Why I absolutely had to leave a great gig at a good company. Post 2 of 9.

9 years, 6 figures, awesome team, successful company, great benefits… yes I’m leaving. My grandparents thought I was nuts and so did I for a split second….

The truth is it had nothing to do with office politics but office politics prompted the soul searching. Thank God for office politics.

While soul searching it was the answers to the following questions that changed the course of my career...

1. Am I growing?
2. Am doing what I’m passionate about and making a difference?
3. Are my talent’s being used to their fullest potential?
4. How does this job affect my vision of my ultimate lifestyle?

Am I growing?

I will forever be grateful for the growth I experience with T&K. T&K is committed to the development of their people. Period. However, after 9 years I got to the point that I didn’t feel like I was growing and that I had received all the company had to offer me. An old boss of mine once said “if your not green and growing your ripe and rotting.” I’m addicted to learning and growing.

Am doing what I’m passionate about and am I making a difference?

My passion is making a difference in people’s lives. The majority of my time at work was spent in meetings and managing projects. My vision for my team was always 80% of our time spent with the troops inspiring them to action and 20% developing new tools. The reality was we were influencing others to action 20% of the time and doing task, projects, etc 80% of the time. There could certainly be some debate to the root cause either way, I had more to give and needed the outlet. Yes I was making a difference. When asking myself if I could make a bigger difference doing something else? The answer “Yes without a doubt.”

Are my talent’s being used to their fullest potential?

About 50% of my talents were being used 50% were not. "When given gifts you must use them" I think that’s in the Bible. I had more to give and with conviction knew I had to do more with my talents.

How does this job affect my vision of my ultimate lifestyle?

I was putting 95% of my energy into one thing… Work. I was getting about a 15% return on investment personally. Our team had an amazingly productive year, we drastically dropped turnover, we developed the cutting edge tools like LeaderQuest, podcast etc. we released an awesome intranet, implemented better Hiring and Training programs, opened new restaurants and successfully rolled many corporate initiatives. As proud as I was of our accomplishments, my quality of life and health did not reap the rewards. My lifestyle was meetings, work, sleep, meetings, work, sleep…. This wasn't T&K's fault it was mine either way I decided I wasn't going to wait till I’m 60 to live my ultimate lifestyle. I’m starting now non-negotiable.

After being honest with myself about those things I sent an email to my amazing boss and asked her to lunch…….

To read about the Office Politics go to my Social Network Talent Revolution

Next Post 3: Why Most Restaurant Recruiters Creep Me Out!Post 4: Where I’m looking and where I’m not looking. Where truly Talented
people are going to look for a job.
Post 5: What’s attractive and what’s not about the opening’s at your Company.
Top 10 turn on’s. Top 10 turn off’s.
Post 6: Creating the ultimate Career Lifestyle and why you should.
Post 7: What do you mean I can't start my own business? Watch me….
Post 8: Leaving a great Team.
Post 9: What’s next. A little competition Hite style…..

Tags: Career, amanda, hite, recruiting, search, talent

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Comment by Amanda Hite on May 14, 2008 at 6:28am: Michael I am soooo stoked about meeting you!

Comment by Alan Williamson on May 13, 2008 at 6:17am: Amanda

A sense of personal dejavu, when I left the big corporate world to plough my smaller brand development furrow.

With the Internet and the Mobilenet, the world is literally your oyster.

I do like your work-life balance ambitions. Plan mini-vacations daily, weekly and monthly. For example: I try and take a 15-minute time-out every other day using a walled-garden-labyrinth - a sort of meditation-in-motion mini-break.

Also you're in the right industry - Talent Revolution - as the Western world moves from the Information Age to the Cultural Age - crying out for talent, skills, invention, empathy, design and so on while Asia takes on the production, automation, and skills of the Information and Industrial Ages.

Comment by Michael L. Atkinson on May 12, 2008 at 7:36pm: My quote is well known to those that know me. I have been very consistent over the years and believe in the power of change. As a change agent and thought leader (not my tags but others that have tagged me) I have always subscribed to the notion that change is good.

FohBoh is my latest adventure...in an industry that i am passionate about. I left it...as an insider...for 10 years. FohBoh was my way back. I started FohBoh because I wanted...needed...to reconnect with that passion and those that shared it. Amanda, I can't wait to finally meet in Chicago. It's that vision thang! When combined with passion and intelligence surrounded by opportunity, one never knows exactly what may happen when you add the Internet.

See ya soon.

