If we don’t train, we won’t be better, and if we’re not better, then we’ll be dead

These are the words of the commanding officer of a U.S. Navy base describing why the United States military has such a culture of training and learning.

This is but one of the many insights from a remarkable week that I spent embedded with the U.S. Military.

Joint Civilian Orientation Conference

Vacation in early August is normally the time for chilling on the beach or getting fresh air and exercise in the mountains. But for me, my August vacation this year was rather different. I participated in a program called JCOC, “Joint Civilian Orientation Conference,” a program sponsored by the Department of Defense. The mission of JCOC is to increase public understanding of national defense by enabling American business and community leaders to directly engage with the U.S. Military. Perhaps not since being founded by the Secretary of Defense in 1948 has the JCOC been more important. Not only is the risk of military conflict and nuclear war escalating at an alarming rate, but the divide between the civilian and military worlds is widening to the detriment of all. There are roughly two million service men and women in the U.S. Military, however, this represents considerably less than one percent of the population. Many people don’t know anyone in the military. Those who serve tend to come from the military families further narrowing the gene pool.

So who was in this group, what did we do, and what did I learn that I feel is valuable to share?

Our group was comprised of 40 civilian leaders, representing business, academia, healthcare, the clergy, public policy, journalism, and entertainment[1]. For a week, we were embedded in and deeply exposed to the five branches of the U.S. Military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the under-appreciated but remarkable Coast Guard. We got to know Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen[2], from enlisted men and women to the most senior officers, generals, and admirals, all the way to U.S. Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis. It was especially apt timing to spend 90 minutes with Secretary Mattis in a refreshingly open Q&A, right at the beginning of the terrifying escalation of tensions between North Korea and the White House.

We traveled each day on a gigantic C130 U.S. Air Force transport plane, starting in Washington D.C. with a briefing in the Pentagon. We then spent a day at each of these five installations: Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, Coast Guard Station in Boston, Massachusetts, Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut, Army Base in Fort Drum, New York, near the Canadian Border, and the Joint Air Force, Navy, and Army Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey. Through briefing sessions, demonstrations, training exercises, meals, and transport we had significant exposure to hundreds of people of all ranks across the five branches. Just like any wide cross section of people, there were wide variations in style and personality. But there was a remarkable consistency as well, from the most junior to the most senior. My exposure dramatically increased my understanding of and respect and appreciation for the enormity, talent and complexity in the military community. But it did something else as well. It reminded me of the essence of leadership and reignited my passion for the art of leadership.

There were so many takeaways from my remarkable JCOC experience. Here are some of the highlights, many of which can be applied and propagated in corporate and personal life:

Leadership at all Levels

Contrary to popular notions of military leadership as being command and control, the ubiquitous ethic is servant leadership. It is all about we not I, being a part of something greater than any one of us, and serving others. The officers always eat after the enlisted men and women and they lead by example. Not that they are reticent to issue orders, which are the essence of execution in the military. But across our week, I was struck by the consistency of the core attributes of inspiring leadership: character, integrity, courage, humility, resilience, and a commitment to service.

In our discussion with Secretary Mattis, he dispensed some pearls of leadership wisdom. Simple but powerful stuff and widely applicable to everyday life:

Win the trust, respect, and affection of your troops (employees). And don’t mistake popularity for affection.

There is a critical difference between making a mistake in seeking to carry out an intent (this is okay and can fixed through training) vs. a lack of effort or discipline, which is unforgivable.

Listen to the better angels inside of all of us. He shared the advice that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger offered him years ago: “We whip our enemies and then we welcome them.”

Apply Einstein’s wisdom which he paraphrased: “If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and 5 minutes solving the problem.”

With regard to strategy development, “The plan is nothing, the planning is everything.”

Servant leadership is the gift that keeps giving. “When you put others first, your own problems immediately go down and your satisfaction immediately goes higher.”

As inspiring as Secretary Mattis was, I saw similarly impressive leadership from a 23 year old sergeant commanding a platoon in training exercises with live ammunition, and a 20 year old medic demonstrating how to evacuate a casualty to safety under enemy fire.

