Business Skills
Nowadays businesses must reinvent themselves practically on a monthly basis. To be resilient in a hostile situation you have to be able to accept and adjust to the reality of the situation. This is what will facilitate the ability to find a problem, break it down into small chunks, and then monitor it. Any institution must do this in order to survive and grow.
When I stepped into the civilian world my attention was caught by those small, agile, and dynamic organisations which were enabling themselves to flourish. My interest was particularly drawn to those companies aiming to expand rapidly, take on a lot of big players and change the rules in their chosen environment. With this description I could just as easily be talking about a special ops unit. I believe they work by the same rules.
Combat veterans and people who have succeeded in fast moving environments, from being shot at to working in sick bays, have proven their capabilities in a high pressure situation. This attitude of mind is priceless. Sometimes both businesses and the armed forces need to develop a structure that is mission orientated first, everything else second. You have to adapt to complete the mission at hand.
In the current environment focus should be steered towards technology, innovation and driving efficiency. Boundaries have to be pushed in times of hardship. Business leaders should start looking for employees who are comfortable on the frontier and who are not afraid of the unknown. I believe the armed forces have equipped many men with such a frame of mind.
Communication and understanding are equally as important when directing a workforce to complete a task. As a Royal Marine, I really learnt to appreciate the importance of effective communication. Being aware of the work going on at every level of the company is crucial in achieving reliable
results. This awareness can be formed during thorough and effective training for staff at all levels. It is this that will later allow leaders to affectively solve problems, no matter where in the company they may arise.
The formal education process to join the Royal Marines creates a unique situation where officers and men train together in pure meritocracy. The commando course comes first and the specialisation after. Therefore, the commando course experience becomes the common bond that holds all members together. The result of this process is that the Royal Marine Officer has a working understanding of what those under their command have been through and exactly what it is that they do. That degree of grounding is key, and crucial for a responsive organisation.
This fundamental
level of communication and understanding is another quality that can be transferred to successful business.
Since working at ITG I have employed these skills to deliver digital marketing services as part of a multi-discipline marketing services team. ITG was launched in 2009 and, despite economic trends, has undergone rapid expansion. It is the ability to remain agile in our processes that has made ITG one of the fastest growing companies in the UK.
I believe parallels drawn between today’s successful businesses and the armed forces are legitimate and valuable. Levels of agility, training and communication have become equally relevant in both models. In a hostile economy, businesses have to be prepared to rearrange themselves and update their mechanisms, as do men in conflict. Failure to step up to meet new challenges will cause companies to fall by the way side. The courage to take control and guide an organization in a new direction, if this is what circumstance demands is an invaluable attribute in both fields.
50 entrepreneurcountry
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