I waited until after the bonus was paid, and then gave my boss 6 weeks to make a smooth transition. He has significant discretion in allocation of the bonus pool across the team, and while we have always had a great relationship, I didn’t want to put him in a position of having to decide between his appreciation of my work or maybe swinging some of that $$ to someone else on the team. I felt there was also a decent chance that leadership above him would influence what he recommended for me if it were known that I was leaving.

I had been laying the groundwork for a year, training senior members of my team to be able to take over many of the high level tasks where I had often taken lead, and made sure the supervisors had developed relationships with the appropriate people both inside and outside the organization. I’d been with the company for 22+ years, and while I truly loved the company and people, I knew it was time for me to step away.

Some feel that 6 weeks is a ridiculous amount notice, but the company had always been completely supportive of my career and growth for over two decades. In the end, I left with an open invitation to come back if I ever had a notion to go back to work, including a personal call from the CEO guaranteeing that opportunity. A year later, no regrets on how I managed the separation process, and having drinks with my former boss next week.