Musings of a 30 Year Career

COL Jon Thompson, US Army

Last month, I retired from the Army after serving 30 years as an officer.  Over those three decades, I was able to experience things and see places that would not have been possible were it not for the Army.  Along the way, I learned a lot based on what I experienced and observed, and I would like to share some of those key bits of wisdom.

1. Things do not always go according to plan, but that is not always a bad thing.  My initial career goal was to retire from active duty.  At my ten-year mark, I went before the Major promotion board.  When the list was released, my boss called me into his office and told me that I was not selected.  It was crushing news that took me years to get over.  So, I left active duty in 1996 and joined an Army Reserve unit in 1998.  As an Army Reserve officer, I was able to serve longer than I probably would have on active duty.

2.  Have a back-up plan.  Thinking that I was going to stay in for 20 years, I never had a back-up plan in case that did not happen.  So when I found myself taking the long road home from Alaska to Illinois, I really did not know what the future was going to hold for me.  Had I put more thought into it before it was that late in the game, I would have had a better plan instead of trying to figure out what I was going to do at the age of 33.

3. Be proactive in taking care of yourself.  I made it through 30 years including five mobilizations and four deployments and never once had a significant pay issue.  Yet some of my peers had issues that may not be resolved even today.  What was different is that I was not going to wait for someone to do something for me when I could do it myself.  I took responsibility for myself and it paid off.

4. No one is a perfect leader.  My career was impacted by raters and senior raters that failed to do their duty.  But I can also look back at times when I definitely failed as a leader.  No one is perfect and we are not promised that life will be fair.  People will sometimes make the wrong decisions but what matters is the subsequent actions we take.   Some of the most valuable things I learned came from leadership failures, both my own and of those senior to me.

5. LDRSHIP is more than an acronym.  I have heard and read discussions about the efficacy of the Army Values.  Some have argued that they are too simplistic and we need a more professional ethic.  I disagree with that. Throughout my career, I have tried to live these values, even before the Army formalized them in the late 1990’s.  DUTY is why I volunteered for three of my mobilizations as a reserve officer, even though it would hurt my promotion potential by not staying in the same reserve unit.  In my view, if all Soldiers truly lived by these words, many of the issues the Army faces these days would be less significant.  They need to be more than a tag we hang on a chain next to our ID tags.

6. Improve the profession by writing.  As an Infantry captain, I wrote five articles that were published by Infantry Magazine.  In 2010, upon my return from Baghdad where I served as a Human Terrain Team leader, I wrote another article for Infantry and one for Military Review.  I wrote for two reasons.  Foremost, I wanted to share my experiences so that others could hopefully learn from them.  I myself learned many TTPs from various magazine articles.  Second, I wrote to keep my writing skills fresh.  Written communication is important for a leader, and too many Army leaders, officers, and enlisted do a poor job of maintaining this skill.  The more we write, the better we become, and the better the Army will be.

It truly has been a great three decades of service for me and I will always look back and know I was part of a great team.  There is one more lesson that I learned as an ROTC cadet from a Vietnam Veteran Master Sergeant and Ranger Instructor.  It really is the only thing I remember from ROTC.  This final lesson is one that has paid off when I listened to it and caused me to pay a price when I did not.  Simply stated, that lesson is this: “Never pass up an opportunity to use the latrine.”

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The Tyranny of Low Expectations

Jeff Anderson, US Navy

A few years ago I went to look at purchasing a used vehicle. The salesman quoted me $14,000, and I responded that I'd be more interested in paying around $12,000. At that point, I locked myself into a battle that I couldn't win and he couldn't lose-he could "fight" me over the $2000 to make me feel like I got a good deal, but in hindsight I realize that anything over about $8000 was going to bring them money, and I was responsible for paying more than I needed to. I set my expectations too low. Thankfully, I didn't end up purchasing the vehicle.

As Sailors, do we make expectations for ourselves that are too small? Do we let others put us into a box that is too small for us?

