An employee resigned to pursue a startup and experienced anxiety while deciding to give notice. The manager responded supportively, asked about the plans, celebrated the decision, shook hands, wished luck and offered a welcome back. That reaction became a leadership model and guided later choices when employees left. The company committed to treating departures with respect, encouragement and an open door. Founders often see exits as threats, but departures naturally occur for better opportunities or personal reasons, and the manner of parting reveals and shapes organizational culture.
I'll never forget the day I quit my job to pursue my startup full time. My manager's office was two floors above mine. The morning I decided to give my notice, I took the stairs. Turns out, two floors is a lot of time to think. Was I making a mistake? Had I lost my mind? My legs felt leaden as I climbed, and by the time I reached the top, my heart was pounding in my chest - and not just because of the stairs.
Making the leap into entrepreneurship will never not be scary. But my manager didn't give me a hard time about the fact that I was leaving. He asked where I was going, and when I told him about my plans to build my own product, he didn't sulk, get angry or try to talk me out of it. Quite the opposite: He was excited for me. We shook hands, he wished me luck and he told me I was welcome back any time.
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