Don’t Quit Your Job Before Knowing This (Or Risk Missing What You're Really Working Toward)

‘How do I know if I should stay at my org or go?’

Counterintuitive opinion: The brass ring, when it comes to career advancement, isn't promotion.

You can want a promotion. Deserve one even and still feel it's unfair when you don’t get it. In fact, you may be somewhere that genuinely doesn’t value you, and when that happens, I advocate leaving. 

However, if you leave a job before there's more to learn, you may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 👶🏼

The real measure of opportunity in a job is not just in a title or salary (though they are certainly important), it's about fulfilling your career goals.

Find Your Career Goals

Here's how:

• Widen the scope: Look at what you want from your career AT LARGE, not necessarily tied to the org you're in.

• Take the long view: Decide what, 5 years from now, not just in the next 6 months.

• Get specific: The devil is in the details.

• What do you want your day to look like?

• What do you do during your work day?

• Where, apart from the office, does your work take place? Are you speaking, traveling, presenting, or selling?

• What skill do you possess that you only dreamed of?

Answering these questions will help you see what you’re missing and then start to understand if your current workplace is a place where you can cultivate these skills (while getting paid).

Try pitching projects or new businesses; join teams that fulfill your objectives. 

Then see if you should leave.