Rule #2 — Leave your job when you are going up

Summary

The article advises leaving your job when you are on an upward career trajectory to maintain positive momentum.

Abstract

The article, titled "How to snowball your career onto a positive trajectory," emphasizes the importance of timing when considering a job change. It suggests that the best time to leave a job is when you are excelling and have achieved a series of successes, as this is when you have the most positive career momentum. The author recounts advice from a great manager who believed in the mutual benefit of employee happiness and business success. This manager actively helped employees find roles that suited them better, even if it meant leaving the company. The article argues that staying in a role too long can lead to stagnation or negative impacts on one's career, such as getting stuck with less favorable projects or being affected by market-driven downsizing. Conversely, making a move while on an upward trend can help sustain and build upon that momentum in a new position, akin to keeping a snowball gathering speed and size.

Opinions

The author believes that career momentum is crucial and that it's easier to continue this momentum by changing jobs while one is still successful and recognized in their current role.
It is suggested that staying in a comfort zone can lead to a decline in career progress due to factors like reduced challenge, project failures, or market changes.
The article conveys that a great manager should care about employee happiness and be proactive in helping them find the right role, even if it's outside the current company.
The concept of a career snowball effect is highlighted, where success builds upon success, and careful steering at the right moments is key to maintaining growth.
The author implies that change, although painful, is necessary for continued career development and should not be avoided simply because the current situation is comfortable.

When you are on a high it is time to step off the comfort zone

“Leave your job when you are going up”

This was the advice I was given by a great manager many years ago, he then went on to explain why….

He was the sort of person who genuinely cared for people, and believed if people were happy in their jobs it rippled through to the business. And vice versa if someone was in the wrong job then he would have an honest 1:1 and assist them to move teams, change role, or leave the business. This didn’t mean firing them but coaching and helping them, reviewing a CV, discuss career goals etc

As for leaving a business, the advice was easy to understand and one I have subsequently used in discussions with people.

There will come a point when you are really excelling in your carer at a business, you may have been promoted a few times, completed a successful project, everyone wants to be associated with you, and you are hurtling along. At this stage, you have positive career momentum, and it is continually pushing you forward. Now is the time to move!

If you hang on in your current position waiting for a gap in the next level, then you will find these vacancies occur less often. You may have to wait for someone to be promoted, resign or leave. And if it is a great place to work then these changes will be less frequent.

If you overstay, then there is a risk you become stuck in a role, you get given a project that sucks and isn’t such a success, market changes mean the business downsizes, you have less challenge and get bored, repetition means you ease off the throttle. Warning!! this is your career momentum slowing, and once it starts it keeps on going and becomes increasingly harder to alter.

However, this feels like a tough time to make a move. All is going well, you are in your comfort zone and glowing with success. Why rock the apple cart? Change is painful, and carrying on in your current position is easy and hopefully can still keep improving.

If however, you change job at the point you are going upwards, then momentum will keep you going upwards into and within the next job. This momentum like your career works like a snowball, gathering size, mass, and speed as it rolls along just make sure to gently push it in the right direction at key times and not allow it to stop.

How to snowball your career onto a positive trajectory

Rule #2 — Leave your job when you are going up

When you are on a high it is time to step off the comfort zone

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