4. A Good Thing Gone Too Far
Many successful start-ups begin with a singular vision, a vision that's the bedrock for the company's growth. At some point, however, that vision becomes dated, worn, irrelevant. It's one of the hardest things for a CEO to see: that the seed is no longer nourishing the company. "It's a bad sign when you try to freeze a company in time," says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, author of The Hero's Farewell. "The founders who do that are scared of letting go of their vision, of their way of thinking," he says. "They ritualize the past."
5. Roads Less Traveled
Deciding whether it's time to move on can sometimes be as simple as asking yourself what you ache to do when given an ounce of spare time. Do you rush to play on your computer? Hunger to refurbish an antique? Scribble down notes for a novel? Maybe it's a hobby that fits nicely into weekend and vacation time; maybe it's an avocation demanding to be more. If so, can your current job description expand to include that interest? If your business is tires and your passion is art, you might have a problem, but if you see a closer fit, you might try bringing it into your business.
6. Whispering in the Hallway
What's the talk at the water cooler? Most founders have a hard time knowing what their employees, even the top lieutenants, really think about their leadership or the company's direction. Yet employees are often the first to know when their leader should pack the bags. Consider your employee turnover. Are you losing key people? Do conversations get muffled when you enter the room? Are you scared to know what your employees really think? If getting a clear reading from inside the ranks is impossible, ask friends and family.
7. My Self, My Company
The metamorphosis from "I am my company" to "I have a company" is a subtle rite of passage. Separating "me" from "what I do" is comparable to a child's detachment from a parent, says Harvard Business School professor Carl Sloane. But that doesn't mean it's easy. "Often a leader's best friends, social structure, and source of self-esteem are wrapped up in the company," says Sloane. Leaders who cannot separate themselves from their company are often poor judges of what's best for the company or what's best for themselves.
Is personal catastrophe a necessary precursor to making such distinctions? No, says Sloane. "But thinking about your company as separate from yourself is often a radical change, and most people dread that. Something has to happen that overwhelms the fear of change."
8. Not What I Envisioned
Close your eyes and recall the dream -- the day you dared to map out the "new" company. What did it look like? How big was it? What kind of customers did it serve? What kind of employees walked the halls? Difficult as it may be, try to remember the essence of the dream. Now, compare that dream with the company before you. Is there any likeness?
9. Is This Burnout?
"If you're not having fun, you have no ability to recharge the batteries," declares prominent management psychologist Harry Levinson. "All the hard work just becomes draining." And there's no quick fix, either. A trip to the Bahamas isn't going to do it. The question then becomes, Can I realign my work to make it fun again? If you can't, it's trouble.
10. The Limit
How do you know when you're nudging up against your personal limits? Age is no indicator. Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter and sculptor, created artworks until his death. Alan J. Lerner, author of such Broadway hits as My Fair Lady and Camelot, did his best work in his twenties and thirties and argued that age rendered him too cautious and dampened his creativity.
Whatever your age, the best way to know your bounds is to assume you have bounds. Many founders are starters but not maintainers. Ask yourself whether employees are enthusiastic about your ideas. Are people pushing you to do new things, and are you resisting? Have you met the goals you set?
WALKING AWAY
There are second acts -- and sometimes third -- in American lives, though those subsequent performances often get less airplay than the first. Here, a collection of widely known overachievers comment on why they left
Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill:
The Sudden Decision That's a Long Time Coming
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O'Neill has never shied away from the public eye. But when it came time to decide whether or not to end his political reign, he says, the decision was intensely personal and private: "It is a discussion that can happen only in the sanctity of one's family."
After he had spent 50 years in politics, 10 of them presiding over the House, O'Neill jokes, it was his wife, Mildred, who sat him down and told him straight out that he should pack his political bags: "She told me that I was thwarting the next generation if I didn't leave." So he left. And after O'Neill had spent a few months at home, his wife was also quick to inform him, again quite bluntly, that it was time "to get out of the house and find another job." Now 81, O'Neill has written one best-seller, has starred in a string of commercials (for American Express and Quality Inn, among others), and has a second book on the market. Nevertheless, looking back, he warns that the decision to leave is never made "on one day, at one moment"; rather, it's "something you phase into slowly."
