Before I gave my 2 weeks notice I had agreed to be part of an organizing committee for an upcoming conference. Since Friday will be my last day, I will not be attending the event after all; however, I did decide to finish what I had agreed to take on: create a video to be shown at the event, which highlights the accomplishments of the organization’s chapters over the past year. It is 1:30am, and I just finished it tonight. I think it turned out pretty well. I tried hard not to include myself in the video, but I did make an appearance a couple of times. What can I say, I can’t pretend I didn’t contribute to the organization for the past year! I did make sure to not overdo it, though.
When one of the organizers found out that I was leaving, but finishing the video anyway, he emailed me saying that it said a lot about me the fact that I had decided to complete my task even though I was under no obligation to. To be honest, I was secretly hoping someone would notice (after all, the video is NOT a trivial amount of effort), and I was happy someone gave me a pat on the back about it. That was very nice of him to say.
The main take-away here is that even though you might be leaving a company, there’s a lot to be said for completing your commitments and departing through the front door with your chin held high knowing you did the best you could for the company. Some will thank you, some will not, some will give you the silent treatment (again… really?), but you should always be able to point at your departure and say you handled it with class and professionalism. I’m proud to affirm that I can say that about myself.
abi