Veterans: More Social Than Social Media

Simon Sinek was interviewed on INSIDEQUEST at the end of 2016, and I was only recent to watch the excerpt. Sinek's points seemed to align with some loose theories I've presented to my own students and fellow staff at FourBlock. I’m not going to go into a full summary of the interview, but Sinek points out his 4 categories of influence on why “millennials” are described as such a challenge to hire and retain in the work place. I’m going to focus on two of the four, and today I’m going to focus on the aspect of Social Media. In a follow up response, I will focus on the void of leadership in - and the responsibility of corporations.

You can see the full excerpt of Sinek’s interview with INSIDEQUEST hosted on Youtube: https://youtu.be/hER0Qp6QJNU

Sinek argues that due to scientifically measured studies, the release of dopamine when interacting through means of Social Media is not only an addiction, but also a hindrance to learning true social and interpersonal skills. This is a theory I have held, and in-fact have even approached my organization’s president with the idea of a study followed with a white-paper about this impact, specifically on Veterans. After seeing this video – I don’t think I need to.

Social media began its proliferation at the turn of the century, with Facebook opening to anyone interested in 2007, followed by Twitter, Instagram and an explosion in dating sites. We’ve created a (what I would translate as) pseudo-social life that replaces in-person interactions with instant gratification of online-anything. You don’t have to learn how to court a mate, you just “get to what matters” by displaying your interests on a dating site (if you put up even that much effort), or you just “swipe right” and “boom, I’m a stud”, as Sinek puts it. No need to learn how to communicate in person – the algorithm already says we are a match. The point – over-reliance on social media as the primary form of interaction as opposed to a supplement is degrading our ability to actually interact in-person.

Post-9/11 veterans are feeling this impact with great levels of exponential increase. Veterans learn a sense of cohesion, brotherhood, and love for others – that most persons will never comprehend. It’s not a slight to non-veterans, it is just fact of science. Many Vets entered the military before Social Media technology dissolved in-person social activity, and are leaving the military when you can apply to a Fortune 500 company on your cellphone…in your pajamas, with your LinkedIn profile instead of resume, right after you order delivery from that new Thai place, and look up the cheat-codes for the latest game that you have almost beat after downloading it directly from the network where you show off your gamer trophies to look cool of in front of your friends… wait, sorry about that tangent.

Back to that service member, who leaves the military and finds herself in a world where people just don’t build, forge and share deep personal relationships… to a Vet, we call that “Friendship”. To today’s social media generation, a “friend” is someone on a list that can be “unfriended” and doesn’t really carry weight. If you associated the qualities of commitment, compassion and reliability with the definition of “Friend”, how do you think you’d respond when everyone is using this word but not reciprocating those values to you – even when they call you a “friend”? The world seems a little cold, and disconnected, doesn’t it?

Well, believe it or not – a military Veteran is the most well-trained person in social interaction, cohesion and social bonding in homogeneous AND heterogeneous populations (aka that catch, and often abused, word "diverse") – especially considering the, under-trained counter-parts who might inversely be social media experts. What they might not be, at first, is well-versed in translating it to their new peer group. That however, can be adjusted. In fact, if you don't believe me - check out Got Your 6's 2016 Civic Health Index. Here's an infographic from the report...

Perhaps, it is why I find my own profession and role at FourBlock so rewarding. I get to work with Student Veterans who are pursuing professional careers, and help them make educated and informed decisions about their careers – and their futures. The courses, mentorship and coaching I provide leads to realistic and informed expectations of the paths they choose. I do this for Veterans – that’s my niche. But this format should be, and is starting to be, adopted by universities across the U.S. for all students seeking rewarding careers. This also leads to increased retention and increased levels of activation and team cohesion for their coworkers at their future employers – and dare I say, an increased activation in the learning and application of leadership by their own managers.

Now… I’m going to leave with a final thought before the follow on article. Enlisted members of the military through their own knowledge or not, are the epitome of instilling leadership in their “managers”. For as long as the military has existed, Military enlisted men and women, have forged leaders in their Sr Enlisted and Officers who are in charge. Yes, I’m saying the officers are forged into greater leaders because of who they lead. More explicitly, Sr Enlisted members of the military are the primary trainers, mentors and advisers of Junior Military Officers.

In a Corporate America with declining retention rates for employees, and a void in leadership and re-creation of leadership – why not start hiring the types of employees that are known for making their managers better leaders – just by being there?