Training, Education, and Continuous Learning

One of the most exceptional aspects of the military is its ethos and dedication to intensive training, education, and continuous learning. This is a much greater part of the culture and structure than in any company I’ve ever seen. In the U.S. Military there are large structural programs like the GI Bill, which pays service men and women with as little as 90 days of aggregate active duty for higher education and other training[3]. This is also one of the most powerful parts of the Armed Services value proposition – they attract talented young people to make a commitment in exchange for the ability to afford a college education.

Within each of the services there are schools for everything you can imagine, and well beyond. Of course there are the largest schools, like Army Ranger School and Marine Basic School. But how about Breaching and Entering School in the Marines? Or wound dressing school in the Army? Or Submarine Firefighting, Flooding and Escape schools in the Navy? Or Expeditionary Operations School that gets Airmen ready for deployment? Or my personal favorite, Verbal Judo School, which teaches military personnel how to deescalate a situation, often with overly curious civilians around the world.

Beyond teaching individuals the critical skills to do their jobs, the constant training and certifications that they award before moving one to the next level across the myriad programs create an effective framework for managing and motivating such a large group of people. Everyone likes to know where they stand in their career and it is a deep human motivator to achieve forward progress. So the training framework both encourages service men and women and manages the advancement that individuals need so they feel they are on the right track in their careers and lives.

There are two aspects of military training in particular that I think are most applicable to the corporate world. First is the intensity and seriousness. The military has learned over time that they don’t want service personnel to experience things for the first time in the field. Aptly described by Rear Admiral Daniel H. “Dano” Fillion, Director of Global Operations for U.S. Strategic Command:

The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in combat

As an example, we observed an Army unit in grueling training with real mortars and live ammunition preparing for a mission they are being deployed in five days to support the Cameroonians in their fight against Boko Haram (the extremist terrorist group, also referred to as “ISWAP”, Islamic State West Africa Province,” which operates out of Northeastern Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon).

The second highly applicable practice that is deeply ingrained in the military is the “AAR,” or “After Action Review.” Following every training mission or actual engagement in the field, the team gets together to debrief of what went right, what went wrong, and what can be done better next time. This discipline creates continuous improvement, insights that drive innovation, and exponential learning. It is also a habit that can be developed by anyone and any team in any setting. I personally intend to dedicate myself to this practice going forward.

Teamwork and Interdependence

“No one can do it alone.” Trite as this sounds, I’ve never seen this more at work than during my JCOC week. Every single person relies on others, for operational planning, for food and meals, for supplies, for medical care in the field, for training, for transportation and logistics, for power and electricity, and for everything else. This fact is true in the civilian world as well, it’s just so much easier to overlook and take for granted. I find it both humbling and comforting to be reminded of the fact that we are all part of something much greater than ourselves. The teamwork and interdependence that is a necessity in military life have a direct link to the next insight as well.

High Morale and Job Satisfaction

One of the most palpable things about spending time with the members of the Armed Forces is how genuinely happy they are. Of course the work is serious, difficult, and periodically dangerous in the extreme. And there are often extended periods of deployment which dislocates service men and women from family and loved ones.

But in general (and the tracking statistics quantify this), members of the U.S. Military have high job and life satisfaction. In my view, the core reason for this is that they have the two most essential elements that lead to professional happiness: belief in mission and deep relationships.

Members of the Armed Forces deeply believe in what they are doing. The Armed Forces are non-political and they are ingrained in the overarching purpose of protecting their country, consistent with their values, so that others can live the lives they want to live. And they develop profound relationships and camaraderie that can only be forged from hard work and shared experience, often in close quarters. One of the officers on the nuclear submarine USS North Dakota - you would not believe how tight the quarters and bunks are for about 130 submariners who spend up to months at a time together under the seas - said that he spends more time with his unit than with his family. They know everything about each other, are mutually dependent, and as a result they develop respect and love for each other.

