The wall
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I do not name the firm because the industry is small. A partner took my book of work, introduced a cheaper hire, and asked me to set them up for success. Two months later I was on a performance plan for not selling work I was no longer allowed to touch.
We were a distributed company until the lease needed a story. Alignment meant three days in an office 90 minutes from where they told us to live in 2021. There was no data. There was a vibe. I declined the vibe.
I told my manager I needed the week. He said take whatever I need. On Wednesday my access died in a hotel lobby. The email subject was 'An update on your role.' I was not even in the 'low performer' bucket they invented later for the press. I was expensive, remote, and easy to cut without a hallway conversation.
I was hired as a senior IC. Within four months I was running two pods, writing the roadmap, doing the 1:1s, and still expected to ship like I had no calendar. When I asked for the title that matched the work, they said titles were a 'distraction from impact.' The last straw was a Friday all-hands where leadership celebrated a record quarter and then announced a hiring freeze in the same breath. I wrote my resignation on Sunday with the same care I used to write their strategy docs. I left the badge on the kitchen counter of a WeWork I had never chosen.
We were told to implement a policy we had flagged as unlawful in three memos. The memos were noted. The rollout date did not move. I resigned and sent the memos to the inspector general on the way out.
My bonus plan was written down. I hit 112% of target. In December they recalibrated the curve because the desk as a whole missed. Comp sent a slide that was not the slide I signed.
The hospital put a meditation app in the benefits portal the same month they cut night-shift differentials. Flexibility meant I ate standing up and cried in the supply closet twice a week. A patient asked me if I was okay. That is when I knew the job had inverted.
We were asked to hide the vacancy count from parents. A 10-year-old asked why the good teachers keep disappearing. I did not have an answer that was not an indictment.
Every all-hands had a slide about belonging. I reported a director. HR scheduled a listening session. The director got a coach. I got moved off the account. I used to think leaving without another job lined up was reckless. Reckless was staying.