A typical E4, when asked what they want to get out of their enlistment, will say something like "make E5 and ESWS". Those are safe answers, with little chance to fail as long as a minimum of effort is put forward.

Leaders, would you accept that answer?

When I arrived at my first ship, I told my LPO that I wanted to make First Class by six years in, and while I don't remember his answer, my shipmates laughed. They had made themselves the expectation that Second Class was so hard to get they'd never make First. But while I didn't make it by six years, I did make it under eight-much faster than what seemed possible at the time.

Our culture talks a lot about living your dreams, but the day to day grind of military life can make that difficult to do. Whatever your experience, either as an E2 or an O6, there are opportunities to surpass the expectations of our peers and give our nation more value as a service member. This doesn't happen by waiting for success to arrive, but rather by charging ahead and taking control of your career, and setting your own expectations.

Here's an example you can work through: write down the goals you had when you first reported to your current command. What did you want to do? Have you done it yet? Have they been displaced or discarded? If the former, have you made new goals that surpass what you originally thought could be possible? If the latter, have you reevaluated the goals to determine if they are achievable?

When my ship's Command Master Chief challenged a number of my peers to attain their Junior Officer of the Deck qualification, I didn't wait for his invitation-I charged ahead and earned it, helped my shipmates study for it, and together with another shipmate, was the first to earn it through the new qualification process. Learning new things and qualifications happen to be strengths of mine, and I leveraged those strengths to exceed my command's expectations of me.

By taking charge of my career, I put the goalposts where I want them to be-in a place where I can make the most of my strengths to make me a more useful Sailor to my command.

I certainly have weaknesses-too many to fit into a quick blog post-but am confident that by taking control of my expectations I am giving a net positive to the Navy. Nobody expected me to earn my JOOD qualification, but by doing so, the watchbill coordinator has that much more flexibility in writing a watchbill. Our ship's readiness is increased, and we are more capable of accomplishing the mission. That, ultimately, is what we are here to do.

Oh, and my first ship? Her motto remains with me today: "Fortune favors the bold".

Be bold, shipmates.

--

ET1(SW) Jeff Anderson currently serves on board the USS Independence. His articles have been featured on CIMSEC, the US Naval Institute Blog, Defense Entrepreneurs Forum Blog, and more. Follow Jeff on Twitter @NavyInnovator .

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Leaving the Military? Become a Veteran Leader

SSG Gabriel Lord, US ARMY

Humans are tribal creatures. Each of us belongs to a group larger than ourselves. Family, posse, company, church, biker gang or sewing circle – we’re all part of something big. With the existence of these groups comes the need for leadership.

Any military veteran can tell you but without leadership, there is no purpose, direction or motivation and the group will not accomplish its mission. As service members transition from the military, it quickly becomes evident to many that there is a leadership vacuum in the civilian world. Tough words? Maybe. True? Perhaps. Leadership roles are not as clearly defined out here. Authority in many cases is based on title. Are there exceptions? Of course. There are some great leaders doing magnificent things every day. Do we need more of these great leaders? Like you wouldn’t believe.

This is the part where you come in. I’m talking to the service member who’s on his/her way out of uniform for the last time and to the veteran who took off the boots months or even years ago and has had a tough time de-militarizing to fit back into the civilian world.

I have great news: You don’t have to turn off the military!

There is no switch or lever that needs to be flipped to transform you into a civilian. In fact, the world needs what you have and you’d be doing all of us a tremendous service if you just stay who you are and make an impact in a way that is uniquely yours.

