I bet I hold the record for the fastest post-bonus resignation in Carlyle history.
I can’t know for sure, but given I resigned some twenty minutes after it hit my bank account, I’m betting nobody else has me beat.
About nine years ago today when I quit Goldman I was even quicker to the trigger.
A week before my bonus was paid, I walked into the corner office and resigned.
At the time and in hindsight it seemed like a stupid thing to do, but it also felt right.
A few weeks earlier I had been co-chief cheer leader, co-hosting the entertainment for the annual investment banking conference.
I had wanted to tell them: “Wait, I’d prefer not to do this as I am resigning in the new year,” but that’s a dumb thing to do in September.
But when the new year rolled around and everyone was getting fired up about planning for the year ahead, it felt wrong for me to fake it for another week.
The firm and my bosses had been good to me, I wanted to do the right thing by them, and I assumed they would do the right thing by me.
And, of course, it was more than that too.
Even though I was fast to the trigger, I had been figuring out my career for more than five years, and I had places to go and things to do.
Years earlier I’d concluded that my work was about either getting to the top or getting out, and it was time for me to get out.
The same was true at Carlyle.
I pulled the trigger quickly after my bonus hit my account, but I had known for 95% of my tenure when I would resign.
There’s a lot to be said for a fast exit, but I always suggest it comes after slow and careful planning.
UP or OUT? Which are you planning?