Knowing Why/When To Quit
by Miki Saxon
Occasionally I share stuff I receive from clients and sometimes from readers, as I’m doing today. I ask if I can share it and usually the response is ‘yes’, with the caveat that I change enough to ensure that nobody will recognize the writer.
I think “Caz’s” situation and its outcome are very applicable right now. I hear from a lot of you, all asking how to know when to “pull the plug.”
As always, I’m available by phone or email if you want/need to hash things out; contact info in the right-hand frame.
Hi Miki,
It’s been awhile and a lot has happened, with both family — the adoption went through and I’m a new dad! — and I’ve got a new job.
As you know, I’ve been getting more and more concerned about my future at “Locus Systems.”
You also know I’m extremely culture sensitive and the culture has been changing quite a bit, moving more and more towards a fear-based approach.
In addition, we launched a new product about 2 years ago and landed a total of maybe 20 customers.
While the product itself worked and there is a real need, the market just didn’t respond.
This in turn led to our CEO, who owns the company, to push the sales teams harder. In the end he said the failure was on the individual sales teams, not the product.
I have a strong business background and know that for no discernible reason good products sometimes just don’t find the market demand expected.
This whole ordeal has led to a lot of resentment on the part of the sales teams and management.
Some of our best team members started leaving; I’m talking about people who sell $4MM plus a year, so great salespeople.
Each time someone left the CEO would make it a point to remind everyone that that person lacked the vision and we were better off without them.
Give me a break!
On a personal level commissions started being delayed. We always waited 2 months or so for our commission, but it was creeping into a 3-4 month time frame, sometimes longer.
All this led me to a realization that I was probably on a sinking ship. I don’t mind struggling, and you know I’m a fighter, but when the CEO and management are essentially belittling employees and putting all failures on them it’s time to go.
So I started looking.
I found a great opportunity with “Jasper, Inc.,” another young software company that’s growing organically and has what seems like a terrific culture — all the good stuff you’ve written about (why I started reading you in the first place).
I found the opportunity locally, but the company doesn’t care where I live. That means we aren’t restricted to one town. I always wanted to be able to choose where I live and not have my job dictate that to me.
Although I just started, I’m really enjoying it. The opportunity came as a bit by surprise, but quite frankly, the conditions, benefits and pay are all superior to what I had.
I’d like to stay in touch. This role will give me more financial freedom then I have had in the past and that may come in handy down the road ;-)
Caz
Image credit j. botter