Does this mean you should kick in the door to a new job and declare yourself the new CEO? Probably not, but if you’ve done it like that and it works,  then congratulations! What it does mean is that you must intentionally start engaging and seeking out ways to continue your service. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

- Join the VFW or American Legion

- Support a local election campaign

- Throw your hat in the ring and be in a local election

- Go to church, they’ll put you to work quick

- Join the IAVA, Team Rubicon and Team Red White & Blue

- Start a business that helps people

- Start a blog that helps people

- Start anything, just keep moving

As you move forward, reach back and pull someone else with you. The possibilities are plentiful. Just as your country needed you to go to a God-forsaken desert/valley/jungle/ (fill in the blank here) and endure what you endured, it needs you now. We need you to engage. The leadership part will happen when you do.

Many of us are already there, others of us are in limbo. Don’t be. Get up and get in step. Your mission to serve continues. You will provide the purpose, direction and motivation we need. Above all else, continue to be you. Bring your scars, skills, shrapnel, grit, resilience, and dedication. If anybody has earned the right to be himself/herself, that would be you.

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Making the Transition

SGT Aaron Dumbrow, US ARMY

I was a very average soldier.  That’s right, I admit it, I was all about doing the bare minimum to get by.  There were quite a few of us like that, we didn’t really care, we just wanted to get back to video games, TV, and drinking.  We had so much potential, but for me it took a kick in the butt and an end to my military career to realize that potential.  Luckily the lessons stuck with me and being a very average soldier helped me to become a successful civilian.

There is a concept that leaders are managers.  I remember during my promotion board we were asked the question, "What is a Sergeant?"  The answer they were looking for was a leader.  While this may be true in a sense. it is more accurate to realize that we are all leaders.  In his book “Tribes”, Seth Godin explains that being a leader is not about managing people, not about being in charge.  It is about being taking your passion and turning it into a movement.  Go determine your passion, look at the market place, reconcile the two, and be a leader in your area.  When we stop limiting ourselves to what we have always done or what we have been trained to do, we can unlock our true potential.  At work, I manage people, but I am trying to avoid becoming a ‘manager’.  My goal is rather to inspire others both on my team and those around me.  I want them to be excited about our mutual interests and lead them, not manage them.

Dave Ramsey, a financial counselor and author, talks about how we become like those we admire and hang out with.  "You want to find out what people who have money do, and do what they're doing.”  It is a pretty simple concept, if you want to be good at something you are going to need a mentor, someone who can help you learn.  Of course for this to work, you need to be a mentor to others as well.  Think about the skills you have that you can help others with.  Get involved, and mentor someone newer in a similar career field, or even a student.  Giving something back is a great way to learn and get better at what you are doing.  Having successful peer mentors is always helpful as well.  In your job, find someone who does the similar job, or if you are transitioning, be a peer mentor to someone else who is on the same road.  Sometimes we just need someone to commiserate with, who can be there when things get a little scary.

I recall starting in basic training and through my military career, we had a concept of "Battle Buddies".  Early on there was at least one person you had to get close to and know everything about.  You had each others back, a real peer mentor.  In the St. Crispens Day Speech in Shakespeare's Henry the V, the King makes the famous speech, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother.”  This is an easy concept when we are a part of the military, it is something that we feel strongly.  For all the rivalry between services, we have all shared many drinks, meals, struggles, and laughs with others.  There are a number of social media outlets; if you reading this it is likely you are already on Rally Point, but there are veterans groups in all of them.  Getting involved in Veterans Service Organizations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Team Red White and Blue to name a few, is one of the best ways to meet people.  While some of these organizations may have a reputation for being a “drinking club”, or an older organization, many of us are working to change this.  Join us and take charge.  Get involved, volunteer, help other veterans out, make their transition better.

One of the most important lessons I have learned since leaving the Army was I will never be good enough, I will never know enough, but I will always be the one who shows up, the one who makes things happen, and that is enough.  The transition from military to civilian life is a daunting one, but many have gone before, and many of us want to help make it better.  Use your resources, connect with others, and help your brothers and sisters as you go.  Civilian life is tough, but you are not alone.

