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​My father once shared some sage advice with me: “never burn a bridge”.

​I’ve been consistently amazed at how small a world it can be as I often times run into former colleagues, clients and friends who I shared a past relationship with to varying degrees from a past life.  When I bump into these past connections its uncanny how often I find out the person I knew prior now has a direct ability to impact my current life, professional and personal.  This is the prime reason I firmly believe one should never burn a ‘relationship’ bridge.

What about when we have to quit our job?  

January and February represent the highest attrition months of the year, meaning the largest percentage of resignations and terminations occur within these two months.  Why does this happen?  Companies and employees alike are looking at the New Year and wanting to start fresh which typically means getting rid of employees that aren’t cutting the muster or employees themselves who leave jobs that have lost their luster.

When we’re the one to make the decision to quit our job it can be fun to think about the moment you deliver the news, after which you imagine yourself singing and dancing through the office like you’ve just won the lottery while your colleagues look at you like you’ve lost your damn mind.  We experience our very own Jerry Maguire moment and we’re all too thrilled to ask everyone around us “who’s coming with me”.

In these moments are we thinking about how our actions will impact our future?

Some of us do, however there is a rising majority of people that seem to forget that the way we handle our resignation may or may not pay dividends in the future.  If you plan to quit your job in the near term use these steps to deliver the news to your employer while leaving gracefully.

Step 1: Quit before things get bad
Often times we wait too long to quit a job that we know isn’t right for us.  If you wait too long you risk your reputation suffering as often times our productivity begins to lessen as we aren’t as passionate about the job as we once were.

Step 2: Don’t tell anyone
It’s a big mistake telling colleagues you’re quitting before you’ve actually delivered the goods.  The last thing you need is your boss to find out you’re quitting before you’ve actually confronted them with the news.

Step 3: Be professional but save the novella
It’s a good idea to inform your employer about why you’re leaving and perhaps even some small detail on where you’ll be going.  Anything after that and you’re just wasting time and energy.  This is not the time to spill the beans on all of the crap you hated about your job, the company or your boss, creating a drama tornado in the process.  If you work for any sizable company HR will typically ask for this information however it does nothing to serve you for the future, it only serves their interests and that isn’t your problem anymore.  The time to give feedback was when you were fully employed, not when you’re exiting.

Step 4: Make it official
Your resignation should be given to your direct boss and no one else.  Be sure to provide him or her with a formal, typed out resignation.  Google ‘resignation templates’ and you’ll have all the options to your hearts’ content.

Step 5: Respect & professionalism at all times
What’s most important to remember while you’re going through the resignation process is your professionalism will be noted by almost everyone involved.  If you plan to continue working in the same industry or similar industry you’re current job is in more than likely you’ll run across your company’s employees in the future.  For this reason and many others it’s important to be respectful to whoever is involved, which also means providing at least a two week notice to your employer. Also, you should never gossiping or talk ill about your boss or company after you’ve left.  All that does is make you look bad in the process, which includes going online to rant about how thrilled you are to not work there any longer.

Step 6:  Keep it classy
I once had an employee of mine who had quit send me a letter several weeks after the fact thanking me for the time she spent on my team while also sharing what she learned.  I was really impressed by this because it signaled that while the job wasn’t for her any longer she did appreciate the opportunity while she was here.

​In the end, we all will be judged by our actions so it’s best to remember these sage words…

“Never burn a bridge!” 

As generations continue to evolve in our country so do the thoughts and feelings of people in present day. 

One thing that has been consistent through the years is the questioning of authority across all sectors: government, public and private.  Those who are in a position of authority certainly have a tough job ahead of them as they are constantly under fire by the very people they claim to serve, whether its justified or not.

Which leads me to an important question: Does questioning authority help or hurt us?

Let’s examine some current situations in our country:

Wells Fargo Scandal
Wells certainly isn’t the first bank to ever have dealt with a large scandal.  Most of us recall the recent recession where banks by the hundreds got rich off of consumers thanks to unscrupulous business practices.  Nothing new here.  What is new with the Wells Fargo scandal is that it went on for a period of five years with almost zero questioning by internal management.  Customers were certainly questioning Wells aggressive sales tactics however I’ve not been able to find one single instance of an internal person in management which stood up and said, “this isn’t right”.  Two comments are appropriate here: 1) it’s highly possible this did happen it just hasn’t been publicly released; 2) when you’re an internal employee it can be incredibly scary to blow the whistle on your own employer, especially when your employer is the largest banking institution in the world.  In this case, the lack of questioning authority proved to be harmful as thousands of customers were negatively impacted, jobs lost and countless tax payer dollars will be spent and wasted dragging this banking giant through the legal system.

CDC & DTaP Vaccine
In June of 2016 the CDC (Center for Disease Control) announced in a 13 page report that one of the nationally required vaccines, DTaP - which all children are required to take to enter school, has now been linked to cause autism.  In 2016 it is expected that 1 in 68 children will develop autism in comparison to 1 in 150 in the year 2000.  Autism is a major issue within our country with its occurrence rate doubling over the last 15 years.  While this information is still very new to the general public it was eventually brought to the surface thanks to hundreds, if not thousands, of parents who stood up and demanded transparency from our government.  In this case, questioning authority has proven to be helpful as the general public will now have more transparent information in which to make decisions by.

