Thursdays with CC: Greener Pastures

So i see that you are moving to another company? oh, thinking about it. a competitor? hmmm.

i have never seriously considered moving to a competitor. i've been offered. one went as far as i allowed it to - talks with the country manager. i was curious what kind of offer they were going to make. i was testing my 'value'. but i eventually just turned away.

as you consider the move, im sure you have a lot of factors already weighing on you. allow me to add just two:

betting on the future - i think of it as an assessment of where the current company is in the competitive landscape and a prognosis of where it will be. it's like assessing which company will be more dominant, or even survive, in the future. and that's where you'll decide to place your bets. so beyond just assessing your career future, include the company's future within the industry.

psychic income - im not talking about spirits and phantoms. your financial income is probably first in mind when deciding on the move. but sometimes, you need to also look at the 'revenues' (benefits) your 'psyche' gets. you are pretty well aware of the current company culture. you have your office friends, your boss, the people you come in contact with, the office environment. you may like to know more about the environment you are getting into, if you could. at the very least, your immediate supervisor. it would be great to know the kind of set-up they have. nuances of their culture in the way they address each other, the layout of their cubicles, their bulletin board. by the way, with facebook, it is so easy to construct a 'view' of their life.

it may sound so trivial but so many people i know have regretted decisions because they felt that they couldn't hack the culture of their new company.

there many shades of green. it's just important that you know which shade of green you really have and what you will look forward to on the other side of the fence.

during the exit interview, id usually tell people who are about to leave the same thing: give us a good fight in the marketplace. make me proud. show them that your stay with us made you a better manager. a better person.