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The Tyranny of the Urgent

CW5 Scott Montgomery, US ARMY

In his booklet entitled “Tyranny of the Urgent,” Charles Hummel describes a phenomenon that I think all who have served in the military can identify with: getting so caught up in urgent tasks that we never get around to important things.   Having worked in and for the Army for 40 years, I am confident when I say that this happens in the military.  Many times the urgency is dictated from above, but not always.  Sometimes I decide for myself that something is urgent – an incoming phone call, for example – when I really could let the call go to voicemail and drive on with something else that might be truly important.

Hummel compares time and money as resources. While we all may have different amounts of money, time is not a resource in the same sense. For example, PVT Snuffy and GEN Dempsey make vastly different amounts of money, but both have just 24 hours each day; no more and no less.

Prioritizing and deciding how we will spend our time become very important activities.  And they are activities that many people completely ignore.  Time is a finite resource, so we should budget our time very carefully.

Hummel’s suggestion for budgeting time is first to set priorities, and then determine how to budget time.  He recommends breaking your day into 30-minute segments and writing down what you do during each 30-minute block.  Then, after a few days, take a look at how you’ve spent your time and decide if you could/should spend it more wisely, based on your priorities. Hummel’s recommendations are oh-so-very close to Stephen Covey’s in “Putting First Things First,” Habit #3 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which is a best-selling book about being all you can be.

Covey describes putting first things first as a matter of personal management.  He quotes E.M. Gray’s “The Common Denominator of Success,” which says “the successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do.  They [successful people] don’t like doing them either necessarily.   But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”  Now, isn’t that a quote that most of us who have served in the military can relate to?  I say it is.  Sometimes in the military you just have to suck it up and drive on, even when it does suck.  That’s how people succeed.  I remember well the motivational signs in the company area of C, 1/504, 82d Airborne.  One that I will never forget is this:  “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”  I know it’s cliché, but still.

Covey’s Habit #3 is essentially managing tasks and time based on priorities.  He uses the included quadrant diagram to help identify which activities we should put first.

The quadrants are pretty much self-explanatory.  Quadrant I is where a lot of folks spend a lot of time – putting out fires.  These are the crises and pressing problems of life that demand our attention:  Hummel’s tyranny of the urgent.  Quadrant II contains important, but not urgent activities; things like planning, mentoring, networking, working out, and relationship building.  Quadrant III activities are urgent, but not important; interruptions are an example.  And Quadrant iV is where unimportant and not urgent activities reside.  These are time wasters, busy work, and pleasant activities (think video games).

According to this model, the secret to success in time and life management is to be mindful about spending as much time as possible in Quadrant II.  Although we can’t always avoid the urgent and important (Quadrant I) activities, we can carve out time in our lives and schedules for Quadrant II activities, which is what Covey recommends in 7 Habits.

Covey also recommends that we use a time management tool, such as a planner, to ensure we include time in our busy schedules for Quadrant II activities.  He recommends that as we plan our weeks (and he does recommend planning a week at a time for the short-term), that we take care to keep the following points in mind:

-     Be coherent:  Include a “harmony between vision and mission, roles and goals, priorities and plans, and desires and discipline.”

-     Be balanced:  Identify your roles (leader, parent, friend, mentor, etc.) and ensure you plan time for each role you have.

-     Have a quadrant II focus:  This is where Covey says we should plan weekly and not daily, because he says that planning day-to-day only helps you “organize crises and busywork.”

-     Include a people dimension:  Think in terms of people, not just time; and plan to be effective (in dealing with people), not just efficient (in dealing with time).

-     Be flexible: “Your planning tool should be your servant, never your master.”

An excellent quote from Covey on this entire planning tool discussion is that “the key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”  That’s the essence of being an effective manager of time and life, and I think implementing something like this approach made me a better Soldier, better Warrant Officer, better leader, better father, better friend … the list goes on and on.

