Veterans! You have the gear for a successful civilian career

This article was written by Sam Allen and shared through his generosity. Sam is an Executive Vice President and the Chief Operations Officer for Salesforce.com and also a former Marine. The article can be found in its original form here.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

You learned a great deal during your time in the service, and you matured well beyond the years you spent in uniform. As you think about entering the private sector, you — like many vets — may tell yourself that you don’t have much in terms of transferable skills. Nothing could be further from the truth — after more than 10 years in the U.S. Marines and over 20 in a successful private sector career, I can assure you, your life in the military left you perfectly equipped for an amazing civilian career.

I am a living example; when I left the Marines, I was as deeply indoctrinated as anyone who had ever walked the “hallowed halls of our beloved Corps.” As I entered the private workforce, I felt I had nothing more to guide me on my path than grit and some hard-won lessons about leadership — to be sure, I had plenty of confidence, but seemingly zero transferable skills. I didn’t know the first damn thing about working in an office. Speaking to people, which words to use, how to address executives, how to discuss failure with a peer — these were all complete mysteries to me. And, oh yeah, I didn’t have any empathy.

So, allow me to give you the benefit of my experience because, although you may not believe this, you have everything you need to be successful in this next step of your career.

What works

Leadership is the most challenging thing to learn. I think of leadership experience as I do dog years: one year in the military is like seven in the civilian world. And at the pinnacle of leadership are a pair of traits which every veteran knows down to their bones: 1) lead by example; and 2) know your people and look out for their welfare. It’s irrelevant that you can’t read a balance sheet when you exit the service. Just continue to practice these two hallmarks of leadership, and you will excel.
In the military, we frame just about everything in terms of a Mission. What is the situation? What is the objective? What tools do I have at my disposal? These questions provide an excellent framework to analyze a problem. You will, of course, have to learn how to translate that verbiage into something your civilian counterparts will understand and appreciate; as an example, turn “Commander’s Intent” into “Mission Statement.” But the people around you will appreciate your focus and steadfast adherence to getting the job done.
You will face a fair amount of bias — just about everyone gets their version of a vet from what they see on the TV or at the movies. But one generalization ascribed to vets that you can revel in is this: your unbending work ethic. I am often asked by people what the secret is to career success, what did I do to make it where I did? My consistent answer is this: do your job and deliver. Work hard, and the rest will take care of itself. Along these lines, vets hate to see balls hit the floor — it’s in their nature to make a diving catch. Keep catching those balls, and you will quickly build an outstanding reputation.
What I have learned about myself — and it took me a while to figure this one out — is that perhaps my greatest asset as a veteran is my perspective. Let me give you a quick anecdote to explain what I mean. In 2017 I led the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) integration and operations team at Salesforce*. We had acquired fourteen companies in the previous twelve months, about eight more than we had planned. This rapid consumption of companies — each with its own set of unique challenges and cultures different from that of Salesforce — was stressing my team and the other 30,000 employees in the company. The stress caused so many waves that I was “lucky” enough to receive an invite from our board of directors to come and present our plans. I crisply delivered my presentation and calmly answered their questions, many of which were tough. You don’t make it to the board of a Fortune 500 company by suffering foolishness or incompetence. One of our board members, a very seasoned Silicon Valley stalwart, said to me, “You know, you seem very calm having just told us how much duress the organization is feeling.” I looked at him and said, “I’m a combat veteran. No one is shooting at me. Tonight I will go home, have a hot dinner, kiss my kids goodnight, and sleep in a warm bed. This,” I intoned as I jauntily pointed to the screen where my presentation had been, “is nothing.” He looked at me for a moment, broke into a grin, then chuckled and said, “I guess we are in good hands.” You will inevitably experience situations that overwhelm your civilian counterparts, but you will handle with ease because of your military experiences — because of your perspective. It’s a tremendous asset, but keep in mind that you need to marry that asset to a well-honed sense of humility. One other thing to keep top of mind: you don’t have to be a combat vet to have perspective. Everyone — everyone — has struggled in his or her life. So when you end up in a situation where those around you are losing their collective mind, be a leader and don’t hesitate to point out that they, too, have a reservoir of strength ready for tapping when required.
After I got my first job in the private sector, I discovered that I had been selected over many other candidates, all of whom had much more relevant credentials than I. So I asked my boss about this, and his response has stuck with me for over 20 years: “You know Sam, they were better qualified on paper, but with you, I knew I would always know exactly where you stood. And that sort of honesty is worth its weight in gold.” Transparency has been a key success factor in everything that I do. In combat, there is no time for obfuscation — clarity is the coin of the realm. In the private sector, strive to be as open and honest with everyone as you can (one caveat: prudence and discretion are important here, so you will need to hone your honesty muscle). You will find that you will quickly build a reputation as someone your coworkers and superiors can count on, and this will bear a great deal of fruit.
The military teaches us, early and often, that Courage is the hallmark of success in combat. We revere the soldier who jumped on a grenade to save his comrades or the Marine who went deep into the jungle in pursuit of the enemy. I remember in Officer Candidate School, instructors would begin classroom sessions by regaling us with stories of Medal of Honor recipients, describing incredible feats of heroism, and we would grunt gutturally in approval. But I have found that there is a higher order of courage — and that is Moral Courage. Holding steadfast to a code of ethics can be rare. Often when faced with a challenge, all we have is our code of honor. The people in the business world who hold their values as sacrosanct can point to that commitment as a singular reason for their career success. Moral courage comes naturally to us veterans. Keep your values close to your heart.

You have an amazing career before you — maintain your perspective, lean on your work ethic, and never be afraid to lead. When you turn around, you will find that there are a great many people behind you.

Good luck, and Semper Fidelis.

Salesforce, Inc is the father of the Cloud economy, headquartered in San Francisco. With nearly $18 billion in revenue and 60,000 employees, it is ranked #190 in the Fortune 500, is consistently ranked in the Top 10 Places to Work in every major city and geography and is a member of the Dow Industrial 30. www.salesforce.com

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Sam’s Bio:

I write about leadership, veterans affairs, & fatherhood. I read about finance, military history, & current affairs. I eat cookies and Tim’s Jalapeno chips.

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