Leverage Maps #5: Realign or Leave When Misaligned
Sometimes the hardest career decision isn’t walking away from a bad job.
It’s walking away from a good one.
A team you like.
A mission you believe in.
And the quiet realization that you don’t belong there anymore.
Not because you gave up. It's because you gave everything to make it work, and it still didn’t align.
Misalignment often shows up as ambiguity:
– Your role keeps shifting, but expectations don’t.
– You try to fill the gaps, but end up stretched thin.
– You’re told to stay in your lane, but the lane is poorly marked.
– You stop growing and start absorbing chaos.
Eventually, you’re just managing tension.
Not building.
Not dreaming.
Not becoming the person you set out to be.
At that point, you have two choices:
- Try to realign.
- Leave with clarity and without bitterness.
Realignment means having hard conversations. Clarifying your role. Asking whether the structure can shift with you.
But if the answer is no, leaving might be the most honest move you can make.
Not out of resentment.
Not to prove a point.
But because you’re finally ready to stop swimming upstream and start building somewhere that fits.
That’s not failure.
That’s leverage.
Author: Gilberto Guadiana
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