High performers job hop when they can't find a high performance culture

On people leaving bad managers, frequently

Photo by Kaley Dykstra on Unsplash

True or false? Candidates with lots of job hopping in their recent past indicate a risky hire, someone who can’t be trusted to stick it out.

The logic goes something like: past performance predicts future performance, and since this person has only been at each role for a year, we should only expect them to be here for a year.

This isn’t crazy logic for median performers. But I suggest another explanation for high performers: they’re looking for a high performance team and can’t find it.

I find most hiring managers that miss this fact have never worked with high performers, and furthermore have never held a job for which they wanted to quit but wanted to give the team a year before making the hard decision.

When a high performer encounters a shitty company culture, they want to quit. Immediately. But they know that would reflect poorly, so they stick it out. Sometimes they successfully upgrade the team around them. Sometimes they don’t. The most tragic outcome is that they stick around because they need the job, and without a good manager and a culture of improvement and performance, they lose their edge and their superpowers gradually disappear.

High performers who don’t move on from shitty jobs risk drastically truncating their career.

How does it feel to be in this position?

1. Motivation wanes. It’s hard to stay motivated when you feel undervalued or under appreciated. Your enthusiasm for doing great work diminishes.

2. Stress and anxiety. Constantly dealing with unreasonable demands and criticism heightens your stress.

3. Limited growth. Opportunities for professional growth and development are rare when your manager or workplace culture doesn’t support or invest in your potential.

4. Isolation. You feel isolated and disconnected from your team.

5. Loss of confidence. Continuous negative feedback and lack of support will erode your self-confidence and make you doubt your abilities.

6. Exhaustion. The emotional toll of dealing with a bad manager can leave you feeling mentally and physically exhausted.

7. Resentment. Over time, you will develop feelings of resentment towards your manager and the company.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve experienced some or all of these. Wanting to leave the role is the most rational, reasonable desire given such an environment.

Some of the best advice I’ve been given personally (and have passed along to others) is: it’s OK to fire your boss.

So next time you see someone with a more than a few roles over the last few years, don’t immediately conclude they suck. It might be a diamond in the rough looking for a good manager.

Can they get that at your company?