Corporate misbehavior has surfaced all over the internet these last couple weeks. Whether it’s a talent executive at ABC or eBay employees sending live cockroaches, spiders, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and more to company critics..for some it’s time to GTFO of these terrible situations.

First, an acknowledgement: if you have a colleague or boss treating you poorly as an employee or human being, please by all means pursue every moral and legal option at your disposal to tilt the universe back into alignment. Power to you, young grasshopper.

Now with that out of the way, a story. There was an early career professional who couldn’t wait to land a new job. Bored out of their mind, held down inside a byzantine corporate maze, they were on the hunt for more responsibility and had a general awareness of career pathing.

Six months later they were on their way…to another job that looked nothing like the one they thought they interviewed for. Delivering lunches every day, grabbing coffee, setting up & breaking down for events, and doing a lot of printing. A LOT of printing and stapling. What happened to putting a dent in the universe??

If this young grasshopper had taken the time to pause, reflect, and put a plan in place perhaps they wouldn’t have wandered so far off their path.

Ok, so why the rush? Perhaps cockroaches or spiders played a role. That would be understood. Or resentment builds. Impatience grows. Feeling underpaid and undervalued. The truth is everyone has a list where if some, most, or even just a few of those boxes are checked in a significant way they’re headed out the door.

After hearing (ahem, experiencing) this sordid tale and witnessing some more secondhand the concept of creating a Leave List sprung to mind.

This has been touched on before here at Middling Management in a diagonal way with How to Evaluate Roles like a VC. Still, a Leave List puts you at the center of your career journey and personalizes role selection for your unique tastes. Here is a checklist to experiment with:

• Talented & Kind Decision Makers:
  Who is behind the wheel of this ship? Do they seem trustworthy, seaworthy and treat people fairly? Maybe the most important.
• Company & Market Positioning:
  Not everyone is always this lucky, but try and work for the #1 or #2 competitor in a market. It’s just easier. A growing market cures a lot of growing pains too. Fast growing markets = fast growing careers, that’s a fact
• Clever, Kind & Smart People:
  Kindness is massively underrated, cleverness too. Find smart people to work with and you could reach a higher level than you thought previously possible
• Good Organizational Design / Culture:
  Harder to put a finger on but, during the search process, do you sense inter-department conflict? Are there seemingly overlapping roles? Are people overworked or overwhelmed?
• Good Pay & Benefits:
  Ideally this sits lower on the list past a certain threshold. They’re a must have of course but..they won’t make you stay or stay happy. Still, don’t compromise too much here
• Personal Interest:
  The “would you do this job for free?” test. 🤫 you don’t actually have to do the job for free. But do you love the product & the company mission? It will help through tough company building times

Go Further. How can this be more personalized? More difficult to achieve? The leave list should become borderline impossible to meet as you learn more about the type of work you want to do and the people you want to do it with.

In order to become a better manager perhaps try helping your team create a leave list too. Not to encourage or prevent them from leaving, but to better understand the path they want to explore. They’ll thank you for it.

Play the long game. And don’t work with meanies. Life’s too short.