Ten Ways to Quit at Work

“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” Turns out Kenny Rogers didn’t just sing a catchy song, he voiced some sound management principles. Sometimes, you have to pull the plug—on projects, on employees, on jobs. That doesn’t mean you should be a quitter, just someone who can tell when things are not working out, and knows how to end them. In Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward (HarperBusiness/Available now), author Henry Cloud contends that employees aren't failing when they seek to bring a stop to something. To the contrary, workers do themselves a disservice by remaining with visionless leaders, hostile or non-productive work environments, and career dead-ends. The key, says Cloud, is knowing how to part ways without conveying negativity to those you're leaving behind. Cloud is a clinical psychologist and corporate leadership consultant. For more about the book, click here.