What was the one piece of advice you got to make your transition to corporate life easier?

2015-05-28T14:00:20-04:00

Especially coming from enlisted ranks, transitioning to a corporate role via a period in college can be difficult. I received a great piece of advice that helped me move up the ranks to the executive level. What advice did other's get as being in a Corps is a positive and negative for corporate cultures.

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made May 28 at 2015 2:14 PM

2015-05-28T14:14:51-04:00

They did not give us any advice other than "Good luck!"

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made May 28 at 2015 2:16 PM

2015-05-28T14:16:02-04:00

The suspense is killing me Jeff, what was the advice you received?

I like you came from the enlisted ranks and have been with a fortune 100 company for amost 28 years and have done pretty well advancing my career into senior management.

I don't know that it was advice I received specifically so much but a state of mind that I gained from the Marine Corps. I worked hard, outworked my peers, was focused on results, not activity. I leaned on the leadership skills I learned and tried to make myself invaluable to the company (as much as any one person can be anyway).

I also learned that being close to customers, big customers, was also very helpful. When you help drive revenue and profit for a company you become valuable to them and many will repay you for that effort.

I found it pretty easy to advance past many folks. I started at the bottom of the company and did it the old fashioned way.

Response by 1LT Nick Kidwell made May 28 at 2015 2:18 PM

2015-05-28T14:18:22-04:00

Keep in mind that it is not the military, and sometimes a military mindset works against you.

I am a teacher, but I currently work in private security. With the preponderance of veterans in the workplace, I made the incorrect assumption that approaching my job as a hard-charger, with a high-speed-low-drag approach was the way to go. One co-worker (a combat arms NCO in the ARNG) called me an over-achiever, and the people with EMS/LEO background took great exception to it.

Response by SFC Rich Carey made May 28 at 2015 2:33 PM

2015-05-28T14:33:00-04:00

Didn't receive any advice and was told you need to pick something and do it.

Response by Sgt Jeffrey Clish made May 28 at 2015 3:33 PM

2015-05-28T15:33:20-04:00

I think both Nick's and David's response above was spot on as I had similar experiences. When I transitioned from the Corps, I got a DD-214 and a "Good Luck" but not much else. I immediately enrolled in college and picked up a government job right after graduation. The only issue was I was aggressive and ambitious, but I didn't really have a plan. I quickly moved to consulting and initially started consulting back to the Military, which seemed like a good fit. However, the best piece of advice I got was from a colleague of mine who was a former Commander in the Navy. We were discussing our transition one day and he say: "To be successful in the corporate world, you have to know when to wear your SgtMaj rank and when to where your Colonel rank because you need to know how to play both roles." He went on to say that the corporate environment needs qualities of both in their ranks. Both are leaders, both are good at what they do, and both have an unwavering drive to get the mission done. However, they both have a different approach. SgtMaj's take care of the troops, make sure the morale is high, and get in the fighting hole to talk to the Marine when needed (reminds me of a time our Battalion SgtMaj. jumped into my fighting hole I dug at Camp Lejeune during work ups for our Med pump. Rained all day and I was standing in 2 feet of water, but he jumped in anyway and made sure we had what we needed, cracked a few jokes, and moved on to the next hole). I respected that and realized that you need to take care of your troops, getting in the trenches with them, and let them know you’re not in this alone. Additionally, as a Colonel you need the vision for where you’re going and a drive to surround yourself with talented people and let them do their job. Build a good team, give them all the responsibility and authority to do their job, and then hold them accountable. I respected this as well when bosses I worked for gave me a lot of responsibility and authority and let me succeed or fail on my own. The good ones rise quickly when they know people are counting on them to deliver. So, the best advice I got was “Know when to be the Sgt.Maj. and when to be the Colonel.”

Response by Sgt Cody Dumont made May 28 at 2015 7:21 PM

2015-05-28T19:21:21-04:00

Don't loose sight of your principles, and maintain discipline. Tact will get you everywhere, and being over bearing will get you no where. Don't forget where you came from and don't loose sight of where you are going.