Should I Walk Out on My Boss Who I Greatly Admire?

Dear K.A.,

It’s hard for me to understand the source of your angst. On the one hand you are a loyal and committed person who doesn’t want to leave your current boss without resources, but on the other hand you mentioned this person as being possibly vindictive and cruel. Is the concern about letting her down or is it about her taking steps to try and injure your reputation in the market? And is she able to do this? Does she know the new firm, or the recruiter or anyone else involved in the career transition you are considering?

Unfortunately, leaving one situation and moving on to another one is part of the professional career journey. Your boss likely started working somewhere (or maybe more than one place) and eventually left and started her own firm. Transitions in the workplace happen all the time. This is how most of us learn, grow and advance in our careers. Sometimes the existing situation doesn’t offer the kind of career opportunities needed. It sounds like this is the case for you. You are reasonably happy, you work well with your boss and you are the go-to person for her. You self-profess that you wouldn’t have been looking or considering leaving, but this situation came to you. I don’t know that most bosses hold a grudge when someone gets a chance for advancement and growth. Most bosses celebrate this along with the person, although they may be concerned about replacement and the loss of a great partner.

I’m with your wife. I don’t see why you would not want to take this opportunity. You can have a conversation with your boss and work with her to ease the transition. I think you’d be upset with yourself if you did not pursue this career move.

Dear Bev,

Our firm has lost three of our longest tenured employees over the last month. We are undergoing so much change and people’s roles are evolving as a result. Those three people held important management roles in our 25-person firm and those most impacted are the ones most involved in the ongoing management. Our lead advisory partners don’t get engaged with the team. They delegate everything to the head of operations, our financial controller and the head of advisory services, who are the people who left.

The remaining 20+ people are concerned about more defections with the changes that happened. I get that people have to move on with their careers and need to find what’s best for them, but this impacts our firm quite significantly.

What could I do as a management team member to keep people upbeat, motivated and on track for what we’re doing? I don’t agree with our partners keeping themselves ensconced in their offices and unwilling to speak with people on the team. When the three people left, even though they were central to our team, the senior partners didn’t even come out and announce a “thanks” or talk about the important role they’d played in the firm.

W.B.

Dear W.B.,

I had the opportunity just this morning to speak to a large group virtually about “managing change” in organizations. I shared data that showed when management is not transparent, doesn’t listen and isn’t proactively engaging the team, people’s productivity levels go markedly down. Sharing information about what is being done isn’t enough – leaders have to share why the changes are being made.

But most importantly, in every change effort the number one question people have is “How is this going to impact me?” “What’s going to happen to my role and responsibilities?”

Often time leaders don’t have all the answers and aren’t sure where things are going to finally land. But they can engage along the way to solicit input and keep people informed.

This brings me to your question about what you can do to keep the remaining two dozen people engaged and on the team. Communicate what you know. Step into the void your leaders are leaving. You might wonder why I don’t suggest you engage these leaders and ask them to do this. That’s because when senior people don’t see a need to change something, or they actively resist changing something, they aren’t going to able to hear what you are asking and make a shift in their behavior. This gives you an opportunity to be the conduit or the translator from what they are saying needs to happen, and why, to the team.

Focus on bringing the team together for some fun activities. Schedule an outing, or have a meeting to discuss obstacles, or put together a couple of working groups to help bring about the change. Find ways to move the remaining team from the mode of waiting to see what is going to happen, to actively being a part of making it happen.

Most organizations I work with are undergoing change. It is happening everywhere in our profession. In addition to having a clear plan and getting the team involved in implementation, the key is communication. Let people know what is happening and why as often as possible. You can step into a leadership role here and take charge of this.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.

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