Managing Leadership^®

A short while ago, Dr. Ellen Weber published a piece in which she noted 100 words of inspiration she had discovered during her readings. She then asked some authors to choose one of those words and do some writing about its application in a business setting. I selected “veterans,” from an item Cam Beck wrote at Markeing Profs Daily Fix.

Cam’s essay was motivated by an article about military veterans entering the workplace, which appeared to take an unduly simplistic view of military people and their skills. Like Cam, I am a Marine, and can also get a bit exercised over this issue; I have written (a subscription-only article for Execunet) and been quoted on it before, and this is why I chose this topic.

Dr. Weber wanted the essay to be about something that could be done in the workplace in the coming week, so just think of this as being about hiring and assignment decisions managers can start using, and benefiting from, right away. Here goes:

Civilian employers tend to have certain beliefs about what military employees might be like, and many of these are myths that arise from an increasing civilian lack of familiarity with military life (as the years, over 30 now, pass since the end of the draft and the beginning of the all-volunteer force).

For example, I myself was once confronted by an employer who delighted in his delusion that, as a former Marine, I would uncritically accept and obey all orders with inexhaustible energy and mindless loyalty. That relationship didn’t work out.

Obedience to orders is, of course, important in the military, but, especially in formations like the American military, trust and confidence in the legitimacy and appropriateness of those orders is paramount. Moreover, loyalty in the military is typically to peers at least as strongly as to officers (managers), and any orders that a civilian manager issued that were destructive of that instinct would immediately undermine any loyalty that manager could expect.

One other problem along these lines is the idea that military people are thoughtless, uncritical, and lack imagination or initiative. The facts are that military people - at all levels, right from the very lowest on up - are trained and expected to exhibit leadership and initiative. They are full of ideas to advance their unit’s cause and, where appropriate, expect to have those ideas heard.

What’s more - military employees have been spoiled by their experience in uniform. While they certainly have developed discipline, the ability to work and think with minimal supervision, and a uniquely entrepreneurial sense of unit loyalty, they also have had many things provided to them, from room and board to world-class training. Their seniors (Abu-Gharaib and the like notwithstanding) have been among the most widely and comprehensively skilled managers and leaders in the world. They have also benefited from some of the most intelligently designed career development programs available anywhere.

They also, curiously, think that this sort of thing is standard everywhere, if not exceeded by civilian outfits. Is your company going to meet those expectations, or disappoint them?

How about this: The military affords greater responsibility and control over greater human, material, and financial resources with more potential direct impact on organizational goals to people at a younger age than any other organization in the world. For example:

Can you imagine a civilian company giving a teenager, after barely a year of training, control of something as technically sophisticated, expensive, and dangerous as a tank, and then expecting him or her to operate it in exquisitely delicate coordination with dozens of other teenagers operating other tanks? How about F/A-18 pilots, in their mid-20s, leading complexly organized squadrons deep into enemy airspace and exploiting information sources originating from around the globe and in orbit above it to engage their targets. Or young lieutenants leading 40-100 heavily-armed young Americans into the face of enemy defenses?

Can you match those challenges? Can you engage and stir the ingrained instinct for taking serious action and profound responsibilities that these young Americans are accustomed to? If not, you might find yourself dealing with dispirited and unproductive employees, and failing to understanding where the source of the problem is.

As you can see, there are challenges for both the employer and the former-military employee who find each other. But if the proper socialization to the new environment (for both of them) is made, and if both can live up to each others’ unique and legitimate expectations, then you have really got something.

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