What is the one piece of advice you give junior enlisted/officers who want to make the military a career?

To the junior enlisted, be a sponge: you have two ears and one mouth, listen twice as much as you talk. Put your damn cell phone away at work. Think about what you are doing before you do it. If you have a question, ASK IT. 

<p>1) Don't be afraid to make decisions. AS A LEADER YOU ARE PAID TO MAKE DECISIONS&nbsp;based off the information you have at the time you can affect something, not based off the information&nbsp;you wish you had. You will never have perfect information, and if somehow you do; the time will have long past for that decision to affect anything.&nbsp;If you are too scared to make decisions for fear of being wrong or getting yelled at then you are nothing more than a figure head.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>2)&nbsp;Master the art of your tasking/orders technique. Know when to explain the "why" behind something, and when to basically say shut up and execute. There is a time and a place for both, and the most effective leaders know when that time and place is.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>3) Pick your battles. Know which battles are worth digging in your heels and fighting. If you fight every battle that you slightly disagree with you will become tired, bitter, frustrated, and everyone will tune you out.<font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>4) Manage the talent of others. The best leaders may not be the smartest, the fastest, the strongest, or the most technologically savy; but they excel at surrounding themselves with people who are experts in their field and tapping into their talents to make the organization successful. No leader is successful alone.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>5) Know when/how to delegate. Anyone can stay at work till 1900 every night if they want to appear hard working. The more tasks you take on, the less you will be&nbsp;able to focus on each one;&nbsp;everything can not be a priority. HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES AND&nbsp;STICK TO THEM, delegate the rest to your very capable subordinates and&nbsp;supervise, and you'll often be shocked at the&nbsp;results.&nbsp;It is very easy to work hard, but it is very hard to work smart.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>6) Supervision is NOT micromanagement!&nbsp;Leaders do not simply give guidance and not supervise or require reports. Leaders at all levels are still responsible for </p><p>supervision, backbriefs, visiting training, going on missions with subordinates, etc. Planning is&nbsp;collaboration with subordinates, peers, and superiors that results in sufficient detail to support subordinate decision making without providing so much that it&nbsp;directly prescribes&nbsp;how subordinates must execute the mission.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>7)&nbsp;Balance; have it in everything you do. This is a long one, but it is probably the one I'm most passionate about. Lots of people cringe when they find out their boss is a single guy or a geobachelor, because very often these people lack balance in their lives, and&nbsp;whether they may mean it to or not, their personal&nbsp;"super gung-ho work, work, work" attitude inevitably trickles down and affects culture of the organization&nbsp; If you are not married or have a family, remember that a siginificant portion of your organization does, and they have doctors appointments, soccer games, proms, plays, talent shows that they want to be at. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you are married/have a family, remember that your time in the army will be fleeting but from this point out your family will be there and your children’s childhoods will also&nbsp;be fleeting. Just being there will do more for family than any other activity. This means to always take advantage of those times when you can sit down at the family table for dinner, and to help with homework, baths, and bedtime stories. Those are critical times in raising a family. Kids have a simple but vital need: to be with their mothers and fathers. No special activities or accessories are required; just being and talking with your kids and your spouse. There will be plenty of deployments or </p><p>training missions that prevent you from doing these simple but valuable things.&nbsp;Being a soldier is a profession, being a father or mother, husband or wife, is life and you better be damn good at both. We have to invest in career and family simultaneously, as neither will wait for the other to be completed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>&nbsp;</p><p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman"></font>&nbsp;</p><div style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-width: 540.3pt; mso-element-frame-height: 132.3pt; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-wrap: auto; mso-element-anchor-vertical: page; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: page; mso-element-left: 36.2pt; mso-element-top: 559.35pt; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">

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Understand that on no certain terms will you be able to please everyone. You will always be doing the job in a way that will be at odds with someone.

Understand that you can learn as much from bad leaders as you can from good ones. Bad leaders teach you what NOT to do.

Taking care of Soldiers does not mean that you shouldn't take care of yourself and your family as well. Soldier first, but practice work/life balance.

It is easier for the one to adjust to the collective that the collective adjusting to the one. Don't be the odd man out just for the sake of standing on your principles. Do what is best for the collective good. You're in a team now. No "I" in team.

Your career is in your hands. You must not expect anyone to hand you anything, that includes your career progression. Take charge of your own development as much as you can and ALWAYS strive to be better than others give you credit for.

Don't let anyone tell you that you're not ready. No one is ever ready. No one takes a new role or new rank and is a rockstar. New SGTs are usually terrible, as are LT's. This is not a stab at them, just an indication of learning and growing as leaders.

