There are moments when a company is doing badly and everyone knows it.
And there are other, stranger moments: the company is doing badly, but the organisation keeps operating as if there were still plenty of time.
Sometimes you notice it in small things. Valuable people leave. An initiative that was “strategic” nine months ago starts going flat like a bottle of soda, and another “great idea” takes its place. The numbers that really matter begin to deteriorate, while internal conversations increasingly revolve around smoke and pseudo-inspirational / cool language that feels superficial.
And then you start asking yourself an uncomfortable question:
Are we actually moving forward, or are we simply buying time?
That is why I like the Titanic metaphor.
Not because I want to compare every struggling company with a shipwreck, but because in a crisis not everyone is experiencing the same reality at the same time.
One person keeps playing music.
Another starts preparing a lifeboat.
Another panics.
Another waits for instructions.
Another thinks things probably are not that bad yet.
And someone may keep looking at indicators, processes or machinery without clearly explaining what is really happening.
Something similar happens inside companies.
Some people keep pushing until the very end because they display what looks like loyalty to the project. Others start looking for alternatives. Some cling to the idea that “we have been through other crises before”. And others wait for someone above them to tell them when they should start worrying.
I have learned to become a little suspicious when, the worse the indicators that determine the viability of the business become, the more superficially epic the message starts to sound.
“We need to make an effort.”
“It is super important right now that we give our best to reach X.”
“We are a great team.”
“Next year will be demanding, but we have a huge opportunity ahead.”
All of that may be true.
But it can also be a way of asking for more commitment when the return people receive for that commitment is becoming less and less clear.
And this is where a difficult dilemma appears.
Leaving too early can be a mistake.
But staying out of inertia can be one too.
For me, the question is not “Should I leave or should I stay?”
The question is:
Am I building enough optionality to be able to decide freely if the moment comes?
That means knowing what I am worth outside the organisation. Keeping relationships active. Understanding which skills I need to strengthen. Being clear about my financial minimums. And, above all, deciding in advance which signals would make me move from observing to acting.
Because when everyone starts looking for a lifeboat at the same time, it is probably already too late to choose calmly.
And there is something else I think matters.
When you have spent many years inside an organisation, you are not only analysing a business. You are also analysing your status, your relationships, the years you have invested, your identity, your financial security and your fear of getting it wrong.
It is difficult to be neutral.
That is why sometimes it helps to have someone from outside force you to separate facts from narratives, prudence from procrastination, loyalty from sunk cost. And that is where I believe a good coaching process can be valuable: not to tell you what to do, but to help you think more clearly, organise the signals, identify your biases and make decisions from a more conscious and freer place.
Not to tell you to leave.
Not to tell you to stay.
But so that, if the moment ever comes, the decision is truly yours.
If every PowerPoint and leadership speech disappeared tomorrow, what objective facts would make you believe the current plan is really going to work?
What specific signal would need to appear for “staying” to stop being your default option?
Are you being loyal to the project that exists today… or to the project that once existed and that you are still hoping will come back?
Share your perspective
If this article sparked a thought, a disagreement or a personal reflection, I’d be glad to read it.
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