Recently a friend handed in her notice with no job to go to. One of my closest friends did something similar two years ago.  Both had recently been promoted at a new school. A few years ago I was signed off work having had a breakdown and made the decision that I would never work in that school again whether I had secured a job or not. I, too, was set to hand my notice in. At that point we had a mortgage and a toddler and could not have met our commitments as a family without my salary.

Luckily, I found a new job and started a different phase of my life but what makes a person get to that point?

Recently, I attended an excellent workshop run by David McQueen – Success on Your Own Terms. I’m at a bit of a crossroads with some of my creative work outside of school and wanted to refocus.

At one point David asked us to list our top three values, with no filter and without overthinking.

Mine were

• Integrity
• Curiosity
• Love/family
• Development

Ok so that’s four, but you get the idea.

Then he asked us to list the top three values of the organisations that we work for.  There was some laughter in the room.  A few people struggled because they weren’t too sure what those were. A telling question from the floor was, “Do you mean what we say they are or what they actually are in practice?”

So what makes a person hand in their notice for a job that they have fought hard to get with no immediately obvious means to support themselves and their dependants? Values. It was becoming clear my values did not match the day to day values of my organisation, as evidenced by what I was asked to do and how my manager interacted with me, and it was seriously affecting my health and happiness.

What are your top three values?

Do they match the day-to-day practice of the organisation that you currently work for?

If not, what steps can you take to bridge the gulf?