People always have the right to bail! At any point within a relationship whether personal or professional they can call it quits. Has that happened to you? How do you handle it? I offer some advice for the one who quits and the one who has been quit:
When you quit:
1. You might say, “it’s nothing personal” or “it’s not you it’s me”. No matter what you say, it is personal and you are walking away from the person or organization. Remember if there is any history or exchange of value it will still hurt.
2. Allow for real conversation as to “why” this is happening and realize that people will thrash in different ways. (don’t hide behind email, letters or other people)
3. Tell the truth.
4. If you’ve hung yourself by your tongue of commitment, own up to it and show real compassion.
5. Be sure you know that what you are quitting, you are not burning bridges. You may want it back and it will depend on how you handle the situation. Nothing is worse than when someone realizes they’ve made a mistake but knows that there is no way in hell they can fix it.

When they’ve quit on you:
1. Digest before you react. Don’t rush into a response. It might be sudden and come out of nowhere but you need to have control over your responses.
2. Ask questions and see if there is any possibility to repair, connect and re-ignite the relationship.
3. Don’t be a fool and vent to others. You could possibly talk too much and miss the valuable lessons in what has just happened. Also, people can too easily take your side and help you to wallow when you really need to listen, hear, accept and heal.
4. Be careful to not allow the incident to occupy your mind. Stay active, involved and even serve the needs of others when possible.
5. Make it a lesson learned.

Tim Pecoraro