What do you think?  Are you willing to put a little thought and planning into managing your priorities, your time, and your life?  Would you like to free yourself from the tyranny of the urgent?  It’s possible.  It requires you to focus and to be mindful of how you are spending your time.  If nothing else, at least consider those quadrant II activities; plan to include them in your schedule.  They’re important, even if they’re not urgent!

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The Ego Land Mine

LTC Barry Hull, US ARMY

I’d like to tell you that I was one of those superstar officers who did everything right and everyone should strive to be like me.  But that’s not the case.  My career was pretty average, I suppose.  It had its good points, its great points, and a few low points. So, as I write this, I do so in a very humble manner.  My goal is not to shine light on the path to success.  You have much better mentors who will do a much better job at that than I can.  No, quite the opposite, my objective is to show you where danger exists and hopefully you can avoid it.

The good news is that there is not one path to success but many, maybe more than we can count.  The bad news is that danger lurks on each of those paths.  In my mind, I see these dangers as land mines that can disrupt and even derail a leader’s progress along his path.  In my progress along my path, I became somewhat of a sapper.  I discovered many of the landmines, most by accident, disrupting my progress, sometimes exploding and sending me off in odd directions.  More good news is that the paths switch back and cross again.  It is more like a trail network that a straight path.

I’ll start with a very common type of self-initiated mine: the ego mine.  This is one I tripped very early.  Beware of your own ego. It is not about you.  It never has been and it never will be.  It is about the mission. My first few years, my ego was too involved in my profession.  It caused me to say and do stupid things. It diminished the respect my peers and soldiers had for me. It added an unnecessary layer of difficulty to leading and, therefore, accomplishing the MISSION.  I was offered help and advice and often refused to accept it or even consider it because I was too proud to accept it.

Example:  I had a great Company Commander when I was a platoon leader.  He worked hard to mentor his LTs. It was his second command and he knew how to run a company.  Best of all, he and I bonded well.  One day, I was planning and preparing my platoon for the first live fire exercise.I was in my zone, I had it all figured out, this was exactly what I was trained to do. I was proud and all set to show everyone I was stud.  My CO paid a visit during my planning process and asked me to brief him on my plan. I was proud to do it. I don’t remember exactly what set me off, other than the fact that he started inserting himself into MY planning process, changing MY plan, about MY mission. Simply put, I wasn’t thinking.  Fresh out of Ranger School, where platoons appear to operate “independently”, I was trying to do it alone.  Well, we had some words and I was out of line. Later, reality sunk in but not before my ego exacted additional costs. The bottom line was, my Commander wanted me to do well in front of the Battalion Commander.  He cared enough about me to want me to be successful.

Two Company Commands and a Battalion Command later, I can tell you no Commander needs an argumentative subordinate.  What he wants is one to can accomplish the mission assigned and make his job easier.

Advice from a good superior is like money in the bank.  Squirrel it away until you need it.

Your troops can sense when it’s all about you. Make it about accomplishing the mission and keeping them safe.  You will be a better leader and they will be better followers.  

Our army operates as a team of teams.  No Soldier, no unit should stand alone. We support one another. That’s what makes us strong.  If you need help, get help. If you are offered help, accept help. If you see another who needs help, offer help.  We all want to hump our own ruck and drink from our on canteen but each of us has a bad day.

Good luck with the mission (note I did not say “your”).  If it goes well then most likely, so will your career.

The Conscious-Incompetent

CPT Patrick Boling, US Army

A conscious-incompetent is a person who is aware of his or her own shortcomings. To those who think this can only be negative, pull up a chair, because conscious incompetence does not have to be a bad thing.

To qualify my observation, I have my experiences. First, I was prior enlisted (4 years) which doesn’t always equal better. However, I made mistakes and learned a lot, so it was a good thing. Second, I spent most of time as a LT (O1 and O2) filling CPT (O3) billets. Third, I pinned CPT in January of 2007 and then left Active Duty where I joined the National Guard. This prolonged my time as a CPT already, and then I transferred to another unit where promotion rates are slow. That said, I have been a CPT for 8 years and served in CPT billets for 10 years. Those years combined with experience as a SGI and service in 7 different brigades and 8 different divisions gives me a large depth of experience.

