5 Signs That You Should Step Down From Your Leadership Position

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Some years ago, I flew to Chicago and resigned from a leadership position with an international men’s organization. It was a shock to many of my peers with the non-profit. Generally, people were either pushed out or disappeared, resigning through inactivity. I didn’t see myself doing that.

What I noticed was that the leadership of the group were men who had worked their way up within the institution before being certified to lead. We were told, “You’ll know when it’s your time to step up. You’ll know when you’re ready.”

However, no one discussed knowing when it was your time to step down from leadership leaving the group in the awkward position of pushing people out who were no longer performing well or waiting for them to disappear.

After all, when you’re in a leadership position, it can become easy to get stuck or stale and accept that behavior as normal. However, continuing to be that way can lead to many negative outcomes for you, your team, and your firm. That’s why knowing when to step down from leadership and resigning is an important “Spidey sense” to have — and the sooner you figure out the signs and decide it’s time to move on, the better off you’ll be.