Welcome to Taking a Career Break with Katrina McGee, the show for high achievers who are feeling burned out or unfulfilled.
Hi there, I'm Katrina, your career break and sabbatical coach and author of the best-selling Taking a Career Break for Dummies.
And I'm James Hammond, your podcast host and producer. Are you ready to take a life changing break that leads to a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life?You're in the right place.
I'm going to break down my proven framework that's helped nearly 100 clients achieve transformative breaks.Are you ready to change your life?Let's go.
Hello and welcome to this week's episode, and we are concentrating on page 148, which is receiving support and assistance on your news, giving some notice and reframing your break for better outcome.Katrina, how you doing?
I'm hanging in there, James.It's been a whirlwind, but I'm still here.I'm in one piece, and I'm very grateful for that.
That's good to hear.Maybe we can alleviate some of those fears in this episode.Yeah, how about you?Yeah, I'm good.Yeah, yeah.
It's interesting because we're talking today and we're going to be hopefully meeting in person in about three or four days time at TravelCon, so that's quite exciting.
Yeah, I really am hoping.Yeah, so hopefully everything goes well with my mom's recovery from her surgery and I can do this thing in Portland.We can like meet up and high five and it'll be so great.
Yeah, no idea what to really expect, first ever event.
I know, I'm excited.I've never been, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Okay, let's dive into today's episode.So all three of those mentioned there are quite scary, aren't they?Because they could incur surprising reactions.You might have a fear of handing notice early because it might affect your job.
You might get let go straight away.That's a fear that I definitely had once upon a time.So a lot of questions to you, a lot of attention on yourself, all that sort of stuff.
So first of all, can you tell us why Shannon News is important and how did your own situation develop with that?
Yeah.Sharing your news, whether it's telling people or specifically giving notice at your job, is really important because it's going to set a tone for how people respond to your decision to take a break.
So from the job aspect, when it comes to giving your notice, it's critical because you want to leave on good terms.Probably, you probably want to leave on good terms.You probably don't want to burn a bridge.Maybe you do.If you do this,
Maybe this episode is not the most important episode for you to listen to if you really have nothing left, no cares left to give.
But assuming you do, it helps you leave on great terms, which means that the network of people that you're working with remains intact.You remain sort of in positive favor in that way.
And it also actually can create more advocates for you that want to support you on your break and support you when you're returning from your break and thinking about what comes next.
And then in regards to, you know, thinking about just sharing your news more broadly, it applies to people in your life as well.
You know, you're leaving space to have more advocates come towards you and people want to support you in various ways financially, you know, whether it's like offering you a place to stay or connecting you with someone in a connection sort of networking kind of way or even information and putting you in touch with someone that has travel information or
information about how to cover your health insurance while you're, you know, unemployed.Figuring out those things are going to be so much easier if you have support.
So sharing your news is really about framing the story, right, in a way that is empowering, that is insightful enough for somebody to get what it's about, to understand sort of your purpose behind it. and to see the value in it.
And once they do, they'll want to support you.So you really increase the level of support that you're going to have and the positive experience that you're going to have if you can give your notice well.
So to your question about what was that like for me, you know, I took two breaks actually in my life and both times I gave an extensive amount of notice.So the first one was eight months and the second time I gave four months notice.
And what was true for me is that I left both jobs on really great terms, even though my employers were disappointed that I was leaving.
And even though I was honestly not sure I was going to come back and I didn't even know if I cared, that they thought positively of me because a part of me was like, I might never come back to this career.I don't know what lies in store for me.
But it really did boost my success.And we can talk more about that, specifically what that looked like a couple examples on my break.
But overall, I had a better break because I shared my notice and I gave ample notice and I really knew how to frame the story in a way that was empowering and positive and focused on what I wanted to create more of in my life.
Very interesting.Yeah.My own experience is I got offered a one year sabbatical in my role. and I turned it down.
Now some people might think what you got like a guaranteed job at the end because you know that's a guaranteed income there's location attached to that as well but there are a few things why I didn't take that and one was because I'm not sure how long I was going to go for travel wise and where I'd be
And also I thought, if you have a job at the end of it, guaranteed, I know you can always say no, but don't you think that kind of gives you a bit of a finite end to your break where some people might just want to go with the flow a little bit more and to see what things happen, what opportunities turn up.
But I feel like I could have just stopped being progressive in my break because, oh, what's the point?Because I got a job when I come back to it at the end, right?
It can maybe stop the progress of your break, just a little bit more on your mind because you have a safety net at the end.
Absolutely.I mean, I think that's part of the tension of do you take a career break or a sabbatical for many people, right?
It's the absolute freedom of can I do whatever I want, which is amazing and expansive, but also comes with more risk and fear, right?Because it's more uncertainty versus maybe if you feel like you're sort of outgrown your role, maybe your company,
but you want that safety, do you decide to compromise some of that and take a sabbatical?Now, if you love your job and you love your company, then it's not really a question.Take the sabbatical if they offer a sabbatical.
But I think when you're questioning, do I want a bigger change than just taking a little time off?I think that's where you've really got to ask yourself, is it time for a career break?
