By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don’t matter, anyhow
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I’ll be gone
You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on
Don’t think twice, it’s all right
Bob Dylan, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”
Although Dylan’s song was about the end of a romantic relationship, he could just as well have been writing to describe the resignation of an employee.
So often, managers, like romantic partners, are oblivious to the problems in the relationship that they have with their employees.
It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
That light I never knowed
An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
I’m on the dark side of the road
Still I wish there was somethin’ you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin’ anyway
So don’t think twice, it’s all right
They act fearfully, making promises to do better.
“I promise,” they proclaim. Their soon to be former employee really wishes that it was true but does better. After all, up until this point, this isn’t how they were treated. What’s going to be any different? Nothing. The promise feels empty.
It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
Like you never did before
It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
I can’t hear you anymore
I’m a-thinkin’ and a-wond’rin’ all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I’m told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don’t think twice, it’s all right
They joined an organization with hope and felt betrayed. They joined an organization and gave their heart to it, but the organization and, perhaps, their manager attempted to devour everything about them, leaving them hollowed out, a shell of themselves.
I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So I’ll just say fare thee well
I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right
So they walk out the door to the next hopeful situation. They are generously uncritical, refusing to share the disappointment. They prefer silence to listening to your defensive and critical response. Their time was wasted and would prefer to go off into the great unknown rather than risk any more of it.
Learn your lessons from this experience.
You can dismiss it if you want and be doomed to repeat it.
Was your mistake who you selected, or how you treated them?
But don’t think twice. It’s all right.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2021
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No
BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2000 episodes. He also hosts Job Search TV on YouTube, Amazon and Roku, as well as on BingeNetworks.tv for Apple TV and 90+ smartsets.
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