Part 2 - The Demilitarized Zone: Veterans Implicit Bias?
I previously covered some of the negative implicit biases that sometimes show up when veterans apply for or work in senior management positions. In this article, I will give you a peek under the tent of what many of us do bring to your business, non-profit or local government entity. If you have not had any experiences with veterans before, you are in for a treat.
What We Do Bring
After 4-years or 20-years of service to our nation, veterans do bring numerous gifts, talents and other skills learned during our military service to our civilian organizations and companies.
One of the first things we bring is a strong work ethic. Many have a work ethic like no other. We show up early and stay late to get the job done. We work hard all day. We proactively find problems and provide solutions to problems you did not even know existed. We take the initiative. For many veterans mission failure (your company objectives) is not an option as far as what we control.
Accountability
We also bring a high-level accountability. In the military a lack of accountability can lead to someone dying. In the private sector or in government, a lack of accountability can lead to complacency, poor working environment and a loss of revenue or misuse of funds. This eventually leads to a lack of relevancy, if not checked. When we do not hold people accountable, the culture will inevitably deteriorate.
“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”
– Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker
Nick Sabin the six-time national Champion often talks about accountability by the players and coaches as part of being successful and a key pillar to why he has won seven (7) national championship titles. Likewise, the legendary coach from UCLA, John Wooden, who won 10 NCAA Basketball Championships in 12 years is known for accountability. In the article “Sport Coach Accountability” the author retells a story of how Coach Wooden held the NBA hall of famer Bill Walton accountable to the team rule of being “clean cut” after he had been awarded the NCAA player of the year, the year prior. Accountability is not something solely owned by the military; it is something found in all high performing teams/organizations. Many veterans bring it to the table as we are not afraid to hold the line and uphold policy or rules. We understand and embrace one person is not bigger than the team.
High Performance
Another thing we bring from the military is the desire and drive to be a high performing organization. Most people would love opportunity to be a part of the Chicago Bulls in the 90’s or the New England Patriots over the past 10 years because everyone loves a winner. Being in the US military it is the same for many. We like to win, and we typically bring that same fire with us wherever we go. This desire to find a way to win is a part of why our military is the best. Again, mission failure (your company objectives) is NOT an option. We will find a way to win!
“They will go to lengths end to make sure the customer
is properly cared for. You can trust them with the store keys.”
Extra Mile Attitude
Going the extra mile can mean a lot of things, but I will boil it down to the following: 1) doing more than people expect 2) doing it better than they expected 3) doing it before they expected it. (More, Better, Before).
When you hire a veteran, in most cases this is exactly what you get. They will go above and beyond to ensure the product or service they are delivering is the best they can make it. Whatever the tasks they will most often provide you with a product that we well beyond what you expected. They will go to lengths end to make sure the customer is properly cared for. You can trust them with the store keys.
Camaraderie
Additionally, we typically bring a sense of camaraderie. When in a deployed location or station overseas away from family, you learn to create additional bonds that create an extended network of family members. In a family you argue and fight sometime, but in a family, you take care of each other. You look out for each other. I know there are cases one can point to that show where that did not happen like when one of our brothers or sisters was harmed by another brother or sister while serving, but that is not the norm. Those are the very unfortunate outliers, and eventually those who caused harm, in many cases, are held accountable. But the vast majority of veterans have embraced this and will create a sense of camaraderie in their workspaces with those around them. This creates security and trust in the team, which positively impacts productivity.
“We are accustomed to getting outside of our silos to ensure mission accomplishment.”
Collaboration
Moreover, we are collaborators. Whether it is collaborating with someone in a different section within our units or an aircraft maintainer collaborating with a medic or a Marine collaborating with an Airman. We are accustomed to getting outside of our silos to ensure mission accomplishment. It is quite comical at times as there is often a bartering system that evolves. A maintainer needs easier access to get basic over-the counter drugs to keep people healthy and productive on the flight line and the medic desires a patch and a tour of a plane up close. They shake hands and the collaboration begins and often expands. They both grow to see how they need each other and how working together facilitates mission accomplishment. We will bring this to your company as well. We will establish back channels from the marketing department to the sales department to make sure we all can win.
Train Your Replacement
Further, another mindset we bring to the table is training others to be leaders and to replace us. Most people in the military know that they will either get deployed, transferred to another unit, or promote themselves out of a job and often have a lot of pride in what they have helped to build. This leads to building up (training) people who have the means and the skills to continue the “good work”. No one wants to see what they have shed blood, sweat and tears over fall apart after they leave. This drives us to intentionally train up others to take our place. We will do this in your company or organization too. It is done through creating training outlines, standard operating procedures and spending one-on-one time with others to coach and mentor them. This is a fundamental part of succession planning.
Creativity & Problem Solving
Because many of us adopted a proactive mindset while serving, we have a natural inclination to find problems in the product, process or service delivery method. As problems arise, we tend to see it first and then start troubleshooting the issues. Because we are team players, we bring others in early and often present a solution at the time we present the problem.
