When Your Company Culture Collapses: Should You Stay or Go?

Is it insane to resign from a toxic job? Learn how to leave smart, plan your exit, and redesign your career with clarity — not in panic.

If your workplace has been through a recent takeover, the culture has collapsed, and you feel like running for the door — you are not alone.

A listener recently asked me: “Is it insane to resign?”

Here’s the truth: it’s not insanity — it’s clarity.

When your values clash with a crumbling system

Private equity takeovers are notorious for creating cultural whiplash. Overnight, the place where you invested years of effort and care can become a numbers-driven machine. Gone are the values, relationships, and sense of purpose that once made it worth getting out of bed in the morning.

It’s no wonder your emotional brain is shouting “Get out!”

But here’s the rub: just because you feel like leaping doesn’t mean today is the right day to do it.

The pull to escape — and the risk of rushing

When you’re stuck in an environment that feels toxic or collapsing, the impulse to resign can be overwhelming. But I’ve seen too many smart, capable people leap out of one bad situation straight into another — simply because they were seeking relief, not clarity.

A rushed exit often leads to a “different company, same problems” scenario. And that is far more exhausting than taking the time to plan your next move well.

3 steps to a sane, strategic exit

If you’re sitting at your desk wondering if it’s insane to resign — here’s what I recommend:

1️⃣ Build your Freedom Fund

Get crystal clear on your financial runway. If you left tomorrow, how long could you comfortably manage your commitments? Three months? Six? More?

Knowing your number reduces fear and fog dramatically. And if needed, start quietly trimming expenses to build your Freedom Fund. It buys you choices.

2️⃣ Define what’s next

Wanting to escape isn’t enough. You need something to move toward.

Ask yourself: what would more joy at work look like for you? Is it simply a new job? Or is it time to redesign your career entirely?

I’ve included a helpful video here to guide this reflection: Career Design Video on YouTube.

3️⃣ Start the Quiet Shift

If you’re pursuing another job, begin your search discreetly. Reconnect with trusted people in your network. Speak with recruiters. Define exactly what you’re looking for — and resist the urge to overshare about your current frustrations.

If a like-for-like job won’t satisfy you, it may be time to explore deeper career redesign. This is where working with someone like me can help you design a new career strategy — one that reflects who you are now.

You’re not crazy — you’re awake

Feeling the urge to leave a crumbling culture isn’t insane. It’s a sane response to an unhealthy system. But your future self will thank you for approaching this season with clarity, not panic.

Treat this transition as just that — a transition, not a trap. You don’t have to decide your whole future this week. But you can begin creating light at the end of the tunnel.

You’ve got this. And if you need a guide — you know where to find me.

👉 Join the Midlife Unstuck Community Membership — take your next gentle step toward clarity and joyful work.