And how do you reframe your break in terms of like, you talk about framing your news there, but how do you even explain it?
Because some of the concepts you'd talk about, maybe like travel is a great example here, where you're going for, I don't know, three months or six months, that might seem completely alien to some people that you work with, right?
Because they just go on vacation for one week, a year, whatever.So how do you deal with those sort of situations?
Yeah, I mean, in the book, I talk a lot about developing a purpose statement and purpose statements are key.They are so insightful.
If you can succinctly state why you're taking this break, you now have the foundation for when you're giving your notice and when you're telling people about your break. So essentially, you want to think about developing a purpose statement, right?
So it encapsulates the why behind your break.Why are you willing to take this break?Why are you willing to take this risk?What would make it worthwhile for you?What are you trying to achieve through this experience?
When you have that, you boil it down to like a statement. You can then tell people and you can focus exclusively or predominantly on what you're wanting to move towards.
So a lot of times people take a break because they're also trying to move away from something, which is totally okay.Sometimes we know more about what we don't want than what we do.
But when it comes to telling people, especially when it comes to giving your notice at work and telling people at work, you want to focus on what you want to move towards, because that is inviting people into your goal and into your dream versus placing blame or grounding yourself in the negative.
It moves towards the positive and painting a picture of what you want to create.And it also makes you a hero of the story. You're a leader trying to lead yourself to a better place, right?And so focusing on that really paints you in that light.
So when it comes to sharing it and what could you say, how could you say it, if you've developed a purpose statement, especially if you've also gone ahead and developed three to four themes as well, which is also covered in the book in chapter four, once you have those pieces of information, you can say something like, you know what?
I have really come to realize that I am not performing at the high level I'm used to.And I really need some time to restore.I want to be a leader of my life.I want to show up as the strong performer that I am.
I want to feel reinvigorated and re-inspired.And I just am realizing right now, what I need to do that is some time off.And I'm really excited to pour into reconnecting with the people in my life that I care about, having some adventures.
rekindling some hobbies and really just reflecting on who I am in this new season of my life so that when I come back, restored, recharged, no longer burned out, I have so much more to give and I can perform at much higher levels.
The performance thing.Very interesting.And that kind of links to burnout, right?I guess.If you've been 10 years at it and you just need a bit of a break,
You actually almost, you are putting yourself there first, but you're also slightly putting the company there as well.They should really appreciate that because you're kind of being honest saying, look, I think I could do better in this job.
Right now, I'm not.These are some of the reasons is why I want to go on a break or take a bit of time off.That could really like leave a good feeling, even with the company, like, okay, they've been honest.There's always maybe a job there for you.
That's a good way to frame that as well.
Yeah, and that obviously works if you are thinking about, you know, coming back or if you're on a sabbatical, if you're on a career break and it really doesn't matter, you know, to them that you become a higher performer, you know, you could say something like, let's say your truth is you're burnt out, but you also are feeling called to change and you're realizing the career path that you're on is not the one that is lighting you up and you need to go find what that other path is or what the new path is.
Like, let's say that's what's true for you and you do your purpose statement and your purpose statement is something around the lines of
I want to reclaim my life and I want to pivot to a new path that feels so freaking aligned and so good to me that it makes me feel excited to live my life again.Let's say that's your truth, right?
So walking into that to give your notice if you're planning a career break, you're still focusing on what you're moving towards even if you're not harping on the like high performer part, you know, it's saying something like
I've just really been honest with myself, and I've really done some reflecting recently, and I've realized I'm not showing up fully in my life the way that I want to, and I feel like I have continued to grow, but I haven't stopped to think about what new goals align with this new version of me, and I really just feel like I need to take a step back and pour into the things that make me happy, reconnect and rediscover what my hobbies are, and really just
travel and really just put myself in new places with new spaces so that I can get new ideas about what is possible for me.Because I know I want to show up for my life in a big way, but I just feel like I'm holding myself back from that.
And I think this is the way that I'm going to move forward.
And the way you frame that, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?Like in general life terms.
And who's going to counter that?Who's going to be like, that's a terrible idea.You should totally suffer.I hate that you even think that you get to be happy.But I mean, again, you're anchoring towards the positive.
It's really hard to shoot down someone's dream when they're sharing that with you.But also, you're inviting them on the journey at that point.You're telling them, I'm going on a journey. You're invited.I'm being honest with you.
I'm being vulnerable in the sharing or at least semi vulnerable.And I'm inviting you to be a part of this versus like telling you something that you did wrong or making myself sound bad.Like I'm just I'm inviting you to be an advocate.
I'm inviting you to come on the journey.I'm inviting you to support me if you want to.Like I'm letting you in on my dream.And I think that's a really helpful point of view to take when it comes to giving your notice and even just sharing your news.
Right.And how you tell other people what you're doing.
Okay, and in terms of numbers, I gave a month when I went for a year last year, in terms of notice at work, any indications what you've heard from people, what seems to be a good amount of time?
Yeah, so good job on a month.A month is standard.