Societal Altercations with Law Enforcement
It’s a tough time in our country to be in law enforcement.  It’s equally tough for many of our fellow Americans who feel their rights have been stricken from them as a result of discrimination.  Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on its one of the most sensitive topics in our country today.  As shootings during police altercations continue it’s increasingly difficult to discern what is justified versus what is crossing the line, infringing on the rights of the common person.  When we question authority in these moments it is vital that we do so with a quest for transparency and truth. This is why I believe Martin Luther King Jr. was so successful as he believed violence was not the answer toward successful activism and change.  As a result he was able to lead our country through some of the largest equality reforms in our nations history.  In this instance questioning authority is appropriate however the way we go about it can either support or diminish our cause which is why it’s important to think before we act. 

Kaepernick Takes A Knee
Colin Kaepernick, NFL Pro Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, started a movement which makes a statement about the inequalities within our country, addressing the law enforcement altercations mentioned above.  While he certainly has the right to a peaceful protest are his actions impacting change or causing further issues?  Furthermore is the forum in which he’s doing it, employed by private organization (which the NFL is), appropriate?  While I may not agree with all the things that go on in our country I still respect the flag and our national anthem as they symbolize the freedoms which were brought about by men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy a life of choice in this country.  There are plenty of other countries in this world who have much harsher living conditions, sometimes I think we forget how good we have it here even with our current day challenges.  Are there equality reforms which need to be made, certainly, but we can’t lose sight of what’s important just to make a point.   In this situation I believe Kaepernick’s questioning of authority and the way he is going about it is actually counterproductive to what his original cause is.

I’m a believer that questioning authority or the status quo for that matter is always a necessity however perhaps the real question isn’t ‘Does questioning authority help or hurt us?’  Perhaps the better question is ‘What is the best way to go about questioning authority to drive actual change?’ 

​Please feel free to share your thoughts and remember to be respectful of other people’s views – it’s what ultimately makes this country great.
 

The craze of the new hot app, Pokémon Go, has taken the world by storm as people meander aimlessly trying to catch little creatures to their hearts content.  As users continue to increase and we gain a better understanding of the fanfare this game has adopted an interesting parallel is developing which isn’t necessarily what the game is about at all, yet it’s a great learning opportunity for anyone in a leadership role.
Before we get into that, let’s start off with what the heck is this game anyways?
What is Pokémon Go?
It's a free-to-play, location-based, augmented reality, multiplayer online mobile game.  It’s a rebirth of a game that came out originally in the early 90’s which allows you to search for critters, catch them, train them and battle with them.  The game that was launched on July 6th uses your phone's GPS to track where you are while making use of a stylized Google map as the primary game board. Your character moves in the game as you walk around in real life, and events and objects – known as PokéStops – are associated with specific locations in the physical world.  You can look at the game world through your phone's display which serves as a viewfinder that mixes reality with game objects.
What has Pokémon Go accomplished?
It took a mere 3 hours to hit #1 on the iPhone app sales charts and a total of 13 hours for the game to hit the top of the US sales charts, bringing in $2M a day in revenue.  If that wasn’t impressive enough, its daily user penetration rate (% of people who download the app per day) is 10.81% whereas other blockbuster apps prior were only around 1.67% and 0.84%.  The average amount of time a user spends on the app each day is upwards of 45 minutes and the games retention rates are double the industry norm.  Lastly, this single app managed to raise Nintendo’s (creater of the app) market share by more than $7 billion, or 25%.  Basically it’s minting money left and right for the gamer maker. 
Why are so many people across such a large age range totally immersed in this app and what could we learn from it to implement in the workplace?  After reading that some of you might be thinking “why do we need to learn anything from it?  It’s a game, not work.”  That’s a valid point and you would be justified in saying that however I think there’s a great learning opportunity for any business owner or person in leadership to take note.
People like Pokémon Go because it’s an experience!
As leaders in business if we took anything away from what this app has accomplished it should be that the majority of people out there respond positively to things which elicit an interactive, creative and fun experience.  Is it then possible to harness the Pokémon Go experience and create that in a business setting?  You bet your backside it is, it’ll just take a little creative licensing to make it work.
Before we get into the 'how' let’s quickly explore why we would want to do this in the first place?
It’s a simple fact that happy employees produce successful companies.  When employees are cared for, respected and engaged successfully their productivity levels and general happiness soar in the workplace.  When people are happy they take less sick days, require less vacation and go above and beyond on the regular.  They don’t need to be told to go above and beyond as they do so naturally.  It’s not a utopian day dream to think that this is possible for every company out there because it is indeed possible.  It just requires someone to recognize the need for positive change and actually do something about it.
Now we’ll take what we’ve learned from the Pokémon Go experience and translate that into the workplace.
To create an experience that people will gravitate towards in the workplace we first have to listen and give people what they want, not what you (the leader) wants.  Once we know what our people desire we need to deliver on it by creating a work environment and culture that people are drawn too.  As Pokémon Go shows us people are willing to adopt things very quickly when it meets their needs and interests.  Creating a culture and environment that supports collaboration, appreciation and respect, along with having fun, are good starting points.
We also need to keep in mind that over complicating things at work doesn’t necessarily make it a better experience.  In fact, the simpler something is the better.  Pokémon Go does this perfectly by using something we already know (our phone GPS) and integrates it with our personal space and creative expression.  As a result we, the user, are put in the drivers’ seat to create an experience that is catered to our unique interests.  What that looks like at work is giving people the autonomy to make decisions and do their job effectively.
There’s an added bonus for us in the workplace!
We can create an experience that is stimulating and rewarding without the worry of being hit by a car, running into light poles or literally falling on our faces, which have been some wonderful experiences to come as a result of using Pokémon Go.