U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss will be shortest-serving U.K. prime minister ever. On the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, the embattled leader said she will leave office next week once a successor is chosen, having served only 44 days in office.
First, the mistakes. Last month, her government announced tax cuts of 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) without actually saying how the government would pay for them or seeking independent analysis on how it would affect borrowing and debt.
Markets reeled at the news of the mini-budget, the pound plunged, the Bank of England intervened to stabilize the bond market after sharp increases in bond yields threatened some pension funds, and Truss fired her finance minister.
“It’s good to know when it’s time to go: Arguably, staying in office would be bad for the Conservatives, for the U.K., which does not need a lame duck prime minister, and for Truss herself.”
Another no-no: The manner of her resignation — her explicit lack of accountability and/or reference in her speech to the effect of her “mini-budget” on U.K. markets — may not be the best way to leave a job after crashing and burning so spectacularly.
“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability,” Truss said. “Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent.”
She did put a brave face on a bad situation. “We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance, and we set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit,” Truss added.
About those freedoms: Recent research by the U.K.-based think tank, the Resolution Foundation and the London School of Economics, said Brexit delivered a depreciation-driven inflation spike increasing the cost of living for households. U.K. inflation is running at about 10% year-over-year, more than the roughly 8% rise in the U.S.
When it’s time to go
It’s good to know when it’s time to go: Arguably, staying in office would be bad for the Conservatives, given Truss’s low approval rating. The U.K. also does not need a lame duck prime minister at a time of economic upheaval.
Writing in the Harvard Business Review, John Coleman, said there are good times to quit your job. They relate to Truss. Among the reasons: It no longer encourages your growth (tick) and you are actively looking for ways to avoid your job (tick).
On Monday, Truss was a no-show during parliamentary questions as to why she sacked her finance minister. Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, told the opposition: “The prime minister is not under a desk.” Not literally, anyway.
“Don’t look back. Hold no resentments. Let go of any grudges. Don’t send a scorched-earth email. Even if you believe you have burned all of your bridges, you may have one or two left. ”
Other signs that it’s time to quit, per Coleman’s guide: You regularly approach work with exhaustion, burnout, or dread (see above), your workplace has become unhealthy (Truss had a 10% approval rating, the worst of any prime minister.)
Finally, Coleman said if you are developing bad habits (tick), leave. The Guardian likened Truss’s “bad habits” to her predecessor Boris Johnson, citing “Johnson-like tendency to rush into new policies and be vague or inaccurate with facts.”
So what happens next after quitting? Don’t look back. Hold no resentments. Let go of grudges. Don’t send a scorched-earth email. Even if you burned all of your bridges, you may have one or two left. Don’t take a match to those either.
You are not your job. Take some time to enjoy the view. If you don’t have a view, enjoy observing the lives of others next door. Life does go on. You don’t have to make any hasty decisions about what to do next. Neither does Liz Truss.
When a new life awaits
Assuming you have enough cash in the bank, this could be an opportunity to write that book, take a vacation, return to education, or even take up hobbies that you enjoyed doing before you got caught up in the rat race. Tennis or pickle ball, anyone?
If you do need to get a jump on the next job right away and you were only in your job for a matter of months, career experts recommend leaving it off your résumé. Too many awkward questions to answer. If it’s more than six months, tell the truth.
Quitting, even in a public manner, is better than “quiet quitting” and remaining in a job you don’t like and believe to be toxic. Quiet quitting — doing as little as possible while getting paid a full wage is bad karma, and bad for your self-esteem.
“Quitting, even in a public manner, is better than ‘quiet quitting.’ Doing as little as possible while getting paid a full wage is bad karma, and it’s also bad for your self-esteem.”
Truss could have hung on longer, perhaps, hoping to turn her government’s ailing fortunes around. During a hostile Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday, she declared somewhat portentously, “I’m a fighter, not a quitter.”
Quitting is not a dirty word. It’s not an act of failure, it’s an act of empowerment. It tells the world (and you) that you are bigger than your job, you are more than a clockwatcher, and your happiness, healthy and life come first.
Finally, there will come a time when you will be able to laugh at the situation and/or hopefully yourself, and learn some lessons. Anthony Scaramucci’s tenure as President Trump’s White House communications director lasted 10 days.
On Thursday, he tweeted: “Liz Truss lasted 4.1 Scaramuccis.” Laughter helps to relieve stress and release tension. An unhappy job + time = comedy. Or, at the very least, it should provide some much-needed perspective.
And for your next job? Know what you’re getting into. Take a lesson from Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership, and be prepared.
