Semper Gumby

"You are solely responsible for anything that happens, or fails to happen." - Random Lieutenant Colonels

I spent 4 years in the Army serving in the position of company commander. For those of you who don't know what this is, each unit in the Army starting from Company all the way up has a Commander, or the HMFIC (Head Motherf*cker in Charge).

Was I a Chief Executive Officer? Hardly. But spend some time on LinkedIn - and you'll see that apparently I was surrounded by them during my time in service.

The best part of being a Commander is that you have almost unlimited freedom to do almost anything. As I like to tell my daughter now, you can do anything, once.

While many might point to regulations and senior commanders providing "left and right limits" on what Commanders CAN do, the simple fact is that you are selected to serve in a capacity that many other people will never truly understand. And that capacity allows you to make some WILD decisions so long as you hold the position of Commander.

You get to make the decision. Sometimes that decision results in the loss of life.

And it's all on you.

4 Years in command is a long time. The Army tends to cycle commanders every 18-24 months - with some people selected for a second command. For me - I spent the first half of my time as a Company Commander in the Regimental Support Squadron (RSS) 2d Cavalry Regiment (Stryker) stationed in Rose Barracks, Germany.

The second half of my command time was in the Lynchburg Recruiting Company, 1st Recruiting Brigade—the dreaded U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) .

In both assignments, I was told the exact same thing. It's almost as if the US Army pre-command course taught incoming Lieutenant Colonels what to say to their Company Commanders.

"You are responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen."

So, how can one person be responsible for the entirety of the actions of 50-200 people?

The answer is a lot like running a small business. And it might surprise you.

As many of you know, I built Aerial Resupply Coffee® almost out of thin air - with a laptop, a small bullet roaster, and a dream. One day it didn't exist... and then it did.

Building a company that exists in the physical commodity world by yourself is a monumental undertaking. Many solopreneurs or entrepreneurs do well in the technology space because the result of their business services exists on a company or the internet. There isn't anything physical to touch.

In the coffee world - people expect to see a physical product. It's the only way the service works. Of course, once we have replicators like Star Trek, that might go by the wayside as well.

But having that product arrive from point A to B is much more than simply shipping coffee from your house to someone else's house. You have to think through all of the logical steps to make that simple action happen - AND THEN EXECUTE THEM.

Because if you don't, who will? Who is going to do it, Commander?

When I held the Commander position, I worked with and for a lot of people. (Notice I didn't say they worked for me.) All of those people would move mountains for the mission. Many people would even tell me to give them more to do. Such is the nature of the culture of workaholics.

I quickly learned to delegate. Not because I wanted to. Because I HAD TO. I simply couldn't do it all. Between being a Commander and listening to my boss about what they wanted me to do, I had all of the training aspects to keep my unit going that I knew needed to be done. On top of all of the fun things like administrative actions, punitive actions, leadership development, and the litany of requirements that continued to get pushed down from the top.

*Side note: One of the best papers ever written is Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army Profession. TL;DR - Cram all of the Army requirements into a year and it will take you 3 years to complete.

That's the fallacy though, right? That you can do everything. You can do it all if only you have enough time. I am the master and commander.

So what then is the difference between a small business owner/entrepreneur and a U.S. Army Company Commander?

People.

Whereas once you had some - now you don't. It's all on you.

Everything you do or fail to do is your responsibility.

I'm sitting here in my almost complete brick-and-mortar store for Aerial Resupply Coffee® writing this article.... in the dark.

It's Monday and businesses are spinning up, but the power is out for some unknown amount of time. Most of the things that I had in my mind to do first thing are now out the window. It's peaceful and anxiety-inducing all at the same time.

But that doesn't mean there aren't a million other tasks that need to be accomplished to push the company forward. If not you, then who?

Adapt and overcome, right? Be flexible, troop. Semper Gumby, right?

I have more to do than I ever have before to build something that I really want to see in this world. This isn't a complaint - it's just my reality. A reality that I chose and that I am thrilled to be able to do day in and day out.

Those 4 years in Command helped shape my worldview on responsibility and results. Did I get every situation right while I was a Commander? Hell and no. But I learned the value of prioritizing what only I could do versus what someone else could do.

And ultimately, I learned that some things you have to do yourself anyway if it's THAT important to you.

If you read this far - congrats. I'm not sure many people actually read things anymore that are longer than the dimensions of your phone. I do hope that my ramblings taught you something about the challenges associated with building your own business or even simply thinking about how to help your own workload during the day.

My goal in writing this today is more about the intangibles of being an entrepreneur or small business owner than the hard "nuts and bolts" of building a business.

I'm quite positive that you've learned similar lessons at some point in your life. Maybe you've been a Commander in the military, or even a CEO at some point.. not that both of those things are the same.... but you've held the decision authority. What you do with those skills and how you apply them in situations where it seems the furthest application from your mind is how you truly become great.

Stay caffeinated out there. And Semper Gumby.

Mike

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