The Military Ethic – Why Veterans Can Help Scale Growth Companies and Cultures
April 14, 2023
How the military ethic can provide a valuable example to your organization.
I’d like to start this edition of the VET by apologizing for my silence since January, but it has been intentional. My purpose in writing and publishing the VET was to advocate for veterans and veteran hiring within Summit’s portfolio. After doing so across fifteen editions since November of 2021, I feel readers have a good idea of how veterans can help within growth companies. Going forward, I’ll continue to reinforce that message, but on a quarterly basis. Now, onto the first QUARTERLY edition of the VET.
As I consider topics to write about, I often look at current events through the lens of my military background. Lately, it seems as if you can’t avoid stories about leaders exhibiting unethical behavior. While these leaders span across government, politics, business and more, here I want to focus on the area most relevant to this audience: business leaders.
History is rife with examples of CEOs and founders who have been accused (and some ultimately convicted) of unethical behavior. Names like Jeff Skilling, Bernie Ebbers, Dennis Kozlowski, Bernie Madoff, and Elizabeth Holmes are all familiar. Why? All have been convicted in a court of law for a smorgasbord of charges: wire fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, bribery, obstruction of justice, or just plain old theft.
Most recently, I’ve been tracking the developments in the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and Charlie Javice cases. If you haven’t been following these stories, SBF is the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and has been charged with several counts of conspiracy, bribery and making several illegal political contributions. Charlie Javice is the founder of Frank, a student financial aid application assistance company; she’s been accused of defrauding JPMorgan Chase, which bought the company for $175M in 2021.
When I read stories like this, all I can do is shake my head. I’m incredulous at how far the behavior of these business leaders strays from what servicemembers and veterans refer to as the military ethic. While the military ethic has many different definitions depending on the service (e.g. Army vs Navy) and context (e.g. adhering to the Geneva convention in combat), I found one that summed it up particularly well: “the military ethic expresses the standard and expectation for all of us to make the right decisions in the conduct of our mission, performance of duty, and in all aspects of our lives.”
This definition highlights how vitally important the military ethic is to the success of our armed forces. How important? Some examples: the Department of Defense has an entire governing body for ethics, the DoD Standards of Conduct Office; the Army, Navy, and Air Force each have centers of excellence (CoE) for both academy students and service members; “ethics” is the first section on the standardized Army Officer Evaluation Report (the equivalent of a performance review) and the most highly weighted.
How does this all relate to leaders of growth companies? Scaling a business is hard, and some would say scaling the culture of a business is even harder. The following statement from the Army’s website provides an excellent framework for thinking about how veterans can help with both: “the Army strives to strengthen the professional Army ethic by instilling four individual values: commitment, competence, candor and courage.”
- Commitment: In fast moving, dynamic environments like you find in growth companies, leaders need employees who they know are committed to the mission. Veterans of our armed services are, given the simple fact that all volunteered to serve their county, committed to their fellow service members and the missions they are tasked with executing.
- Competence: I would describe this as skill-specific competence, but more so dedication to being competent at the task at hand. Service members change jobs every three years on average, and, as a result, the practice of learning and mastering new skills (both quantitative and qualitative) is innate.
- Candor: Those that know me personally say this is a value I hold dear, and I attribute it to my time in the service. In the moment, people often say it is off-putting, but they eventually appreciate the directness. You can count on most veterans to exhibit candor as they have learned how critical it is to speed of action.
- Courage: To me, this value relates back to the definition of “duty” someone once relayed to me: having the courage to do the right thing even when no one is looking. Veterans often work autonomously with little to no direct oversight by their commander. The same environment exists in growth companies and leaders can trust veterans to live this value.
In closing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the above four “Cs” are personal to me. In addition to describing how veterans live the military ethic, they were also inscribed on the four M1A1 tanks I commanded as a platoon leader in the 3rd Infantry Division in 1996. My platoon sergeant at the time, Tom Klingel, came up with the idea, and the Army values were one of the many things I learned from him. Today, Tom is a recruiter for a company in Washington DC, and I am certain that company (and its culture) is better with him in it. Go out of your way to find a veteran like Tom for an open position in your company…you’ll be better for it too.
Charlie Mike* (and BEAT NAVY)
Dave & the Summit Partners Veterans Community
* “Charlie Mike” is the military phonetic alphabet for the letters C and M which stand for “continue the mission,” a phrase commonly used in tactical situations
Veteran Engagement Team Reads & Resources (R&R)
- Five Assets Military Veterans Bring To The Business Leadership Team – Forbes
- Two Strategies for Leading Through Chaotic Situations from Two of America’s Most Legendary Military Leaders – Entrepreneur
- What the military did for Stroudsburg grad Tom Klingel – Ponoco Record
Q2 Book of the Month
The Hero Code – Bill McRaven
When Bill McRaven was a young boy growing up in Texas, he dreamed of being a superhero. He longed to put on a cape and use his superpowers to save the earth from destruction. But as he grew older and traveled the world, he found real heroes everywhere he went – and none of them had superpowers. None of them wore capes or cowls. But they all possessed qualities that gave them the power to help others, to make a difference, to save the world: courage, both physical and moral; humility; a willingness to sacrifice; and a deep sense of integrity.
About the Author