Be receptive, learn, and grow.

Leave your pride and your feelings at the door. Make no mistake, This is a business. Killing and protecting are our business. There's precious little time for mending hurt feelings.

Get a college degree. For gods sakes... It's free and has never hurt anyone.

Having Soldiers is not the same as having indentured servants.

Pray.

If you ever have to wonder if, when given the choice, you Soldiers would choose not to follow you in a hail of gunfire to take a hill... You are no longer an effective leader.

Lastly, don't get so caught up in your bottom line that your forget about the people who GET YOU TO THAT BOTTOM LINE. If you forget about the Soldiers that do the hard work for you... You have failed them as a leader.

Have fun. Be smart. Eyes and ears open more than your mouth is. If you have to die in combat, die well, and take as many down as you can along the way.

Your success will be dictated by your ability to engage the system on its terms. There is not a way to swim upstream and accomplish what you want to do. You can help yourself in this process by finding a solid mentor.

<p>It's tough to find just one piece of advice SSG Whittington, there are so many things out there that can help.&nbsp; I would have to go with "never make a decision based off the first spot report."&nbsp; Time and time again, first reports, especially about potential bad news or issues, are not complete and can initially paint a picture that may be inaccurate.&nbsp; Have the tactical patience to let the situation develop, gather all the available information, and then make an informed decision.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>And...don't&nbsp;sweat the small stuff.</p><p>And...try not to make any decision while angry.&nbsp; </p><p>And...only worry about the things that you can affect, your&nbsp;echelon of reality.&nbsp; </p>

I can't give you one so I am going to tell you what I tell my Troops:

1. Get yourself educated!  College is the best way to guide your career towards longevity and promotions.  It certainly isn't the only thing you need but it's a damn good start.  The military is paying for your school.  Take advantage of that.  You will get out one day whether it is in 1 year or 20 and that education will help you out a lot.

2. If you have a shitty leader and you hate your job, don't quit.  Bad leaders tank an assignment really easily.  Learn from them.  Take the qualities that make them a bad leader and remember to never do them.  You will have amazing leaders throughout your career.  Learn from them what they do well and emulate.  Take the good from the good and leave the bad from the bad.

3. Never settle for "this is how we have always done it" statements.  Just because it has always been done a specific way doesn't mean that you can't find a better way.  Better still, it doesn't mean that your subordinates can't find a better way.  As a leader, you need to encourage your Soldiers to excel and one of the best ways is to listen to them before going one way on something.  They are smart and insightful, don't discount their abilities.  They work hard and make you look good.  Oh, and one more thing on that, NEVER take someones work and make it your own.  If your PVT makes a suggestion that the boss loves, do not take credit for it.  Make sure their efforts are known by all.  People who do that sort of thing are the most toxic leaders of all and most Troops would attrit out of the military for that sort of thing.

4. Don't be afraid to speak up and voice your opinion.  Even if you are the junior ranking Soldier in the room, your opinion does matter.  Encourage this in your Troops as well.

5. Never bitch about something without coming up with an alternative to get it done easier/faster.  Offer solutions to problems, not just complaints.

6. If you don't know, ask.  You don't know everything.  Nobody does.  It is your responsibility to find out information and the best place to do that is amongst your peers.  If you didn't understand something you were supposed to do, don't wait around for several days and then ask.  Ask as soon as you can.  It's far better to say, "Sir/Ma'am, SGT, etc,  I would like to clarify what you asked me to do before I get started on it."  Or simply ask some follow-up questions.  The last thing you want to say to your leader is, "I didn't get it done." 

7. Be flexible.  Things change all the time.  Adapt and overcome.  If you have to work the weekend because the mission demands it, you have to adjust.  It's your job.  It's what being a member of the Armed Forces is.  Find a way to adapt and cope.

8. If you have a problem, ask for help.  Don't bottle anything up inside.  Tell your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, friend, chaplain, your leaders, and/or Behavioral Health.  We are all members of a team.  If you need help, you will get it.

That's pretty much what I counsel my troops on.  Sorry, I couldn't just give you one thing.  There simply isn't a single piece of advice I would give to a Troop who wanted to make the Military their career.

Go for it! Get as much military education as you can. Later in your career you find it will all be useful. Get civilian degrees as well. Masters degree is the bar. Officer or enlisted. If you know what you want to specialize in and nothing else... consider being a warrant officer. As a CW5 you will be working with generals. Something to consider.

Know yourself and your limits.