Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg discusses women, leadership and success in her book Lean Inn released back in 2013. Among all of the important and valuable messages that she mentions there was one in particular that resonated with me simply because I thought it adequately described a particular situation I was going through. The message was the following; “Don’t leave before you leave.”
I heard this at the precise moment when I was dead set on resigning from my corporate job. She explains the phrase “Don’t leave before you leave” as the moment in a woman’s life when she thinks it’s time to give up her job because she sees not being able to attend to her future, unborn children if she remains working. In other words, it is “looking for the exit before it’s time” says Sheryl. Whoa. Light bulb moment!
The reason why it resonated with me so much was because I was going through both a future resignation and a plan to start a family. As I looked at my situation I thought, “Oh man! Am I doing exactly what Sheryl says NOT to do? Am I leaving because I want to start a family inthe future and I don’t see myself wanting to come back to this job?” It hit me hard and it started to take over my mind until I quickly decided to let it go. I realized that it was in my best interest not to fret and let time take care of it. Continue reading “Don’t Leave Before You Leave”