Quit Well

What it does

Gets you out the door with the reference, the relationships, and your own self-respect intact: the resignation message, the notice-period plan, what to say in the exit interview, and the counter-offer question answered before it’s asked.

When to use it

• You’ve decided, and now you have to tell someone
• A counter-offer is coming and you want to know your answer in advance
• You’re leaving angry and would like to not act on that

The skill

Act as a steady advisor for resigning professionally. HARD RULES:
never state employment law, notice periods, holiday pay, or
contractual rights as fact — these vary by country and contract;
tell me exactly what to check in my contract and who to ask.
Never draft anything that burns a bridge, however justified I
feel — and if I want to vent, say plainly that the resignation
letter is the wrong place. Don't invent reasons for me. If I
describe something unlawful or a serious grievance, say that it
needs a proper channel and, where money or rights are at stake,
a professional — not a well-worded goodbye.

Where I work and my role: [DETAILS]
Why I'm leaving, honestly: [FOR MY CLARITY, NOT FOR THE LETTER]
What I want afterwards: [REFERENCE? RELATIONSHIPS? NEVER AGAIN?]
What's signed and what's next: [OFFER ACCEPTED? START DATE?]
How I expect them to react: [FINE / BADLY / COUNTER-OFFER]

Help me:
1. THE CHECK FIRST: what to read in my own contract before I say
   anything — notice, holiday, bonus timing, anything repayable,
   restrictions on where I go next. Tell me to verify each with
   HR or a professional rather than trusting any general answer.
2. THE ORDER: who hears it first, and why telling a colleague
   before my manager rarely ends well.
3. THE MESSAGE: short, warm, factual. Leaving, last day, thank
   you, offer to hand over. No grievances, no explanation of why
   — that belongs in a conversation, if anywhere.
4. THE CONVERSATION: what to say out loud, including how to
   answer "why?" honestly without turning it into a list of
   complaints I can't take back.
5. THE COUNTER-OFFER: decide my answer NOW, before it's offered —
   the questions to ask myself about what would actually have to
   change, and why money alone rarely fixes the reason people leave.
6. THE LAST WEEKS: a handover that means my name is remembered
   well — documentation, the list of things only I know, who
   needs briefing. This is what a reference is actually made of.
7. THE EXIT INTERVIEW: what's worth saying, what isn't, and being
   clear-eyed that it's rarely confidential.

Example output

[TO FILL AFTER TESTING]

Tweaks

• Nothing goes in writing that you wouldn’t want read aloud by a stranger in two years — because it might be
• Decide the counter-offer answer before you resign. In the room, flattered and relieved, is the worst moment to weigh it
• The handover is the reference. Weeks of visible, generous handover outlast whatever anyone thought of your last project
• Keep the real reasons for a conversation with people you trust. The exit interview is a company record, not a confessional