Clean Break

Reading this story produced some truly conflicting emotions for me. It is about  a Microsoft employee who was laid off after 23 years with the company but continues to go into the office despite no longer being officially employed. The individual describes feeling a strong sense of responsibility toward their team and customers, highlighting the emotional and professional challenges that come with such a significant transition. 

Some things must have worked out right between this person and the company to drive this behavior. I would guess during his long tenure, he was most treated well and respected as a professional. It is fair to assume he worked with people he liked and cared about, whose success mattered to him. There is no question about his commitment to the work and integrity as a person. But that is not enough to get a someone to behave this way. A highly toxic workplace, will make a person just like him want to walk away and never look back. This brought to mind my friend M who left a company as well-known as Microsoft after fourteen years there. It had been a death by million cuts and an absolute miracle that she had survived as long as she did. 

M is not one to give up on people or circumstances easily. She will find something positive to hang on to and generate energy from. If the place is toxic enough and you allow sufficient time to pass, it will crush the spirit of even one such as M. So she got out and took a year long break to flush her system clean before starting her new chapter. I ran into her at the salad bar of a grocery store when I was visiting her town for work recently. She is only a few blocks away from her former place of employment and had stepped out for lunch. I almost did not recognize her. The year had been transformational for her and in the best way. The real M had emerged at last and she looked incredibly at peace. She told me she has made a clean break from it all and does not stay in touch with anyone who is still at the company. The guy in the story and M are not that different but context matters.