We also will typically approach solving the problem differently. In the US military, it is a very diverse organization with people serving from all over the world and for the most part we do a good job of integrating those diverse ways of thinking. This diversity of thought is what you will often get when you hire a military veteran. This leads to creative solutions to difficult problems.
“I was not going to show up in the ice hockey rink with soccer goalie gear nor mindset.”
A Personal Story
In my transition into a role as the Chief Executive Officer of an agency, I knew many things from my military service would not be transferable and I had to grow and adapt. My good friend Henry Hayes and I both speak to this in the pending release of our book, “Triumphant Transitions.” The following is an excerpt from Chapter 4.
“Then I shifted the discussion, I asked him to name a sport with a goalie. His first answer was soccer; his second response was hockey. These are the two most common answers that I get, in fact, I usually get them in that order. Every now and then someone will say lacrosse... I invited him to imagine a scenario where I was a soccer goalie. I’m not just a soccer goalie, I’m good! I have my fancy shirt on, my good gloves, my cleats and plenty of confidence. If anybody runs into me, they get a penalty, others protect me. Anytime someone kicks the ball towards my goal I am all over it! Hardly anything gets by me.
One day, I get the idea to transfer from soccer to the hockey rink. My level of competence and confidence allows me to go in with a high expectation that I will do well in hockey. The only thing is, I don’t plan to make any changes. Everything that got me to where I am regarding soccer should be able to hold me in the rink, right?”
I was not going to show up in the ice hockey rink with soccer goalie gear nor mindset. I had the good fortune to attend several classes that help to facilitate this mindset shift and numerous mentors. Many other veterans in senior roles also attend classes at major universities and are instructed by top leaders in the academic world to help them become better leaders, because we are leading humans. I was really intentional to be deliberate in my preparation. Now did I still slip up and use military jargon? I did and still do. Did I make a lot of mistakes? I did and I grew from each one of them. I also worked with an executive coach to intentionally get better in my blind spots (Global Core Strategies & Consulting and Katalis Executive Advising & Development). Yet I also brought the afore mentioned things, which led to the cultivation of a high performing organization over the course of 3-years.
One accomplishment I am proud of is when I took over there was no intentional development of the staff members. There was no line item in the budget dedicated to training. After my first year, we changed that and it grew over the course of my tenure, as I was a direct beneficiary of training and development. By year three, we budgeted for and implemented an online training platform to ensure certain compliance training was completed, but also to provide access to resources for each employee to self-develop in addition to the training the agency gave them. Whether that was taking an excel class or learning to be a better parent, what I saw over time was the level of pride increased and the people embraced being a continual learner and our productivity as a 4-county agency serving over 250K people improved continually. This meant we grew as an agency in influence and reputation. The people became more productive and brought more ideas to the table. They took more ownership of their program areas. In essence, they took ownership of the organization. In the article “The Importance of Training & Development in the Workplace” it states,
“Employees with access to training and development programs have the advantage over employees in other companies who are left to seek out training opportunities on their own. The investment in training that a company makes shows the employees they are valued. The training creates a supportive workplace.
Employees may gain access to training they would not have otherwise known about or sought out themselves. Employees who feel appreciated and challenged through training opportunities may feel more satisfaction toward their jobs.”
I was also very intentional to create a sense of camaraderie. I strive to live by “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. I strove to make people feel valued and appreciated. I busted my tail to ensure there was an environment that was free of harmful behaviors, and I ensured there was accountability which enhanced safety for everyone. In the process we created a pretty high performing organization. Now did we lose some along the way, we did. Everyone is not cut out to be on a high performing team and nor does everyone want to be on one. Sometimes they chose and other times I chose.
But the one thing I am the proudest of is I trained my executive leadership team to be future Chief Executive Officers. I poured everything I could into them. I was transparent about my struggles. I shared insights into why certain successes occurred. I gave them a bird’s eye view of what it is like to be in the hot seat. I shared many tips on navigating difficult situations. I also shared with them my failures, so they could learn. I was not fearful or intimidated that they might replace me. I gave them responsibilities to show them it was not just lip service and they thrived. They are an exceptional group of people. And after my departure from the agency, they did exactly what they were trained to do. The agency continued to move forward as they continued to excel and do great work.
Those are just a few of the things that I brought with me into the “demilitarized zone”. And if you look at some of the results, I led over 4-years:
1) generating 120% increase in grant revenues over the previous 10 years
2) eliminating the gender pay gap
3) generating a +40% growth in revenue
4) facilitating a 95% employee engagement rate and a 250% increase in productivity over 4 years
All things considered; I would say more companies could benefit from having veterans in key leadership positions.
I will close how I started; in the military we lead humans. We are in the people business. We are experts in the human enterprise. That is how we became the best military in the world hands down! We can and will bring these skills to your company and/or organization.
