Part 8: Time To Decide and Act

Carl called early the next morning. 

“How are you Carl”, I said.

“I am outstanding” he replied.

That’s my man. I can feel the energy in his voice.

“You were right”, he said.

“Reviewing my core values and goals with Sue was an emotional exercise but it gave us the clarity and certainty we needed.”

“I should have done this with her from the get-go.”

“I never took the time to share with her in detail what I was trying to achieve and why.”

“Now she understands and is behind me 100%”

“I owe it to myself and all our sakes to give this a shot.”

“Most people’s biggest regret is not going after their dream.”

“I don’t want to be like most people in that regard.” 

“If not here where?”

“If not now when?”

If not me who?” 

“There’s no place like here. No time like now. And you know what?

“Nobody is coming to rescue me. If it’s going to be it’s up to me.”

“I also have to do this FOR ME!”

“I have to prove to myself that I can elevate my life and live up to my true potential.”

“It’s time I stop being the underachiever and blaze my own trail.”

“I am ready for this interview”.

“Oh and remember you told me I needed leverage and should apply for positions outside the company?”

“Well, last night the recruiter emailed me. All three of my applications he sent out responded”.

“I have two phone calls this week and one company wants me to come in for an onsite interview next week. How awesome is that?”.

The Decision

Fast forward four weeks later I receive a text from Carl telling me to check my email.

I was in my car about to pull out of the parking lot.

I opened the email on my phone. It read congratulations:

Carl,

Congratulations. <insert company name> would like to offer you the position of Director of Technology…

The attachment was a job offer letter from another company Carl had interviewed with.

The Salary was impressive, and he was eligible for a 20% leadership performance-based bonus.

On top of that, he was offered a $20k sign on bonus. And the location of the company was also 20-minute commute from his home.

I erupted with so much excitement you would have thought the job offer letter was mine.

I called Carl immediately. He was ecstatic.

He was due to hear back from his current company the following week but he already knew what he was going to do.

Carl informed Ed of his decision to go with the other company.

Ed was surprised and not happy to lose him but couldn’t tell Carl if he got the Director position. They were still in the final stage of their process.

Carl did not care. His mind was made up. He was gone.

They made him a counteroffer for his current role (which made no sense) which Carl refused after politely thanking Ed.

It was time for a change. The whole way things had played out, with them deciding to go external and how they treated him through the process left a sour taste in his mouth.

But Carl was grateful. If his company did not make the decision to got external which forced him out his comfort zone and pushed him on this discovery the past few months he would not have gotten this new exciting opportunity.

Carl still had two other other companies to hear from but asked his recruiter to close out his job search.

To celebrate Carl invited me to a family dinner at a really nice restaurant on the water in Annapolis. Everyone was so happy for Carl and about what the future holds especially Sue and the girls.

That is a great ending to Carl’s story but it’s actually only the end of one chapter of a book that looks to be very promising.

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