6 Reasons Military Guys Are the Employees Your Startup Needs

Military guys aren’t just a certain type of people. They combine a whole range of different skills and traits that are useful to have in any?company.

At the Yonder office, military uniforms are a common sight. As the Founder & CEO, I am still an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces. One of my co-founders is an ex-military guy (we went through conscript training together some 25 years ago), one of our account managers is an ex-Tornado navigator from the Royal Air Force, and a couple of others are platoon leaders.

Working with those guys for many years, here is the simple truth: You don’t spot the military guys by their uniform but by their attitude.

That’s even the case for people who don’t have any connection to the military. Recently, I met a friend without any military experience. At some point, she suddenly said:

“I mean, you have a good leadership education from the military…”

Let’s see what this means by looking at some real-life examples, and hopefully convincing you that hiring military guys is a great idea.

1. They Work in Less-Than-Ideal Conditions

Some years ago, we moved from our small office into a much bigger one to accommodate our growing team. Naturally, for a young company, we managed the move ourselves?—?except for the truck driving our furniture from the old to the new office.

Because there was a lot of work with customer projects, we couldn’t just halt operations for a day because of an office move. So we organized it in groups: One group packed up the old office, one group took over the new office, and one group continued working on the customer projects.

I remember witnessing a situation in the old office when all the furniture was already packed up?—?except the small table in the kitchen next to the coffee maker. At that small table, two guys were bent over their laptops, working on a customer project.

Those were the military guys. They are used to working in less-than-ideal conditions and getting the job done irrespective of the comfort of their environment.?

Next to those guys, at the coffee maker, another (non-military) guy was watching them, a cup of coffee in his hands. See the difference?

If you’re able to motivate and lead a pack of young people to go through involuntary hardship in military service, you can surely lead a team of colleagues through an unpleasant customer project, an internal reorganization, or a cost-cutting exercise.

2. They Are?Hands-On

Later in the day, everybody in the old office switched locations, to continue working from the new office.

Working from the new office was only possible once the new furniture was assembled, so as soon as the two military guys described above arrived, they rolled up their sleeves, assembled chairs and desks, removed package garbage, and vacuumed the floor. Then they went back to working on the customer projects.

Believe it or not, some people were still wandering around the hard-working guys, just watching them and waiting for everything to be ready.

Military guys are hands-on. They do whatever is required for the mission to succeed. Even if you think they live in hierarchies, the reality is straightforward in the trenches: One for all, all for one. Everybody’s effort is required to succeed, just like in a startup.

3. They Always Put Their Mission?First

Both business and the military have clear strategic missions: Businesses should make money, and armies should achieve victory.

Western armies work with a principle called mission command: Every leader needs to know his mission by heart, and always put it first. The mission is non-negotiable, but the ways to achieve it are.

Once internalized, the mission command philosophy often stays with a person for life. It is an integral part of military training and doesn’t magically disappear once a person transfers into civilian employment. This is where entrepreneurs can take advantage of hiring military guys: They do whatever it takes to achieve their mission.

Here is a real-life statement I heard in our company:

“We’re time-on-target for the go-live.”

This was a few days before a major customer went live when the team was working day and night. One of our military guys skillfully synchronized all activities to make sure all go-live relevant tasks were finished on time.

4. They Survive In A Complex?World

In today’s business environment, light and shadow are very close, and reality often changes much faster than your business plan.

Therefore, constant situation assessment is key in a complex world. While this is normal in the military, businesses (and the military administration!) still tend to stick to budget cycles and approved plans. When the situation in our company changes abruptly, I usually initiate situation assessment with the callout “new situation”. I learned this expression in the military, and I use it to inform everybody in the company that planning will start all over again, irrespective of the budget cycle, previous plans, or personal plans for the weekend.

In this way, we reorganized the entire company when COVID-19 struck and our pipeline in the aviation industry collapsed. My co-founders and I used the planning processes we knew from the military?—?instead of panicking, we used our judgment and a clear methodology to assess the new situation, develop options, decide on the new course of action, and communicate it to our team.

5. They Have a Plan, They Have?Options

All officers in the Swiss Armed Forces are trained to always present at least two options for any given problem.

Options are presented with their advantages and disadvantages, as all options have both. Last but not least, a presentation of options is accompanied by a recommendation, for the commander to make a decision based on the judgment and expertise of the team who has worked out the options.

Whatever option is chosen becomes the intended plan?—?only for reality to alter your plans as it unfolds. That’s why you need contingency plans.

I have been living and breathing options and contingency plans for many years. What helps you in the military helps you as an entrepreneur?—?the reality will always be different from the original plan, no matter if you’re navigating your business through an unforeseen pandemic, you’re trying to close a financing round, or you are running into troubles with one of your co-founders.

6. They Stick Together, No Matter?What

Change of scene. One sunny morning, we were having morning coffee in the office, chatting about work and non-work topics. It was still very early in the morning, and only three people were present at the office: Myself, and two of our colleagues with a military background.

Suddenly, one of the guys collapsed, lying on the floor and screaming in pain.

Calm as we learned it in the military, the other guy and I provided first aid and got the colleague evacuated. Once it was clear that he suffered from a kidney stone, we informed his wife and his superior.

The colleague was taken to a nearby hospital, where he had to spend the night. And it didn’t take long until another of our colleagues with a military background turned up at his hospital bed to look after his colleague.

Military guys stick together, no matter what.

Conclusion

Military guys aren’t just a certain type of people. They combine a whole range of different skills and traits that are useful to have in any company.

Even if you don’t have any military experience yourself like my friend I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I hope that I could convince you that hiring military guys is a great idea.

Growing a company ?? in uncertain times ???? is like running a marathon?—?it demands grit, strategy, and resilience.

As a tech entrepreneur ??, active reserve officer ??, and father of three ??????, I share practical insights and experience on entrepreneurship and resilience in The Resilient Entrepreneur, my weekly newsletter.

When I’m not solving problems, I recharge and find inspiration in the breathtaking mountains ??? around Zermatt ????.

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