David Sanford’s Post

Does that mean I should cover my 20 Marine Corps tattoos????? Even Chesty??? 🙀 I do think we enter the workforce with expectations and a trust and confidence that we will bring leadership and other skills the military has invested in us to the job. The problems usually arise when we expect others to adapt to us instead of us adapting to them. Prior military is a superb investment for companies.

So no singing cadence in the p-way? Dang…

I'm providing coaching services (pro bono) to Veterans attending University of Wyoming through Wyoming's Veterans Talking to Veterans program. The program was created in response to our state's high per capita population of veterans and our outsized per capita percentage of suicides. Isolation, chronic pain, and financial stress are a few of the leading causes of suicide ideation and attempts. Our program attacks isolation by providing group and individual coaching as well as financial coaching and warm hand offs to experts in other fields, as needed. Transitions are an especially challenging time, and our university veteran population is in an almost constant state of transition ... from active duty to civilian, from civilian to student, from graduate to job seeker, from job seeker to employee. I am going to hold on to these rules and post them in our Veteran's Services Center as well as keep a copy in my notebook full of coaching questions. I've done it myself, and the culture change from unit cohesion and wearing your identity literally on your sleeve or your chest to just being the third person in line at the coffee bar can be a tough adjustment. Anything we can do to help others successfully adapt is a good thing.

Yes the environment is not the same. But some of the skills built in the military (e.g.persistence, goal orientation, adaptability etc) will help you overcome. You’ll be ok. Just trust the process. Trust yourself.. Many of us have transitioned and you will be no different. Best of luck to all transitioning service members.

Entirely accurate, I have seen these points borne out numerous times. The first few years after I took on leadership positions, my peers and seniors would ask… when do we get to see the Marine come out? It felt odd that they wanted to see yelling, cussing, and berating. I always told them you are seeing a Marine in action… daily. Unfortunately, their expectation was that Marine = what they had seen on TV. What they didn’t understand was that they were seeing a Marine in action without the fantasy story line. I was way better off for not succumbing to their expectations. We did hire a service member who behaved as they expected… wasn’t pretty.

Most of us were not military material when we arrived at Basic Training. But 6-12 weeks of intense training later, we were bona fide military men and women. Think of entering Corporate America the same way. In Basic we were hyper observant and constantly in learning mode. We accepted the fact that we knew nothing about this new environment and we were there to learn. When you get to your first Corporate posting, treat the first 6-12 weeks as Corporate boot camp. This means, 1) Observe how the office runs, how meetings are held, who are the leaders and how do they like to be treated. 2) Spend extra time in the office at least initially. Learn the systems and processes that will make you successful. 3) Listen and learn constantly. I believe that this first 2-3 months in the office can bear huge dividends in your career at the company.

They want experienced leadership. However, when you actually show up, and your dedication doesn’t turn off at 5 pm, your feedback is direct & honest, and you don’t understand the baked-in backstabbing culture, you get burned out and your supervisors think that you sold them a lemon. It’s emotionally exhausting.

I have really enjoyed the people in the military that I have worked with. -Direct -Collaborative -Look out for the overall health of the team (I mean how well the team is running and working together) -And. The sense of humor. Especially when you have a US Marine and a US Navy officer going back and forth and the joking coming to a close when the Navy responded.... When you needed a ride... Who did you call. From a personal perspective, when I struggled, I knew I could count on the their help and to help me identify weaknesses I needed to strengthen. I'll disagree with #7...I care. These are experiences I never had and my mouth is closed and ears open to hear what someone will share I don't think I ever encountered a drill sergeant type. I might add that you would want to identify the person or persons on the team you feel a good connection with and get some background on how to learn quickly to excel. Going back to #7.... You served our country.... I'm definitely interested in your experiences. -Keep your eyes open for people that you'll be working with who are interested. Good Luck to all who served entering the corporate work force!

This is all true, but really disappointing. Most of us Veterans just want to do our jobs 100 % and we are always mission focused. So show veterans some respect and we will show you the Same!!! P.S. don’t judge a book by it’s cover!!!

David, This is a reality check that especially every Marine veteran needs to read, understand, and accept. The brutal reality is that this perception is real and just like when we served "all eyes are on you" without the camaraderie. But it is not an unscalable cliff, proving that you are not the DI stereotype, but it does take adapting and a willingness to listen to the feedback of others. Sometimes there are some real nuggets that are immediately actionable others will be a work in progress. Thanks so much for sharing this as it reminded me of the scary journey I began 18 years ago when I retired from the Corps. I adapted, and that means most anyone can too. S/F Pat