A Coaching Power Tool By Xiaoyu Zhang, Career Coach, CHINA
Waste vs. Invest: Enjoy the Career Journey with the Invest Mindset
Help people to pursue a joyful, fulfilling, and sustainable career.
As a career coach, I found that many clients complained that their job was filled with repetitive tasks and endless meetings which has been wasting time. Also, when people are making career move decisions, they have concerns about uncertainty. A doubtful voice echoes in my mind that if I make the wrong decision, the opportunity is wasted, and my career may collapse. I would like to introduce the Invest mindset in a career context to help people enjoy their career journey.
Waste vs. Invest Definitions
Definition of Waste
Cambridge Dictionary defines waste as unnecessary or wrong use of money, substances, time, energy, abilities, etc (2023).
You may hear people complain that the meeting achieved absolutely nothing, it was a complete waste of time. The job is tedious which is wasting time and talents.
Definition of Invest
Invest is to put money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage (Cambridge Dictionary,2023).
It is common sense that people invest their money in the project or the property. But we don’t always think from the perspective that we invested significant amounts of time, energy, and effort for the thing we care about such as a career.
Shifting from Wasting to Investing Mindset
I know it is heartbreaking to see the news that big tech firms are firing people, headcounts of positions are frozen, banks are at the edge of broken… If we choose the wrong industry/company/position, it is inevitable to face those challenges, and some people will say it is wasting time. However, instead, the victim thought, what if we take the lead from the beginning?
Inkson and Arthur (2001) introduced the concept of Career Capitalism. They stated that it is important for individuals to proactively invest their time, skills, and relationships into each position and company they work for – just like a capitalist, while the company plays a supporting role. When people make a career move, they can bring the accumulated skills, experience, and resources to the next position. Taking ownership of career development can make them more adaptable and employable in today’s dynamic and unpredictable world.
Warren Buffet invests in large, blue-chip companies with a long-term strategy, which also applies to career development. Let’s invest our time, energy, and skills with the long-term career strategy in mind.
Case Study
(Names and detailed information disguised to protect confidentiality)
Case 1: Abbey – 21 yr sold – Final year student
Background Information: Abbey came to me with the question in mind of whether to quit an internship. She started an unpaid internship in a local nursing home.
Abbey: I want to quit this job. It is wasting my time!
Coach: What makes you think it is a waste?
Abbey: My day-to-day work is compiling the paper documents and keeping them updated. Sometimes allocate snacks to the old as requested. That’s all. I can’t learn anything from this work. Plus, I must drive one hour to get to the place.
Coach: I heard you spend a lot of time and energy on this job. What are your expectations for this internship?
Abbey: Some meaningful tasks with solid results. I hope I can learn from the work and add those experiences to my CV.
Coach: Anything else?
Abbey: It is my last year at university. I must decide whether to continue studying. I hope the experience can lead me to the answer.
Coach: Okay, meaningful work, learnings, adding value to CV, and career decisions. Which one you want most?
Abbey: Meaningful work. If I can enjoy the work, then learnings, experiences, and the answer will come along.
Coach: Great. Now we know what’s the expected return. You can wait and complain about the waste of time. Or you can proactively invest your time, energy, skills, and relationships into this job and carry the returns to the next period of your career journey.
Abbey: Interesting.
Coach: If you can invest your efforts in one project that you want to change most, what would that be?
Abbey: The paperwork. I found it was very time-consuming and complex to organize those documents. It is the 21st century, so why not digitalize those papers? But it is a huge task. I am not sure if the manager will support me. She looks very busy.
Coach: Bravo! It sounds like you find the direction.
(In the remaining 20 minutes, we discuss the potential obstacles and supporting resources.)
Case 2: Lily – 29 yrs old – HR
Background Information: Lily got a job offer and hesitated to take it.
Lily: This new opportunity allows me to do staff training which is new to me. Their salary package is good.
Coach: How do you feel about that part of new work?
Lily: Exciting. I was looking forward to extending my job scope, and I am very interested in development and training.
Coach: Sounds good. What makes you hesitate?
Lily: I wanted to join a large company if take my next career move. This company is almost the same size as my current one. You know, these days, a large company means more stable. I also have concerns about whether I can have enough support and trust from the line manager. If I join a bad team, I will be depressed. That will waste my time.
Coach: What will make you feel you are wasting time?
Lily: If the team is awful, and the work is repetitive. I can’t learn anything new from the new role.
Coach: What do you value most when choosing a job?
Lily: Personal Development! I hope I can learn and grow on the platform.
Coach: What this new job can bring to you?
Lily: Bigger job scopes and opportunities to learn. To be honest, I want to take the job offer, but I don’t know if I can handle the new challenges and make it a meaningful journey.
Coach: If you see your time and energy as capital, how would you invest them?
Lily: I want to invest half of my time in staff training courses. I hope I can build up my training skills through the new job.
Reflection:
- Career is a long journey – Where would you like to be in 10/20/30 years?
- Choose how you invest money/time/energy.
- Choose who you spend time/energy with.
- Choose where(company/sector/position) to invest time/energy.
Work takes at least 1/3 of our lifetime, let’s create a joyful, fulfilling, and sustainable career path together!
References
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-simplified/invest?q=Invest
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-simplified/waste
Inkson, K. & Arthur, M. B. 2001. How to be a successful career capitalist. Organizational dynamics.