I began as an active critic of incompetence, but over time I have shifted to be a passive critic of arrogance. I will assume everyone understands that both (incompetence and arrogance) occur at different degrees. I have met great leaders who were incompetent, but what distinguished them from the not-so-great was their character and disposition towards others. There are ways that shortcomings in competence can be overcome.

First, I have seen some leaders find themselves in situations where they did not have sufficient understanding for whatever reason. The path to success came through admitting to the right audience that they didn’t know what that needed or should know. The way in which obstacles and barriers were overcome was by the leader seeking education through self-development and enlisting advisers.

Second, I have seen some leaders find themselves situations where they realized, due to limitations of time or intellectual capacity, they would never understand. The path to success came through the leader leveraging those who could understand to advise and inform his or her decisions. Despite these leaders’ “incompetence” they actually demonstrated their ability (competence) in leading an organization by leveraging the people they lead.

Learning (self and organizational development) and leading (influencing and leveraging others) are things we look for from all leaders. These basic skills paired with humility can help an incompetent leader attain competency through Mission Command. From these leaders, I learned the value of humility. Humility is one those things we discussed with students in the Captain’s Career Course. Great leaders may have great confidence but their confidence is only justified if it is obtained by starting a process with humility. The reason conscious-competent leaders sometimes fail is because they may be micromanaging and/or they have shut down the internal feedback and initiative desired in great organizations. If a conscious-competent leader misses the opportunity to learn from others due to arrogance, it can cause a leader to never realize his or her ignorance. Lack of insight can increase chances of a mistake, and lack of feedback can result in missing opportunities to make a course correction on the way to disaster.

A historical example: We can’t be sure about what occurred during conversations between General Lee and General Longstreet at Gettysburg. What we know is General Longstreet’s advice against General Lee’s plan to attack up the middle of the Union’s line. General Lee’s plan involved General Longstreet marching his men across a long, open field and up a hill to a well-defended Union line. Many theorized that the arrogance of the conscious and very competent General Lee caused him to disregard very good advice.

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The weight on your shoulders

1LT Eric Rosa, US Army National Guard

As we know, leadership carries with it more than just a title - it is comes with additional responsibilities. In a literal sense, these responsibilities should not be taken lightly. At times, that weight may be more than we can bear or sometimes it may even be absent. How much weight we should bear should be somewhat consistent with the position we hold.

As you are given your initial leadership duties, you tend to feel a deep sense of responsibility. Now you are responsible for those soldiers that are your subordinates. If you don’t feel this weight, I would start to question whether you are really accepting those responsibilities or just passing the weight off to another soldier. As you progress in your career, you should bear more weight as you are given more responsibility. If you are that leader whose last thoughts for the day are of your soldiers, then you understand what a tremendous responsibility you have. 

If this system is disproportionate, you will find that some leaders carry the weight of others. When you see a leader that is more concerned about his or her personal wellbeing, then you know that he/she passed that weight to another. You will often find a subordinate leader carrying the additional weight. If this behavior continues, roles and responsibilities will be blurred as the expectations and burdens will be passed to those that understand what it means to be a leader. The end result will be a subordinate carrying twice the load they should be. 

As a leader, the military expects much of you. You are there to lead your soldiers and set the example. Your soldiers will be able to sense your commitment to your position, or lack thereof. This could be no more evident than when GA Dwight D. Eisenhower took command for what would be the largest amphibious assault in history. To pass the time and get some perspective on his anxiety, GA Eisenhower scribbled a memoranda in his journal listing all of the things that were worrying him. “Probably no one who does not have to bear the specific and direct responsibility of making the final decision as to what to do can understand the intensity of these burdens,” he wrote.

