultimately would not have
had any impact on my need to resign, but I wonder how my career might have
felt, had I witnessed my own eulogy on a daily basis.
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