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Leaving vs. Changing a Company from Within
Making a Statement or Making an Impact?
If you’re a mindful employee, you will not always feel at ease with your company’s ideology. What do you do if a corporation’s culture, strategy or approach puts you in dissonance? What if you are uneasy with forces at work in the corporate culture, or possibly even conflicted about products, services or production methods? What if there is a conflict in your core values and those of the firm?
Do you stay and fight the good fight from inside the system, or do you vote with your feet? Should you leave or should you change? Is there even a discussion to be had here? The debate seems to be pretty clear. Most people agree that exiting your company is more impactful than changing from within.
It is clearly not a straightforward answer because it will depend on factors such as the type of firm, the level at which the individual operates, and whether it is feasible to change the company from within. So let’s unpack what each of these approaches means and what impact they can have on organisational change.
Quitting is a drastic step, but protest resignations do carry a significant symbol. In quitting over principles, citing incompatible practices or values as the reason, employees can at least attempt to refuse to prioritise professional…
