A lesson from the Marines

I live in Southern California, in San Clemente, adjacent to the Camp Pendleton Marine base. I befriended the general who runs Camp Pendleton, and we went to dinner one night. I was an Army captain. Over dinner, the general told me, “Jack, we really appreciate the fact that you were in the service. I know you were in the Army, but you’d have to agree that of all the branches of the service, the Marines are the best." We laughed, but he said, "No really, we're the best, and I'd like to tell you why.

"Let's just do a little exercise. I'm going to give you a word, and I want you to put a visual in your mind. When I say 'Navy,' put a visual in your mind. Now I'm going to say 'Air Force,' and put a visual in your mind. Now I'm going to say 'Army.' Now I'm going to say 'Marines.'

“Now tell me,” he said, “when I said 'Navy,' what was in your mind?"

 I said, "A ship, a boat."

"All right. When I said 'Army,' what went into your mind?"

I said, "A tank."

"How about when I said ‘Air Force’?

"A plane."

"When I said 'Marine,' what came to mind?" he asked.

"The only thing I could come up with,” I told him, “was a human being."

"Bingo,” he said. “That's exactly right."

He said, "Do you know that our training program is double the length of all the other services? Congress is always beating up the Marines and saying all the other branches get the job done in half the time. But we will not change our training program because we're trying to change this human being from just a Marine into part of the Marine family. If he’s in a foxhole with another Marine, we want him to fight like he’s fighting with a family member. Semper Fi.

“Guys who were discharged from the Marines twenty or thirty years ago,” he continued, “can bond with one another simply by walking up and saying “Semper Fi.” They understand culture, they understand family, and they understand the work it takes to change someone. It’s a great lesson that comes from the top. And that’s why we’re the best.”

Excerpt from Hyper Sales Growth