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Ep06: Insane to Resign

[00:00:00] Listener Question: Is It Insane to Resign?
This is the Joy At Work podcast, and I'm Lucia Knight. Today's question from a listener is, a biggie.
Our company has been bought by a private equity firm.
It's been three months and people are being exited in droves. We've become a numbers machine. All humanity and working practices has disappeared.
We've been ordered back into the office, told what office attire is and isn't. And no one appears to give a hoot about anything other than cutting costs at any cost.
I need to leave fast before it starts to impact me more than just making me angry.
I'd resign right now, but that seems like insanity in a world where there never seems to be enough jobs for experienced people.
My partner and I both work full-time. We don't live beyond our means, but we have two kids in university that are still quite expensive.
Is it insane to resign?
[00:00:56] When Your Workplace Culture Collapses
Okay, first things first. You are not insane. You're just awake in a system that has stopped feeling remotely human and that anger in your belly. I don't think it's an overreaction. I think this is a clash of personal and business values. You're watching your work maybe once a place of purpose or at least professionalism, get striped for parts.
And it hurts. Of course, it hurts when the place you've invested your time, your effort, and maybe your evenings suddenly turns into a numbers only machine.
It's normal to feel like, get me out of here before I lose my mind.
[00:01:40] The Emotional vs. Logical Brain Conflict
But here's my reaction, and you may not love me for saying this. Just because you feel like leaping doesn't mean you should leap today. You've got responsibilities. Kids in universities. Bills a household that runs on two full-time incomes.
That part of your brain that's shouting danger ahead, is not being dramatic. It's being responsible. It's trying to keep you safe.
So what do we do when our emotional brain is shouting? Leave Now! And our rational logical brain is whispering. Not yet.
We pause.
We plan.
And we get into position because what you are in right now. It's not just a toxic job, it's a system in collapse.
I spent the last decade of my former career working a lot with private equity businesses who had just bought a new organization and needed different people to lead on the ground.
These private equity businesses weren't run by horrible humans. They were just very super, super clear on their three year goals and what they needed to do in order to achieve them. They cared a lot about people in their newly acquired company being good at their work.
But they cared not a lot for how much joy at work. Everyone was feeling. They changed the company culture overnight. And that cultural clash hurt for some.
I've included a link to an article written by one of my former clients called Reclaiming Middle Aged Me, which is a story about A CFO whose company was acquired by a private equity company and how that cultural clash impacted him.
I'll include it in the show notes.
[00:03:52] You Need to Leave — But Not in Panic
This is the old system in collapse. You don't need to go down with it, but you do need to leave on your terms, not in a panic, not in an angry tantrum.
So here's what I recommend.
[00:04:05] Step 1: Building Your Financial Freedom Fund
Step one, get super clear. On your financial runway, if you walked tomorrow, how long could you keep things going? Three months, six months, a year more? Knowing that exact number can reduce the fear fog massively. Then reduce unnecessary spending to build your freedom fund.
[00:04:26] Step 2: Designing What’s Next for You
Step two, figure out what you want next. It's clear you want to escape, but that's not enough. You need to figure out what you want to sprint towards. What does more joy at work look like for you? Is it simply just a new job? Or is this the time to design a new career strategy? I'll include a quick video in the show notes to help you answer that question.
[00:04:51] Step 3: Starting the Quiet Shift
And then step three, start the quiet shift. If you are just looking for a new job. Start a job search under the radar. Talk to all the wonderful humans in your personal network, clearly describing what your next career move looks like.
No need to explain all the current woes. Reconnect with the headhunters and recruiters in your industry. Set up very specific searches on the exact role you are looking for so that you can spend just 10 minutes a day reviewing one email from one trusted source. Treat this phase like a transition, not a trap.
[00:05:35] Why Smart People Still Land in New Traps
But if the same job in a new company is not going to satisfy you. Maybe this is the right time to talk to someone like me who specializes in specifically designing a new career strategy for the next decade of your career.
I've seen too many people blow up their situation because they wanted relief Now only to end up in a different company with different branding and the same problems.
You're too smart for that. And look, I get it. It feels like there aren't enough jobs out there for experienced people, but I'm here to tell you that most of the positions that are recruited are recruited via personal networks.
So the jobs you are seeing in the active job market are only 25% of the roles that are available in the market. And don't listen to the news. As my dad always says, no news is good news. There are always roles for people who understand and can prove the value of their unique superpowers solving important problems for others.
Now, you don't need to do all of this this week. You don't need to even decide your entire future today. But what you do need is to decide or start to discover a direction of movement, something that makes staying bearable because it's just temporary. While you are busy creating light at the end of the tunnel.
And while you're creating something that makes leaving the sane move because it's part of a well thought through plan, part of a long-term strategy, not a knee jerk short-term reaction.

[00:07:23] You Have Clarity, Not Insanity
Thank you for your question. You're not losing your mind and it's not insane to resign. You are just not ready to pretend that this kind of culture is okay for you. That's nothing like insanity, that's clarity. You've got this, and if you don't, you know where to find me.

Is It Insane to Resign? Why Leaving a Toxic Job Might Be the Sanest Move You Make