I am about to leave an organization which has failed to change with the changing times and technologies. This quote stopped me dead in my tracks today: "Stop shrinking to fit places you have outgrown." I am a change agent at heart and a year ago I joined a well known organization whom prides itself on being an innovative and inclusive place to work. From first glance, after reading white papers, reading their website and being very familiar with their product, I was certain this organization would propel me to a place of stability and provide me with the opportunity to reach retirement successfully. Upon arriving, I could not have been more shocked. Training was unheard of. Onboarding was confused with the word "surfboarding" and I found my new team of direct reports roaming, lost, with no clear direction and lacking coaching, support and guidance-- many unable to articulate their current roles and responsibilities. Leadership was being confused with supervision and daily management; all the while being a manager meant you were only really responsible to capture attendance and approve vacation. Systems were comprised of shared file drives crammed with uncontrolled spreadsheets and a special IT ticket request was needed to access the business key workflows which were all a part of a Lotus Notes database (yes, I do know this is 2020!.) I quickly put on my change agent hat and went to work. However, as one of the sites first female Engineering managers I was quickly transported to a time warp of my early days as a young engineer and the misogynistic advice came in waves. With every criticism and commentary-- I provided objective evidence and data driven results. Processes became visible and transparent. Process owners were identified and my team started to speak and I opened my ears , mind and heart to absorb their words and emotions. Yes-- at a small scale there was enough kindling there to start the fire of change. However, this company had already exhausted the ability to convert the efforts and hard work of my local team (as well as the global team) into bottom line results. Due to financial ineptitude the company decided to place a for sale sign on the front door and all opportunities from small purchases (like Post-It Notes and pens) to CAPEX were halted dead in their tracks. We all are familiar with the old adage: "it takes money to make money", well this company was lacking both. It quickly became clear, that I too had exhausted my opportunities to drive change. Leadership was not even interested in ingenious ways to try to progress through short term challenges. I quickly realized that I had outgrown this organization long before I would be given the tools and resources to really start a transformation. I was sad that I was leaving a team that was ripe for change however, I was proud that I was able to see that I would have had to "shrink" my thoughts, ideals and convictions in order remain a part of an organization that valued profit over people. My advice; be bold and never stop growing!