The Lost Art & Skill of Aggressiveness

November 29, 1950: Choisin Reservoir, Hagaru-ri, Korea

Private First Class Gum Shoon Chin took a Browning automatic rifle from a wounded Marine. It was 0300 and Chinese soldiers were threatening to overrun the men of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.

Alone, Chin advanced under heavy fire to his unit’s exposed left flank. He occupied an old machine gun position and started firing. He reloaded time after time, using belted machine gun ammunition to hold the enemy at bay.

He reloaded time after time, using belted machine gun ammunition to hold the enemy at bay.

With no support, he fought them off until dawn – and reinforcements – arrived. For his outstanding heroism, preventing the Chinese from penetrating the position, and inflicting numerous enemy casualties, Chin was awarded the Silver Star.

This is a partial citation from his award:

"At approximately 0300, on 29 November 1950, one of the two machine guns in PFC Chin's squad became inoperative. Because of a knoll, the remaining gun's fire was masked to its left flank. The riflemen who had been covering that flank were forced to withdraw, leaving the flank exposed. Realizing the vulnerability of the gun's position, PFC Chin voluntarily obtained an automatic rifle from a wounded Marine and fearlessly advanced under heavy enemy fire to a position on the knoll. He commenced firing, reloading from belted machine gun ammunition. During this action, which continued until dawn, PFC Chin inflicted numerous casualties upon the enemy, and his skill and aggressiveness successfully prevented the enemy from assaulting through that vulnerable sector in spite of the enemy's repeated efforts to do so."

Chin had been born in China and emigrated to the U.S. in 1928. In 1944, during World War II, he joined the Marine Corps and remained in the service for 20 years. He settled in Ohio, where he worked as a chef in numerous restaurants to support his family. Chin passed away in 2018 at the age of 89.

The Art of War…in Business

This story and partial citation from Chin’s Silver Star (the third-highest military award behind the Navy Cross and Medal of Honor) reminded me that aggressiveness is a valuable skill when coupled with a desire to win, resolve, adaptability, and technical skill.

Aggressiveness is a valuable skill when coupled with a desire to win, resolve, adaptability, and technical skill.

These days, we often think of aggressiveness in a negative light. We teach our children to be kind, share, and avoid fighting. While this is good advice for life in a civilian capacity, when viewed from a military or battle context, it just doesn't work.

Modern business is the closest thing most people will ever experience to a form of battle or warfare. And although most will never face the threat of imminent danger, injury, or death, everyone needs to learn and sharpen skills comparable to what it takes to succeed in battle:

• plan strategically and tactically
• engage in negotiation
• indoctrinate and train troops
• build and maintain company morale
• create the rules of engagement (how we conduct ourselves as we engage in operations)
• carry out skirmishes for suppliers, vendors, and customers
• look for every technical- or skills-based superiority we can leverage in our products and services

Without these skills, we can lose ground to competitors, lose key employees, or even lose the business itself.

But that’s not the whole story. The skills I’ve described above are what it takes to stay in business. But what does it take to set your business apart? What does it take to win?

The Killer Instinct

It’s aggressiveness – a decisive, violent, or abrupt action – that sets a business apart.

Aggressive businesses make decisions quickly and decisively. They don’t waste effort pursuing ideas that don't work, keep team members who aren't a good fit, or believe in the concept of allowing the other guys to win.

Aggressive businesses make decisions quickly and decisively. They don’t waste effort pursuing ideas that don't work.

It’s common to see aggressiveness – a sort of killer instinct – in members of a company’s leadership team. But when that aggressiveness can be found or imbued in other members of the team, it enhances the "combat ability" of the entire organization.

The U.S. Marines are a good example of this. The Marines want leaders to aggressively pursue objectives with a "do or die" attitude. Unlike other branches of the military, they often push decision-making to the lowest possible level, where they encourage flexibility and adaptability in junior leaders. The goal? Teach young leaders to make the best decisions possible within the scope of (a) the strategic and tactical plans, and (b) the rules of engagement.

Can You Train for Aggressiveness?

So what would this look like if we transferred the Marines’ training methods to a business setting?

Picture a business where frontline workers can change processes, recommend alternatives, and have decision-making abilities. The parameters? Their decisions have to ensure customer satisfaction, and stay within the scope of the business’s strategic goals and code of conduct.

At this point, you might be thinking, “That sounds great on paper…but can this actually work?” And my answer to that would be: of course it can, because failure is actually built into the plan.

Any employee who steps up and gives it a shot should be commended. Even if they fail to achieve the desired results, they still demonstrated aggressiveness and a willingness to move the business forward.

We should commend employees who demonstrate aggressiveness and a willingness to move the business forward...even if they fail.

At this point, failure can actually become an opportunity if senior leaders step in with a little mentorship. Those with more experience can teach the junior leaders how to find the solution to a problem or process, demonstrate additional tactics that may have worked, and encourage them to try again. Anything less could destroy their initiative and aggressiveness, severely limiting the organization’s growth potential. By giving your junior leaders room to run – and, yes, possibly fail –you can reward and encourage the kind of aggressiveness that wins a battle.

After all, where would Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion have been without Private First Class Gum Shoon Chin? We don’t have to answer that question because he showed the skill, initiative, and aggressiveness to save the day. You may have your own heroes ready to earn their medals – but you’ll never know unless you give them the chance.

What do you think? Could this sort of “aggressiveness training” work in your organization?

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Ryan J. Pinney, LACP is a twelve-year MDRT member with twelve Top of the Table qualifications. Recognized for using innovative technologies to drive insurance sales, streamline the application process, and speed up underwriting, Ryan has been honored by AdvisorToday as a “4 under 40” Financial Advisor, by LifeHealthPro Magazine as one of the “24 Most Creative People in Insurance,” and as a National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) ID Twenty award recipient. Utilizing a wide array of digital marketing tools and home-grown technology, his agency sold thousands of policies direct-to-consumer over the internet last year. Ryan is also active in the industry, where he has served as National Trustee for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and Divisional Vice President of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT).