Five Traits that Make Veterans Amazing Entrepreneurs
Ordinarily, when we think about the people who lead powerful companies, what comes to mind are men and women in tailored suits, managers with an MBA under their belt and years of experience wheeling and dealing with the power brokers of Wall Street. It is very seldom, if not almost difficult to imagine, an army soldier or a navy captain wearing the power suits and walking down Wall Street.
It may come as a surprise then that these successful companies are managed by people who come from a military background: Nike (Phil Knight, co-founder), GoDaddy (CEO Bob Parson), and shipping giant, FedEx (CEO Frederick Smith). They are but only a few of the many military veterans-turned-businessmen-on-Wall-Street. According to a Fortune article, about 2.45 million firms in the United States are owned or established by veterans, and although the number has gradually declined a bit over the years, one thing remains true: The military is perfect training ground for entrepreneurs and future business leaders.
What makes veterans excellent entrepreneurs? Here are five reasons.
1. Veterans know how to take — and manage — risks. Risk-taking is part and parcel of business, and in a lot of times, it’s the extent of risk-taking that distinguishes success and mediocrity in business. But what’s really valuable in business is the ability to take calculated risks and manage them effectively so that any prospective losses are reduced to a minimum. If there’s anyone who knows better the value of taking strategic, calculated risks, it’s the military men. They know when to take two steps forward, when to step back in negotiations, when to give it their all, or when to call the other party’s bluff.
2. Veterans can work well under pressure. The military is a tough environment, and it has trained veterans how to deal with stress. Such ability comes in handy in business when one has to wear multiple hats of manager, supervisor, visionary, planner, etc.
3. Veterans know the value of planning. Alongside their ability to handle and manage risks effectively, veterans are also excellent planners. No one goes to battle without any a plan (or plans) in place, and this is something that they take to the boardroom. An excellent CEO is one who has a clear-cut vision of the business, can translate and share that vision to his/her subordinates, and then can move them to plan the ways they can make the vision happen. More than anything else, they focus on clear-cut, strategic and realistic action plans.
4. Veterans put premium on their teams. As planners, veterans also know that a plan would not be realized unless everyone understands what the plan is. The comrade or buddy system developed in the military makes veterans team players, and this is an attitude that they strive to cultivate in their companies. The work of one impacts that of others and the overall achievement of the goal.
5. Veterans are efficient. In business, especially with startups and early-stage firms, one is often forced to make do with whatever limited resources that may be on hand, just like in the military. Veterans understand that things need to get done even with limited resources, and decisions must be made about competing priorities in the shortest time possible. In a lot of ways, veterans can make quick but strategic decisions in business that comes in handy when handling crisis in the workplace, customer or supplier problems, or negotiations with partners.
These are just some of the traits that make military Veterans ideally suited for entrepreneurship. And for those of us who were not in the military, we can still study these traits and more important, cultivate them to improve our entrepreneurial capabilities.
