The Right Way to Leave
Archives: Daily Issues
Issue #2429
- WEALTHY: Good news in a bleak economy (Rick Pendergraft)
- HEALTHY: A surprising way to reduce body fat (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Albert Camus on happiness
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- There is only one way to exit (MaryEllen Tribby)
- The “early to rise” travel strategy (Suzanne Richardson)
- It’s Good to Know… about rescuing deleted digital photos
- Add “didactic” to your vocabulary
Tap Into Your Inner Genius
Our conscious mind is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s just the beginning of our ability to become a wildly successful sales pro, marketer, or entrepreneur.
The other 99% – our unconscious mind – is an untapped store of amazing knowledge.
What if you could…
- Tap into all that knowledge at any moment?
- Solve any personal or business problem with startling creativity?
- Come up with ideas that would make you more money or help you be massively more productive – with minimum effort?
Well there is a way… with a strategy called “Image Streaming.”
This simple, elegant mental technique is easy to learn. And it will help you get into the head of any expert or genius in any field… view your problem, opportunity, or situation from the expert’s point of view… and get genius answers!
Learn how to tap into your inner genius right here.
Not All Retailers Are Struggling
The retail sector has been performing very poorly over the last year. The problems in the credit market have had a huge impact on the spending habits of consumers, and retailers have struggled as a result. Declining sales and rising costs. Not exactly the recipe for profitability.
Despite the general downturn in retail business, one online retailer continues to grow. Amazon.com (AMZN) reported second-quarter results on July 23, and they beat estimates handily.
Analysts were expecting Amazon to earn $0.26 per share… and the company reported earnings of $0.37. Revenues nearly doubled from the same period last year.
AMZN has been stuck between $61 and $97 for the past 15 months, but appears to be heading toward the upper end of that range on this news. With solid support at $61 and momentum to the upside, AMZN deserves a spot in your portfolio. If the company continues to grow revenues and earnings at this pace, the $97 resistance point should be overtaken.
[Ed. Note: Knowing which stocks to invest in - and which to avoid - can be overwhelming. Especially if you're new to the investing game. That's where investment analyst Rick Pendergraft comes in. He's got an embarrassing secret that can help you make money. Learn more here.]
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“But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?”
Albert Camus
The Right Way to Leave
I recently celebrated my two-year anniversary with ETR. But it seems like I have been a part of this team much longer. Maybe it is because there is absolutely no other organization I would rather be a part of.
You see, I’m fortunate. I wake up every morning and look forward to going to the office to interact with the ETR team, to brainstorm new products and marketing ideas, and, recently, to talk about the new ETR website. (You’ll be hearing much more about that in the next few months.) I also enjoy attending and presenting at our conferences, and meeting our readers.
But not everyone feels the way I do. And when they aren’t happy with the work they’re doing, they often choose to get another job.
In my 20-plus years in business, I have seen many employees leave their jobs for many different reasons. Some were asked to leave, and some left on their own. Some left for good reasons, some left for inane ones.
But no matter why you leave a job, keep this in mind: There is a right way and a wrong way to exit an organization.
If you leave a job the wrong way, you could wind up ruining your reputation – or even making an enemy for the rest of your life. And that could affect any career you pursue. But if you leave a job the right way, you can preserve – even enhance – your reputation, strengthen your relationship with your new boss, and help ensure that you’ll get rave reviews any time a potential employer looks into your work history.
The right way to leave a job simply involves taking 3 key steps:
1) Announce your resignation.
It does not matter if you have been employed by the company for a month or 10 years… never e-mail your resignation or announce it with a phone message. Sit down with your supervisor and have a grown-up conversation. Explain that you need to move on, and thank her for everything she has done to help you in your career.
Bring your official resignation letter to the meeting. In it, include your end date. Make sure you allow for enough time to make an easy transition between you and your replacement.
The following is a good rule of thumb:
|
Position level |
Number of weeks notice |
| Entry level | One week for every year (minimum two weeks) |
| Middle management | Two weeks for every year |
| Executive | Two weeks for every year plus two extra weeks |
| CEO/company officers | Three months to one year |
Yes, some companies may escort you out the door the moment you inform them of your resignation. However, most will thank you for your service, and even offer to help you with your next endeavor.