Specialization, Coordination, and Communication

With about two million members in the U.S. Armed Forces, there is a gigantic need for role definition. I’ve never seen such specialization before. There are experts and specialists in everything. Just a couple of examples. We met with IED specialists, who operate robots to disarm the improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs) that are one of the leading causes of battlefield death and injury. We saw dog experts that train, care for, and operationalize the canine units that support military police and drug interdiction units. We met paramilitary medics, who are both infantry and field doctors. We spoke to sonar operators, who are the eyes and ears on submarines. We witnessed world class coms specialists, who manage and operate the secure communications capabilities from trucks and all vehicles (when there are no cell networks to rely on). We met the blood unit of the Air Force, whose mission is to collect, test, and distribute blood safely across the world to help wounded personnel. And we witnessed the talents of artists and photographers whose imagery is everywhere, capturing history and serving as a motivational force to military service.

With all of the specialization, there needs to be continuous and effective communications to coordinate all of the different activities to achieve the objectives. Our young Army sergeant, who trained us in how to evacuate a casualty from an active combat zone, stressed the importance of simple, clear, and closed loops of communications. Every word counts in a high pressure situation and each directive needs to be acknowledged. At a more subtle level, individuals in the military are taught how to communicate verbally. Everyone we spoke with introduced themselves clearly, firmly, and articulately explained what they do and how it fits into their mission, before explaining the particulars of whatever topic they were covering.

Innovation and Can Do Spirit

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” This truism is applied time and time again across the five branches of the U.S. Military. The Navy needed to figure out how to keep its subs submerged ever longer. So it invented the use of nuclear reactors to generate their own power enabling subs to stay under water virtually indefinitely. This created new problems that needed to be solved. So they then figured out how to make their own air and water on the subs. The limits to how long a sub can stay submerged are only based on food and human conditions. Similarly, the Air Force needed to figure out how to keep its planes in the air for longer and longer periods of time. So they developed and are constantly innovating the practice of in-flight refueling (we got trained on a simulator on how to lower a fuel boom to couple with a jet). Now planes can stay aloft also indefinitely. One in-flight refueling specialist said that she helped refuel scores of planes crossing the Atlantic Ocean in what was like a highway gas station in the sky.

Fitness and Vitality

I love being fit and staying in shape. Perhaps not surprisingly, we witnessed exceptional fitness levels across the military. Everyone is in shape (by necessity but also by culture). Most impressive was the 62 year old retired Lt. Colonel Joseph Shusko, Director of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Center of Excellence in Quantico, Virginia. He trains the Marines and all branches of the military as well as our allies at the cutting edge of hand-to-hand combat, drawing on an ever-expanding list of the world’s martial arts disciplines, to equip soldiers to be lethal adversaries. Colonel Shusko, who is the embodiment of fitness and vitality (as well as charm and charisma), ran 65 miles in 8 hours and 10 min on his 60th Birthday and can run 3 miles in just 19 minutes (6:20 per mile pace).

Conclusion - My 3 Top Takeaways

These are just the highlights. And I don’t want to sound like I did not apply a critical eye to what we learned or come across as drinking the Kool-Aid. But the truth is that I was so impressed by the service men and women across all five branches of the U.S. military. They have a profound sense of purpose. They demonstrate inspiring leadership at all levels. They are committed to demanding training and continuous learning and education. Their extraordinary specialization works because of constant coordination and effective communications across disciplines, often in arduous, high-pressured situations. They rely on necessity to push new frontiers and a can do spirit to drive innovation and invention. And they live active, vibrant lives that lead to vitality and high energy levels. They work together and build deep personal and professional relationships. All of this leads to high degrees of professional satisfaction.

Of the many enduring takeaways that I will personally try to apply from my extraordinary week embedded in the U.S. military as a part of the JCOC program, here are three:

I will understand, respect, admire and acknowledge the men and women in uniform infinitely greater. In my role as a partner at Spencer Stuart, I am going to more highly value and seek military service and leadership in our CEO and C-Suite candidates. And in my capacity advising young people about careers through The Career Playbook Interactive and other platforms, I am going to be an unabashed proponent of considering a career in military service. Not only is it character shaping, but it also offers the opportunity for the most important things in managing one’s career – purpose, growth, impact, and powerful relationships.

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[1] Participants are nominated, vetted, and selected by the U.S. Department of Defense against selection criteria including thought and opinion leadership, potential to support the objectives of the Department of Defense. See this JCOC website for the nomination process.

[2] This is actually a gender neutral term that includes female members of the Air Force!

[3] See http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/ for more information on the various programs and eligibilities.



