Telling the second manager

I told my second manager this past Tuesday of my plans to open a solo law practice. I went to work after the holiday weekend determined to get this done and, after almost procrastinating for another day, I walked into his office at the end of the day and told him of my plans. What a difference a reaction makes. He was calm and supportive, said that probably half the people working at our company have thought of going into business for themselves. I didn’t really know what to expect, we talked for about 20 minutes, we talked generally about an end date. He was also supportive of my plans to work on a contract basis part time which was good news, although he said it was dependant on his manager’s approval. We agreed to tell the rest of the team tomorrow and he said he planned to open a posting for my replacement by the end of the day Wednesday. I left the office energized and relieved. In short order, the news was announced to the team at our staff meeting the next day and my manager’s manager pulled me aside to say they would be interested in the contract work if we can work through the details. All in all everyone was positive and friendly about it. For the rest of the week, I realized that for the first time in months I didn’t have to go to work with this secret plan, it was out in the open and that was a relief. This weekend I am enjoying a sense of relaxation I haven’t had for a very long time.

One other take away from the whole experience was just how replaceable/interchangeable/expendable we are in the corporate world, less than 24 hours after telling my manger they were already in the hunt for a replacement. It’s hard to justify devoting so much of your life to a position where you are so expendable.