Leaving your job—whether willingly or less cheerfully—requires tact: no trashing your boss’s office if you were laid off, and no dancing in the halls, screaming “So long, suckers!” if you’re quitting. That tact extends to the goodbye e-mail you’ll send out, which may be the last impression your colleagues get of you until you come begging them for a reference. So what’s the best way to send that e-mail? Kristen Fischer answered that question in today’s AvantGuild feature.

Too many people disappear — regardless of why they leave. “It leaves a negative impression, even if there was a positive relationship. Termination can be difficult, and people don’t know how to do it, so they basically run for it.”

Instead, [Carrie] Stack [, a life coach,] says saying goodbye and acknowledging your departure is imperative, as is doing so with class and grace. “Send a goodbye email to recognize you are leaving, and appreciate the experience you had there, and the relationships you built. People will remember that, and you never know who you will cross paths with again,” Stack says. “Taking the high road always pays off.”

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