Leadership does create burdens for soldiers. These burdens should be met with recognition that you are there for more than yourself. Others now depend on you. If you don’t willfully accept this, you may do more harm than you could ever imagine. Too much weight on a junior soldier could crush him as he is bearing that weight more than his own. If you don’t realize how much weight you should be carrying, you may not have enough. Too many gleefully move on in their career without realizing the impact they are having. Many of the duties are passed off to others while they may fail to realize what is really expected of them. This is the greatest disservice to our soldiers as a leader. 

Comment below or start the conversation here and connect within the military community.

One main reason relationships matter

CPT Benjamin Faw, US Army

As the global economy, sharing economy, and web 3.0 take shape, a common thread has emerged: the ability to operate in a vacuum and accomplish amazing things by one’s self is becoming less and less likely. Teams are driving change at a rapid pace, and teams are built on relationships. With each passing day, I believe relationships matter more and more because without successful relationships, teams cannot come close to reaching their potential.

I learned deeply about why relationships matter at age 23 and I learned the hard way. I learned about relationships at Army Ranger School. While this Forbes article shows how teams in business can relate to sports (http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/05/teams-teamwork-individuals-leadership-managing-collaboration.html), I found pockets of the military hold even more accurate analogies to the teams I now work on in business.

In the mountain phase of Ranger School, located in the frigid landscape of Dahlonega, Georgia, my body began to fail. Bone chilling night time temperatures and around thirty minutes of sleep spread over the course of three days drained the little strength I had left from prior phases of the course. One day, the pain in my legs and shoulders reached a new, unbearable level while climbing a seemingly unending mountain. Some extra radios and gear created a load of around 130 pounds in my rucksack. On a few occasions, I felt as if the huge backpack was going to flip me backwards and down the hillside. I was so exhausted; I would have welcomed the fall just to alleviate the pain.

When the climb was finally over and the rucksack was off my back, I could barely move, and I still needed to fulfill my mission planning responsibilities for the next day. I had worked side-by-side with my dear friend and Ranger Buddy, Ryan, for several weeks and he could see the pain in my eyes. Ryan asked about my remaining duties, told me to get rest, and shouldered my mission planning responsibilities. I probably slept for only thirty minutes, but that half hour felt like eternity. When I woke up, I felt reborn. Later in the mission, I helped Ryan in the same manner, and together we accomplished many times what neither could have done individually, succeeding in missions and graduating from Ranger School. Were it not for that incredible bond of a Ranger buddy relationship, I would not have graduated and would not be where I am today.

Later in my Army experiences, and in the private sector, my greatest accomplishments occurred not during fits of solitary effort, but rather, as a result of the relationships I fostered over time and the collective results of the teams on which I served.

Years after Ranger School was over, relationships mattered again when I was looking at a job post-military. Despite the valuable leadership and managerial experiences from the Army and Ranger school, no company where I lived was knocking on the door to offer me a job. Instead, relationships created options. I reached out to a friend who worked at a company I admired, and after a long series of interviews, I landed a position at an exciting electric car company called Tesla Motors. Not only did my friend help me get the position, but he took me under his wing and taught me more than I ever expected to learn about corporate finance, tooling, automotive supply chain, and cost reduction strategies.

Working at a company built on data around human connections, I have been in a unique position to watch some of the recent changes in how these trends affect today’s knowledge workers. Even with all of the most complete and real-time data on the planet, I doubt we will change the world. However, with authentic human relationships, with teams built from this foundation, I think we can.

Each individual human has amazing capabilities, yet I am convinced teams - teams driven by relationships - will solve the problems of the 21st century. Do you think relationships are becoming more valuable?

About the author:

Ben Faw is a guest contributor to Lifeguides, and a prior contributor to CNN, Business Insider, Military.com, and several other publishers on issues ranging from business school to military members transition into the private sector. 

Follow Ben on Twitter: @btfaw 

Comment below or start the conversation here and connect within the military community.

