Three Questions To Ask Before You Exit

Manager Tony La Russa

Are you ready to hang it up?

That may not be a question that most people ask themselves often enough, but maybe it is one more of us need to ask ourselves. This thought is prompted by a 2012 column by best-selling author Bob Greene column on St. Louis Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa’s decision to retire after winning the World Series, the first time that any manager has ever done so.

Asking ourselves when it is time to quit should not be reserved for those about to retire. It is something that everyone in a leadership position needs to consider. To be clear I am not referring to giving up in the face of adversity. Rather I am talking about the choice to leave voluntarily.

Know this: asking if you should leave should not be confused with quitting. It is rather a reflection on future possibilities. Some folks I know love what they do so much they want to do it till they are carried out on a stretcher. Bless them. Others are feeling hemmed in and uncreative. They yearn for a different track but are hesitant to make a move. Not simply for financial reasons but because they do not want to be bored. Or worse unwanted.

One of the salient perks of leadership is that you are in demand. As tiring as that may be it can also be enriching. We all want to be wanted and so for a senior manager, even a CEO, to give up the big chair is very hard on the psyche.

But many of the best executives I have known have embarked on second careers that have found enriching. Some are teachers and mentors; others are in government service or social service. All of them are wanted.

Questions to ask when pondering next steps are as basic as questions that we urge college graduates to consider. But with a twist – likely they have accomplished what they set out to do, but now may be a time to do it differently… or not. So ask:

• What gets you up in the morning?
• What do you want to be recognized for doing?
• What keeps you doing what you do?

The answers such questions stimulate may be unsettling. Perhaps you may be good at something but want to do something new. If that is the case, then perhaps now is the time to try it. Only you know for certain.

Knowing when it is time to head for the exit demonstrates a profound sense of awareness of what you can and cannot do. More organizations need to prepare their leaders for next steps. Doing so enables the next generation to step up and the current leadership to do something new and different.