I’m not a supporter of (now former) presidential candidate John Edwards, but I have to give him credit for this: he knew when it was finally time to quit and throw in the towel.

“I don’t think there was one overriding decision that says you have to get out now,” said John Moylan, a close Edwards friend and campaign adviser. “Clearly he could have stuck it out.” Moylan, who talked to The New York Times, added, I think the timing now felt right to him,” Mr. Moylan said. “He felt like it would do more good if he stepped aside.

“I don’t think there was one overriding decision that says you have to get out now. Clearly he could have stuck it out.”

The candidate’s decision puts a spotlight one of the toughest balancing acts that just about any leader (particularly as business leader) eventually has to face–when should I stay and when should I go?

Recent history is riddled with examples of executives who should have known it was time to depart gracefully, as Edwards did, but failed to do so (frequently for selfish reasons). Some, like former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli and former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, overstayed their welcome and just refused to listen to the ever-increasing chorus of critics calling for their departure. Others – Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher and former American Red Cross President Mark Everson – had to be pushed to resign when confronted with damaging personal information. 

But some executives, like John Mackey of Whole Foods Market and Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide, dig in their heels and refuse to leave when confronted with their public missteps. They stay on in spite of negative media coverage and calls for them to step aside. They seem to have no concern about the damage their continued presence might do to the company they purport to care about. Their imperious style makes you wonder how their boards put up with them.

As with all things in life, there is a time to dig in and fight, and a time to let things go. No one wants to be thought of as a quitter, but then again, no one wants to stick it out and continue to battle beyond reason. The trick is knowing when there is still a good reason to fight, and when to resign yourself to the inevitable and let things go.

I may not have wanted to vote for John Edwards, but I very much admire his ability to read the writing on the wall and admit that the time had come to give it up. It’s a lesson anyone toiling in our modern workforce would be wise to learn.