Comment by Mark O'Toole on May 9, 2008 at 12:47pm: Sustaining meaningful, fulfilling anything for nine years is hard. I think many of us face the question of is it my job that's become stale or me? Time certainly brings "settling." How or if we break out of the settling is the bigger question and challenge. Amanda has taken a dramatic approach - I'm waiting and watching it play out!

Comment by Lisa on May 9, 2008 at 8:03am: Amanda,

Thanks for the inspiration! I wish you all the best and hope that I too can find a new venue for growth and fulfillment. Good luck!

Comment by Amanda Hite on May 9, 2008 at 7:13am: Melissa, I love to meet your coach. At T&K we had an Executive Coach that worked with us individually in this fasion she was Awesome to have around. Send me the info on your contact. Thanks.

Comment by Melissa Papaleo on May 9, 2008 at 7:05am: Amanda- FANTASTIC POST! I really admire what you are doing right now. You are a true teacher and that shows through your posts.

Have you ever tried Life Coaching? I just ask because with all that you are taking on, it sounds like a great fit for a life coach- and I would selfishly love to read your blog about what you think about it. ;)

I have had a Life Coach off and on for about 3 years and what I love about it is that you have a 3rd party whose sole interest is you- they cut away from the clutter, office politics, personal biases your family and friends have and really make you think about YOU and your needs and wants. I have a call every other week for an hour with my coach and I know I have ME time to really reflect on what I want out of life. I realized I wasn't doing this before and now that I am, I am looking at life in a new perspective.

Just food for thought, I have a great life coach that you may know already and I am telling you- I think the two of you would be a match made in heaven!

Comment by Andy Swingley on May 9, 2008 at 5:33am: Now, THAT, is a good reason to go! Spoken from the heart and passion that make you who you are today!

Comment by Amanda Hite on May 9, 2008 at 5:27am: Andy,

Thanks for the perspective I always learn from you. None of this is about T&K it’s about me. Last October I attended a Rapport class called Life Mastery and did exactly what you suggested “defined what I wanted, where I want to grow, my purpose, what's most important to me…. etc.” I left the San Diego with a 5 year plan. After that, things just happened a lot quicker than I expected (the Secret). I’ll blog about this later.

There is always a bigger difference to be made when you expand your circle of influence. The world is much bigger than T&K. I agree with you that I’ve grown light years with T&K and can’t think of another company that would’ve had more to offer. Yes I know I made a difference in people’s lives there.

After 9 years, I felt there were too many other things getting in the way (maybe myself). I do believe it’s not about the company it’s about the individual. I absolutely without a doubt could’ve overcome the adversity and challenges that faced me. I always have. I had a decision to make and at the end of the day I wasn't willing to put the energy into what it would take. I decided to redirected it and expand my circle of influence outside of T&K. I want to spend more energy with my family and love ones and not live in another state. I made the decision to reprioritize my life.

Comment by Andy Swingley on May 9, 2008 at 4:31am: As your biggest supporter and fan, I present this side of the case for you. No matter where you, Amanda, end up you will always be the pusher, driver, outside the comfort zone leader in the business. I know that you will find a company that provides "more" of what you are looking for but I don't believe you will ever find a company that pushes you out of "your" comfort zone.

"You" are the company and you will be the driving force for others in the all the things you list in your blog wherever you end up. No one can match you in this because that "is" your talent.

Some questions to ponder....
1. Where else do you want to grow? What does that look like? I mean, heck, I have seen you grow so much I am not sure how someone would grow even faster.... Define the growth you expect at your next place so you have a clear definition of it.

2. How could you have been more passionate and made a "bigger" difference?. You changed and enriched the lives of so many people, mine included. I don't know what bigger looks like but I guess that is why God made people like you so I could always have an example of what bigger looks like....

3. What talents weren't you using that you could use more if you were somewhere else? I look at the all the things you accomplished as a Recruiter and Director of Training and think to myself.....there's more than that? Holy smokes, girl, tell me what more you could have given to the people you worked with daily.

4. You hit the nail on the head on this one, with the ultimate lifestyle. I am just beginning to realize that this one is just about the person struggling with it, not the Company where they work. Doesn't your mind move so fast you are always thinking of the next work related thing you could accomplish. When you figure this one out, blog about that, hell write a book and I will buy a copy.

You are a forward thinker, developer, cheerleader, promoter, and frankly one of the smartest people I know. My life is better because of the time I spent with you. The next Company or "your" Company will be so much better because you are a part of it.

Good Luck, you WILL be missed....