The deal where you work hard, climb the ladder, collect the salary, and trust that the system will take care of you in exchange for your loyalty. That deal doesn't exist anymore. A decade of commitment including showing up early, staying late, taking on work no one else wanted, putting your social life to the side and smiling through it all. It guarantees you nothing.
You already know this. You've watched it happen to people you respect. You've seen the fifteen-minute HR call that ended someone's career. You've survived a round of layoffs and felt that sick relief followed immediately by the thought: I could be next.
Or maybe your job is not at risk yet, but you find yourself less interested in your career because the next step is a promotion that includes more work without more pay. You work hard only to be told the department budget can only support the lowest percentage merit based increase.
So here's the question I want to ask you.
The real question. What is your exit plan?
Many women are thinking of leaving their full time corporate career, but the exit plan is a tomorrow problem.
Now is the time to get started though. Not someday. Not "after the next performance review." Right now. Before everything goes up in flames. If you got the calendar invite tomorrow, the one from HR with no agenda and missing your teammates, what would you do next?
Waiting to find out is not a strategy. Let's build your exit plan together.