I would say my clients are averaging between one and two months depending on A, the job, B, the amount of time they feel like it's going to take to transition out of their job, and then C, the level of retribution or angst they feel like the company or the manager is going to have.
So a lot of people, I think,
Opt for less time because they're afraid of being retaliated against and being asked to leave or being punished for wanting to take a break But what I will say is that taking a break is different than leaving for a competitor It's not like you know, you're breaking up with someone because you started dating someone else or you're about to date someone else, right?
You're just like I just have to be honest like I need to go find myself, right?And it's like well that hurts but like at least you're not you know, like at least you weren't like, you know
like scooting around looking for someone else to replace me, whatever.But like, number two, right, number two is, it's also important to think about, um,
You are, I think we're, I think our brains are oriented towards like worst case scenarios, and it's a very fearful, sort of like fear-inducing experience to give your notice, right?
Especially if you're doing something unconventional that you're afraid somebody might judge you for, if you feel like your team's gonna be let down.And so I have to say, I've coached a lot of my clients on giving their notice.
This is something that comes up a lot.Like I have one client right now that is about to give her notice, and this is something we've talked about in several sessions.
And what I have found 100% of the time, crazy as it sounds 100% of the time, is that when they give the notice with the pointers that we've talked about, knowing your purpose statement first, knowing your themes, painting it as a positive picture, anchoring into what you want to create versus, you know, whatever.
When you give your notice and giving enough time, they always say, always. that went better than I expected.Now, some people, that means nobody cried and nobody died, like it was a low bar, right?So like, that's fine.
But I have other clients who said things like, They told me how valuable I am.They told me how much they're going to miss me.They asked if they could give me more money to keep me to stay.And when I said no, they told me they wish me the best.
And if I ever want to come back, they would love to have me.I've had clients be offered part-time jobs to transition into their break over the summer if that's what they want. And this happened at a company where they didn't offer part-time.
They did not offer it.And it was something that they created because they were like, if you're open to it, we would love to bridge you out and transition you out.So would you be willing to do part-time over the summer?
They said yes, because they were like, that gives me more money and it gives me time to step into my break.They were fine with it.I've had clients be offered raises, promotions.
One of my clients got offered the ability to go work remotely in California while she was living in Texas. And they didn't have remote work as part of their job.This was like at the very beginning of COVID.
They didn't want to lose her and she wanted to relocate.And they're like, well, we'll let you take your job out West.If you want to go out West, we'll just let you take it.Like that wasn't something that existed.Right.So over and over again,
people have said it goes so much better than they expected.And I think it comes down to really honing in on that message, anchoring to the positive, inviting someone to be an advocate.
And then when it comes to time, right, the average for my clients is between one to two months.But it's really about aligning your words and your actions.So if you're going to say, listen, I care about you, I care about the team,
I'm being honest and vulnerable and sharing what's true for me.But I also want you to know I want to leave the team in a good place.I want to make my transition as smooth and painless as possible for you.I recognize this is a big deal.
So here is my notice for one month or here is my notice for two months or here is my notice for four months.You're aligning your actions with your words and giving them enough time to plan for your exit, right, to plan for you to leave.
And I think that goes a long way towards building a really solid foundation as well and building like that great reputation, leaving on a high note.
Wow.I think I second that because I didn't actually get offered the sabbatical to start, right?So I just handed my notice in, totally honest about what's happening, gave a month.
And it's like a little side chat that we don't normally do sabbaticals, but. if there is one on offer, do you fancy one?"I was like, oh, wow.I thought about it for 10 minutes and said, no, that's fine.But there you go.
Something came out of it, which is not normally normal, right?It's interesting.
That's what I'm saying.Yeah.I love that you have that real example because yes, it's like our brains tell us it's all doom and gloom.But it's like when we show up
Assuming that you are good at your job, assuming that you actually show up and you try, right?If you don't have a good reputation, there's no way of giving your notice that's going to have you leave on good terms.That's hopeless.
But if you do have a good reputation and you have been showing up and working hard, even if you feel like you're underappreciated or undervalued, or if some of the work you do is invisible, right?
If you're showing up, I promise you, when you try to leave, they are going to miss you more than you think they are.
I have so many clients that say they hear beautiful things about their contribution at their job when they give their notice about how much I meant to the team and they're like, I had no idea.
Yeah, that's a great episode.I think I might give a lot of people of encouragement to take a leap there, I think, in terms of the news, because there's one thing trying to think about it and do it.
And there's another thing telling people, especially employer.Right.So, yeah, that's a great episode.
Absolutely.Yeah, I think so, too.I hope this does inspire you.If it inspires you, reach out to us and tell us, like, did it inspire you to give your notice and how did it go?Yeah.
That could be like a whole episode, like you just get people writing in saying, this is how mine went.Yeah, we should do it.
If we collect enough, we'll have to do that.I'm curious to know like how it went.You can tell us the good, bad, the ugly, but yeah, all kinds.
Yeah, but I really believe if you follow the blueprint for like purpose statement, anchor to what you're trying to go to and give enough notice that you're aligning your actions and your words and giving them time to transition, I would be surprised if it didn't go well.
Okay, Katrina, great episode.See you soon.
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