[2021-06-27] Advice for career and life
Today, a friend sent me a link to a 2015 video of Chinese businessman, investor and philanthropist Jack Ma in which he shares his advice to young people about where to focus their energy in each decade of their life. He says:
- Before 20, be a good student.
- From 20 to 30, work for a small company. In a big company, you learn process: "you are part of a big machine." In a small company, you learn passion, dreams and how to do a lot of things. Moreover, choose a boss from whom you can learn, which is more important than the company you select. "A good boss teaches you differently."
- From 30 to 40, work for yourself if you want to be an entrepreneur.
- From 40 to 50, do all the things that you're good at. Don't try to jump to new things: "you may be successful, but the rate of dying is too big."
- From 50 to 60, focus on young people because they can do things better than you: rely on them; invest in them; make sure they're doing well.
- After 60, spend time on yourself.
In response to a question that appeared to be about regrets, Ma says that he regrets spending so much time at work instead of with his family.
Ma's advice got me wondering about my own focus during the various decades of my life and whether I would have done anything differently in retrospect.
- From childhood to 21, I was a good student. I took school seriously, studied hard, skipped a grade, did well (valedictorian in both elementary and high school), and finished a four-year university degree at 21.
- From 21 to 30, I grew up. After two months in the private sector following graduation, I landed a job in the federal Public Service. I met my future husband and had our two children at 24 and 26. I moved up four levels in my career from a junior officer to a middle manager.
- From 30 to 40, I gained experience as an executive. I became an acting director at 30. Within a few years, I became a substantive EX-01, and would juggle my role as director and mom throughout this decade of my life.
- From 40 to 50, I competed for and won director general positions at the EX-02 and EX-03 levels.
- From 50 to 55 (in a few days), I have been an assistant deputy minister at the EX-04 level.
What have I taken away from this and what would I advise young people?
Learn what you love
I agree with Ma that your focus in the first few decades of your life should be learning and discovering what you love to do. I had a passion for writing and pursued that in my post-secondary studies in journalism and applied my talent for communicating in every job I did over my career.
Move on quickly if the environment isn't right
When I finished university, looking for employment became my full-time job. I applied to every job that I could and sent my CV to every employment agency in Ottawa that would accept it. Within a couple of months, I found a position as an editor with a private sector company. It was an uncomfortable place to work: morale was low; some of the men were blatantly misogynistic; many employees seemed to be trying to leave the company. Eight weeks into the job, an employment agency called me to offer me a six-week placement with the Government of Canada. I didn't think twice and jumped at the opportunity. I would spend the next 28 years working for the same government department. So perhaps if you want to be an entrepreneur, private sector experience is a must, as Ma suggests. But if you want a satisfying career, consider the Public Service, which―for me―offered tremendous opportunity.
Discover your passions through both school and extracurricular activities
What I take away from my early years and what I would advise young people is this: do well in school and pursue interests outside school as well. I love Kurt Vonnegut's conclusions from a conversation he had at the age of 15 with an adult with whom he was working. As I explained in my post In support of youth, Vonnegut told the man that while he did a number of extracurricular activities (theater, choir, violin, piano, art class), he wasn't very good at any of them. The man's response? "I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them." Vonnegut says this changed his life: "I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could 'win' at them."
Do what you love or love what you do
I have often quoted research from Gallup, which surveys millions of people around the world to assess employee engagement and well-being. Gallup has found that when employees strongly agree with either "I like what I do each day" or "I do what I'm best at every day," they are 4½ times more likely to be thriving in life than those who don't. That's not just thriving at work, but thriving in life. This is because career well-being, Gallup found, is the greatest determinant of a good life among five areas of well-being: career (liking what you do every day), social (having relationships and love in your life), financial (managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security), physical (enjoying good health and having enough energy to get things done daily), and community (being engaged and involved in the area where you live). It isn't necessary to do what you love if doing so won't pay the bills. In those cases, learn to love what you do.
Expand your perspective
The other thing I take from my early years is this: seek opportunities to expand your perspective. For many, going to college or university is the way to do that, as I shared in my post University. Others travel. Still others experiment with different jobs. Meet people, read opinions that differ from your own, challenge your thinking. A great boss can also help to expand your thinking. I agree with Ma that you should choose to work for skilled leaders, to the extent that you can. I had many excellent managers in my time, and they were instrumental in my development and ultimately my career.
Work hard and be nice to everyone
My most significant learning from my twenties would be this: strive to do a good job, be willing to take on projects that others find daunting, and remember that your reputation is cultivated by every interaction you have―with bosses, clients, coworkers and even subordinates. How you get along with others matters, including people who have seemingly no power to help you advance in your career.
Remember that you can never be replaced at home
Perhaps as a man, Ma worried less about balancing career and parenthood than I did. I struggled with this, as I expect many women do. That said, I had the advantage that few of my female colleagues did: my husband was in the home, which made it easier for me to focus on my career without sacrificing too much on the home front. Nevertheless, I can recall a tearful conversation with my daughter when she was about 12 and she asked me to find another job because the one I had involved a fair amount of travel. That almost broke my heart. We worked it out and I stayed in the job, but I learned that there's no replacement for mom.
Recognize that you can slow down or speed up your career advancement
I took my time at the director level, remaining at the EX-01 level for more than a decade. There's nothing wrong with slowing your advancement during the years your kids are young. You can always speed up again later when they're older. For example, I became an EX-02 at 41 (when my kids were in their mid-teens), an EX-03 at 45 (when they were in their late teens and early twenties) and an EX-04 at 50 (when they were in their early to mid-twenties).
Spend time with other generations
I love Ma's idea of focusing on young people. For years, I've devoted time to young people―mentoring them, coaching them and addressing them at conferences. But I've also learned from them. Interacting with the next generation of workers is mutually rewarding. But so is interacting with older generations in the workplace. One of my favourite things at executive conferences or learning events was listening to more senior people talk about their experiences. Their reminiscences of historic events and associated lessons learned were always so fascinating.
Don't wait to focus on yourself and your loved ones
Like Ma, the one thing I regret is spending so much time on my career to the detriment of my health, relationships and community. My advice would be this: don't wait until you retire or are in your fifties or sixties to focus on yourself, your family, your friends and your community. Give them as much attention as you can throughout your career.