Whatever you do, do not tell any of your colleagues or subordinates that you are leaving before you have the conversation with your direct supervisor. Telling your supervisor first says that you respect her and appreciate what you have learned from her. (Keep in mind that this is the person you will most likely use as a reference in the future.)
2) Have a transition plan.
When you have that talk with your supervisor, be prepared with a suggested transition plan. Have recommendations for people who can take over some of your responsibilities until your replacement is hired.
Your transition plan should also include:
- A timeline of projects you have been working on. This should be as detailed as possible.
- Your job description, updated with any changes that have been made during your tenure. All jobs evolve, and your supervisor may not realize to what extent yours has.
- A contact list that includes the names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of everyone you interact with in order to get your job done. Do not omit anyone because you brought them to the table. You did it while you were being paid by your current employer.
While discussing your transition plan, offer to help hire your replacement. After all, you know the kind of skills that are required to do the job, as well as the kind of person it takes.
3) Maintain your strong work ethic.
So many people make the mistake of slacking off once they give notice. This can negate your entire legacy.
Your last few weeks or months in a company is a time for you to shine. A time to present yourself the way you want to be remembered. You should come in early and stay late. Offer assistance to anyone who needs it. And do whatever else you can to leave a lasting impression of what a talented person and hard worker you are.
Most industries are more interconnected than you might imagine. If you do a great job after you have given notice, it’s practically guaranteed that your new boss will hear about it. And the same is true if you acquire an “I just don’t care anymore” attitude.
When I first started at ETR, I was looking to hire a graphic artist. One of the prime candidates for the job was a lovely young woman with a fantastic portfolio and what seemed like a fine resume to match.
The evening before my final round of interviews, I met a former colleague for a drink. During the course of our conversation, I told her about my potential candidates for the position. As it turned out, the young woman I was seriously considering had worked at my colleague’s company for a month. Not only that, but my colleague had been her supervisor.
Seems that while she was there, she did an okay job. But once she gave notice, she started coming in late. Not only that, but she found reasons why she could not complete her assignments before she left… and she spent a lot of her time bragging about her new job.
Instead of canceling my interview with her the next day, I kept it… without letting on that anything had happened.
When I asked her about an unaccounted-for month on her resume (the time she had worked for my former colleague), she told me she had been traveling. Imagine her shock when I told her that I’d had drinks the previous night with the supervisor she had omitted from her resume.
I thanked her for her time… and hoped she had learned a valuable lesson.
Remember: The final impression you make is just as important as the first one. No matter what reason you have for leaving a job, you want to leave on good terms. You don’t want to burn any bridges. And by taking the three very simple steps above, you can leave on great terms. That will help you maintain your reputation for excellence with your previous employer… and start out on the right foot with your new employer.
[Ed. Note: Making it in the business world requires a lot of trial and error - unless you get someone to show you the ropes. The ETR team has compiled their decades of business-building experience in one easy-to-understand resource. Get their step-by-step guide to creating your own business - and making it a success - right here.]
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You Could Be Just Hours Away From Instant Internet Income
All you have to do is watch a simple video, and I’ll show you one of the most startling ways I’ve ever seen to make money in the shortest amount of time… within a few short hours of watching the presentation.
You will learn the exact plan that banked $187,296 in 24 hours for one man. And you can copy it step for step. And the best part is, once you put in just a few hours, you need not do any additional work. You could very quickly have an “automatic” monthly income stream flowing into your bank account.
This new program is appropriately called Instant Internet Income and I guarantee it does exactly what I promise. Take a look and discover how Jim Sheridan made this money so quickly.
Another Way “Early to Rise” Can Help You
Rising early has plenty of obvious benefits. For instance, adding an extra hour (or two… or three) to the productive part of your day is a surefire way to become more successful, faster. But there’s another advantage…
It can help you get to your travel destination.
It’s an old trick: Plan your flights as early in the day as possible. That way, you have the rest of the day to travel should anything go wrong.
