Are you thinking of quitting your job, but feel worried that you may regret the decision. Join me in this episode with Dr. Sonia Ashok, career and leadership coach as we discuss:
- Why your career and life gets to be an adventure
- How to identify if you are in a toxic work environment
- 5 steps to take before quitting your job so you can quit on your best day.
This episode is full of tangible tips and practical advice and I’m so excited for you to listen in!
Use the audio player above to listen, or tune in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Quitting Medicine
Sonia was a premed. She aspired to be a physician. When she began medical school, she liked some aspects of medicine, but not all of it. In her fourth year, she made the decision to pursue OBGYN. Despite being told that she had an autoimmune condition, she persisted. However, she discovered that in addition to not feeling a connection to the work, her failure to care for herself was actually having an impact on her. She understood that if she didn’t care for herself, she could never sustainably care for other people. Quitting medicine was a very brave decision, but it was the only decision for her.
Sonia initially decided to become a doctor after years of thinking about it. Medicine is a noble profession with so much prestige around it. It’s difficult for people to understand why you would ever want to leave.
Sonia’s Career Trajectory
At first, Sonia and her parents have a lot of discussions about leaving medicine. At some point, she did consider other medical specialties that can support her from a health perspective. However, she ultimately made the decision to return to her undergraduate major in public health. She didn’t feel confident enough in her undergraduate education to create a career from it. She got her masters in public health and moved to DC to work in policy. She worked for the Mayor’s office, implementing the DC Health Benefits Exchange. She moved to Silicon Valley to California for a startup opportunity working for a platform that connects with physicians and other health care providers. Sonia left medicine to help other people thrive at work and find their own calling. Sonia had a lot of struggles to get to where she is today.
“Having this underlying idea of what my values are, what my interests are, the kinds of things that I want to be wanted to be doing, the kinds of people whom I wanted to be working with, and that has ultimately led me to where I am today.”
Dr. Sonia Ashok
Figuring out how to thrive at work
She took this course on the science of workplace happiness, which was one of her biggest decisions. They really emphasize connecting, and part of that is discovering your purpose and seeing the significance of the work you do. Giving importance to an environment that is full of kindness and respect and trust in the workplace.
Defining a toxic work environment
If we’re looking at Maslow’s hierarchy, it is a place that is not providing you with those basic needs. In a sense, even physiological needs. If you’re being severely underpaid or overworked, you’re not getting the sleep that you need, or not having a space to trust the people around you, that belongingness and love and without those things, you will be not able to get to that highest point of the hierarchy which is the intellectual stimulation and self-actualization.
Identifying a toxic work environment
Sonia reminded everyone to take a look around their environment. Are there other people around you who are feeling similarly? Is there a high rate of turnover in the organization? Does the feedback that I’m getting, reflect how I truly feel about the work that I’m doing? She advised that when you are being critical of yourselves, it is because you’re in an environment where the expectations have not been clearly defined and you are attempting to do something that you don’t know, what could be and what that is.
How to deal with a toxic environment
Sonia suggests three general steps: identify the problem, find out what’s going wrong to survive, and lastly, find a solution, create an exit plan and escape. Then after comes the healing and recovery process from that experience and rebuilding that security, trust, vulnerability, and confidence is where you will find the ability to thrive in the workplace and career.
Quitting on your best day
What quitting on your best day means to Sonia is getting as much as you can from that role before you head on to the next thing. Burning bridges is never a great thing. If you aren’t happy with your organization or your position, find what does work and keep that, and then move forward with the rest of it.