Uvize: How A Navy Veteran Launched A Scrappy Technology Startup

Capt Sean Maday, USAF

Dave Cass is the CEO and Co-founder of Uvize, a technology startup focused on helping military Veterans succeed in higher education. Cass and the Uvize team have been leveraging their military training and experience to build a scrappy technology company in Boulder, Colorado.

After commissioning as a U.S. Navy officer through the ROTC program at Tulane University, Dave Cass became a naval aviator and flew SH-60B Seahawk helicopters. After ten years on active-duty, Cass chose to prioritize his family life and separate from the Navy.

Like many transitioning Veterans, Cass took a job with a large corporation upon leaving the military. Cass joined Sun Microsystems in Broomfield, Colorado and led efforts to craft business strategies for international markets.

While Cass found career success in corporate America, he missed the camaraderie and continual education he had enjoyed in the Navy. It was the desire to rekindle those feelings that drew him to pursue higher education through a graduate program at the University of Colorado. As a graduate student, Cass became passionate about helping other Veterans find success in higher education.

At the University of Colorado, Cass met David Parker, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, who was using the GI Bill to fund his second master’s degree. Parker is an amazing example of educational success for a military Veteran. Parker had earned his bachelor's degree using tuition assistance while on active-duty and knew what it took be successful in academia. In Parker, Cass found someone who could take academic concepts about mentorship and transform them into pragmatic technical solutions.

Cass and Parker aligned on a desire to improve lagging higher education graduation rates among Veterans. This mutual passion led to an idea that would became Uvize. Today, Uvize is a software platform that delivers mentorship, online academic orientation and preparation to military Veterans attending colleges and universities.

The idea for Uvize matured into a true startup in 2012 when Cass and Parker attended the first Patriot Boot Camp in Washington, D.C. The 3-day Patriot Boot Camp program helped the pair hone their startup vision and solidify their co-founder relationship.

After Patriot Boot Camp, Cass and Parker were accepted into the Techstars Rising Stars program - a year long mentorship pairing that extends technology startup opportunities to demographic groups that are underrepresented in the technology startup community (Veterans being the underrepresented population in this case). During their time in Rising Stars, Cass and Parker further refined and developed their idea for Uvize.

In 2013, Uvize applied to, participated in and graduated from the 2013 TechStars-Kaplan startup accelerator program in New York City. Techstars is an incredibly competitive technology accelerator that annually only accepts 1% of applicants to participate. By the numbers, the selection rates for participation in Techstars are more competitive than the admissions processes at some of the most revered U.S. universities. The Techstars accelerator experience gave Uvize seed capital and 13 weeks of intensive business mentorship. The Uvize team stood out among the thousands of tech startups that applied to Techstars in 2013, and joined an exclusive group of companies that can call themselves Techstars graduates.

By being accepted to Techstars, Cass and Parker achieved a sort of elite status in the technology startup community, and ultimately dispelled several false notions about the nature of technology entrepreneurship - the same notions that may be keeping other military Veterans from jumping into technology entrepreneurship.

Popular culture often portrays technology company founders as young university students who wear flip flops and come from non-traditional professional channels. These stereotypes can make many military Veterans feel too old or too institutionalized to even attempt a technology startup.

Military Veterans who are interested in launching their own technology startups can look to Dave Cass and the Uvize team for inspiration and a general roadmap for success! Today the Uvize platform has 29,000 online participants and is realizing Cass’s dream of helping Veterans be successful in higher education. The future for Uvize looks bright as they expand their mentorship platform to support entrepreneurship accelerators and corporate organizations.

The triumph of Uvize is a testament to how hard work, resolve and execution of a plan can bring success in business. Uvize stands as a shining example of Veterans leveraging their military training and personal perseverance to build technology companies of scale and impact.

This is the first profile in a three-part series to highlight successful Veteran-led technology companies. This series is a partnership between RallyPoint and Patriot Boot Camp.

Comment below or start the conversation here and connect within the military community.