This rule proved effective for me last week. Of three possible flights to get me to my friend’s wedding in San Jose, I picked the earliest. (Even though it meant getting to the airport at 5:00 a.m.) So when the flight was unceremoniously cancelled, the day was still young. And I had plenty of time to find an alternate route. I ended up in San Jose a few hours late – but at least I made it in one day. Had I originally opted for a later flight and faced a similar cancellation, I could have ended up in an airport hotel at the end of the day instead of on the Capitola beach.
Airline cancellations are reaching record levels. There have been over 65,000 so far this year, which – according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics – is almost as many as all cancellations in 2007. So make sure you use the “early to rise” travel strategy every time you fly. It could save you time, keep your stress levels down, and make sure you get to see your college roommate say “I do.”
[Ed. Note: Getting advice from people who've been in your situation - whether it's traveling to a wedding or building a business - can help you succeed much faster than you would by yourself. Discover dozens of strategies that can help you avoid or resolve life's little irritations right here.]
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A Starch You Shouldn’t Resist
Want a trimmer tummy? Eat starch!
But not just any starch… resistant starch. This naturally occurring carbohydrate is one of the newest “functional foods” to hit the market. And it can help you reduce body fat in three unique ways.
1. Resistant starch increases two satiety hormones – glucagon-like-peptide and peptide YY – helping you feel fuller, longer.
2. It cranks up your metabolism and increases your body’s fat-burning ability by 20-25 percent. What’s more, studies have shown that when resistant starch is eaten at breakfast, the fat-burning effects continue throughout the entire day.
3. Resistant starch actually helps prevent weight re-gain – almost as much as exercise does.
I’ve been using resistant starch for the past two years in my delicious, wholesome desserts. Not only is it an amazing ingredient, the benefits are real. I’ll be sharing more about this fat-blasting fiber in future issues of ETR. Until then, you can learn more by visiting resistantstarch.com.
[Ed. Note: Resistant starch isn't the only ingredient that can make your favorite foods healthier. A myriad of functional ingredients can boost the fiber, protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants in your food - while improving the taste at the same time! And that applies to desserts, too. Nutrition expert Kelley Herring has come up with delicious and healthy desserts that you can make at home. Learn more here.]
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It’s Good to Know: Rescuing Deleted Digital Photos
You can accidentally erase all the photos in a digital camera’s memory quite easily. But don’t worry. They aren’t lost forever. If you take the appropriate measures quickly enough, you can rescue those “lost” photos with minimum effort. Here’s what you do:
- Immediately remove the memory card from the camera. This will prevent your old photos from being “overwritten” by new ones.
- To find free software that will recover the deleted photos, go to download.com. Type in “recover memory card” in the search bar, then narrow your search for “free” software. You’ll have four choices.
- Install the software you choose, and then run it. You should place the recovered photos on your computer’s hard drive, not your camera’s memory card.
- Before re-using the memory card, make sure all the recovered photos are on the hard drive. Consider backing them up to a CD, DVD, or flash drive as well.
(Source: Consumer Reports)
Use the New Business Revolution to Profit With the Masters This Year
Huge corporations with massive overhead are dying because their whole business concept is so…last century. Today, sales and marketing power are going to the quick and nimble entrepreneur. People just like you.
Now, two direct marketing masters have teamed up to give you a comprehensive program for leveraging deep profits from this new business revolution. It doesn’t matter what position you are in or what happens with the economy. Plus, it’s a skill you can easily learn. See for yourself how simple and profitable this skill can be…
Word to the Wise: Didactic
Something that’s “didactic” (dy-DAK-tik) – from the Greek for “to educate” – is instructive, but inclined to teach or moralize excessively.
Example (as used by Sheila Fitzpatrick in Everyday Stalinism): “The show trial may be defined as a public theatrical performance in the form of a trial, didactic in purpose, intended not to establish the guilt of the accused but rather to demonstrate the heinousness of the person’s crimes.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008
Hi,
The Direct Sale Master Edition form page does not work. Has anybody placed an order there?
Thank you.
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Re: “The Right Way to Leave”
This was good advice 20 years ago. It doesn’t reflect the reality of today’s work environment.
James Carlini offers a refreshing change from these carbon-copy “career management” type articles:
http://wistechnology.com/articles/2786/
http://www.carliniscomments.com/archives/107-TWO-WEEK-NOTICES-ARE-OBSOLETE.html
-John