Military Transition: A World Without Rank, Tabs, or Tridents

This article is a collaboration by Jared French and Herb Thompson.

We should aspire to work for Leaders, not just organizations. However, the conventional interview process does not provide enough space for an applicant to fully understand whether their future supervisor is a Leader or manager; so, how do we as transitioning Veterans ensure we are working for a Leader and not a manager in a world without rank, tabs, or tridents? 

We are not arguing that military qualifications can irrevocably tell whether a person is a great leader or not. We all have examples were someone was promoted and/or graduated that shouldn’t have. We are suggesting that from the perspective of a servicemember looking for their next career in the private sector, it is more difficult for us to determine during the interview process whether we are speaking with a Leader or manager in world void of military rank and advanced qualifications. Through numerous discussions on the subject with fellow Veterans, we have identified two areas worth reflecting on: 1) Objective of military training/education versus civilian and; 2) The process behind military training/education versus civilian. 

Objective: In the general, the core objective of military education and training is to create varying levels and degrees of force multipliers. Therefore, enable the trainee or cadet to be a more impactful servant leader. Upon graduation you’re expected to serve (key word serve) at a higher level, all while delivering world class results. A great example is US Army Jumpmaster training. When a trainee finishes the course and returns to the unit, the graduate is now responsible and held accountable for the lives of their fellow jumpers during airborne operations. The jumpmaster is responsible for checking jumpers’ parachutes prior to the jump, meticulously going over the jumpers while they are wearing their parachutes to ensure the parachute will deploy and safely bring the jumper to the ground. They conduct safety checks in the aircraft before takeoff, prepare the jumpers in the aircraft and hangout off the aircraft to ensure safety in the air approaching the drop zone. The jumpmaster determines the appropriate time to jump and says “follow me”, leading the way out of the plane and onto the dropzone.

As Herb and I brainstormed during the process of writing this post, we thought jumpmaster was a perfect example of how the qualification can be a great indicator of a Leader. In Special Forces where we conduct a substantial amount of airborne operations, jumpmaster training is incentivized. This incentive comes in the form of responsibility. If you want the chance to lead a Team of Special Forces, you need to be a jumpmaster. And if you want to be a jumpmaster you need to be comfortable with a great deal of responsibility. As we mentioned above, graduating military training or in this case jumpmaster school does not alone make you a great leader. However, in our community it is universally understood that the jumpmaster is required to go through a rigorous amount of training and real-world scenarios to merely attend, let alone graduate. And thus, proven their ability to deal with and in many cases effectively lead in high stress environments. 

Process: The justification/proof required to make the next rank or graduate from advanced military education and training explicitly speaks to our ability to Lead, not manage. Since the majority of the training and education is intended to create great servant leaders, the process of instructing/evaluating cadets and trainees is congruent with that objective. A critical element of the training is the crucible experience. The power of the crucible experience is amplified in a lot of training by being conducted in a public domain and in many cases as a Team. The crucible event has many benefits but in general it culls the herd, builds comradery, and shows your peers what type of Leader you are under pressure. And any servicemember who has attended a real crucible experience knows that how one performs in school and/or in training is an important part of how we view one-and-other after graduation in the context of Leadership.

For those who are familiar with how we earn our Green Berets, you will know that we go through the most comprehensive Unconventional Warfare training/course in the world, Robin Sage. During the training and evaluation, we are tested while working as part of a team in support of a fictional guerilla force. The process in which the achievements we so proudly wear on our uniforms require us to substantiate our ability to Lead, as well as deliver results under duress. Whether we are talking about rank or advanced training, the objective of the accomplishment is to serve others at a higher level. Yes, it is a personal accomplishment to make the next rank or to earn another badge. However, we argue that military accomplishments are unique in the fact that the expectation of service is built into earning that achievement. Moreover, that during the process of accomplishment you were formally tested and evaluated on your ability to lead as well as deliver results. 

How do we know if we are interviewing with Leader or a manager in a world without ranks, tabs, and tridents? We do not have the complete answer; however, we do know we need to work for Leaders and that is a start. As a Tribe we need to create a process around position/career selection and help one-and-other, to ensure we are transitioning in the most optimal manner. While sharing drafts of this article with fellow Veterans, we created a quick tactical checklist meant to help frame your thought process around the subject. The checklist is separate and in addition to your normal criteria, e.g. total compensation, geographical location, title, scope of roles and responsibilities. In the end, we must remember we are tried-and-tested Leaders; thus, we need to work for other Leaders. Go beyond total compensation, geographical location, title, and the other basic questions. Dig into their culture and that future manager, to understand if you are about to work for a Leader or a manager. 

Checklist:

? Network into the company via a trusted person who is willing to be candid about the company and the hiring manager, specifically on the topics of Leadership. 

? Research the Hiring Manager via Google searches and LinkedIn. 

? Utilize Glassdoor to find specifics on the company and possibly the Team’s culture.

? If given the opportunity to interview in person, speak with as many people from the company as possible. Engage the receptionists, janitors, the random person walking down the hall, anybody and everybody. Get a real feel for the organization.  

? Attempt to speak with people who have left the company, identify any recurring themes.