Q I feel I'm going to be asked to leave my job by the end of the year. Should I jump before I'm pushed?

A Unless you think you can endure a spiral of awkwardness for you and your co-workers, get out now. Otherwise, brace yourself for the organisational ordeal of being a "dead man walking."

This occurs when everyone senses a person is going to be fired, but it's not made official. The reasons run from fear of legal action to lack of guts. Most often, bosses stall because they want the organisation to see the necessity of the firing decision. They'd rather be known as cautious than quick-triggered.

When the dead man walking is a co-worker, an office can become consumed with shared embarrassment. If the dead man is the boss, the most typical response is paralysis, as people wait to see where the chips will fall and how they will be rearranged. The environment becomes one of diminished productivity.

People may care about the boss on his way to the gallows—they may even vehemently oppose his fate—but self-preservation is a compelling instinct. 
If the organisational toll of dead man walking is bad, it's worse for the walker. They see once-loyal lieutenants claiming neutrality, while surreptitiously pledging their allegiance elsewhere. They watch their relevance slip away, along with their dreams of making an impact. They discover that jumping might have its merits. The outcome may be the same, but it's faster and hurts less.

You will miss the paycheques. But in the long run, your dignity, and your act of organisational sacrifice, will be worth more.