How Military Leadership Shapes Entrepreneurial Success

Military leadership combines the theoretical and practical into a skillset that thrives in most organizational contexts. Planning missions, securing supplies, and training comrades are all integral parts of being in a military division.

In entrepreneurship, these abilities make starting and downing any kind of business venture faster, easier, and more likely to lead to a long-lasting enterprise. Entrepreneurialism is a path that necessitates leadership skills, starting with the entrepreneur having the discipline needed to execute the process of starting and growing their business.

Key Leadership Skills from the Military Discipline

One of the most critical characteristics for any entrepreneur is discipline. Discipline means doing what needs to be done regardless of how unpleasant or uncomfortable that may be. Things like saving money, canceling contracts with more expensive suppliers, downsizing office space during hard economic times, or intensive rebranding may be needed for the agency’s overall success. If an entrepreneur doesn’t have the discipline to perform such tasks, even if it means sacrificing some relationships, time, or other resources, succeeding in the long term will be difficult.

Time Management

Time management is developed early on in military service. Much of what happens on a day-to-day basis is on a strict timeline. Timing is critical for various aspects of successful combat and combat preparation. The same goes for entrepreneurship. Being able to manage time well means being able to work more efficiently. While this can mean meeting deliverable deadlines for clients or shipping orders in a timely fashion, time management also impacts other business operations components. Going to bed on time in order to get an adequate amount of sleep means working more energetically and accurately the following day. Being on time for meetings with partners or clients shows respect for their time and strengthens relationships. Paying bills on time means avoiding late fees or interest charges. The most savvy entrepreneurs can prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and meet those deadlines consistently.

High-Stakes Decision Making

Knowing the best decision in any given situation can be difficult. Being able to understand the feasible options, recognize the ultimate goal, and anticipate the consequences of each possible choice is essential in military settings, whether someone is a soldier on an active battlefield or office in an administrative role. While most people can make fast decisions when necessary, those choices can often be poorly thought out. This is because most people who haven’t been trained do not understand how their decisions will impact themselves and the people around them over the course of hours, months, or even years. In the military, this kind of training is standard so that personnel can select the appropriate options as quickly as possible.

When running a business, these skills are necessary with changing customer preferences, fluctuating markets, new competitors, and technological advancements. Understanding the most feasible options based on the firm’s resources, analyzing how various choices fit into achieving the business’s overall mission, and recognizing how the choice can have far-reaching results, whether they be positive or negative, all go into making sound business decisions as an entrepreneur.

Resilience

Being resilient is about able to bounce back from adversity. In military settings, this must be the standard or no one will be able to perform their duties adequately. Being completely overwhelmed by a single setback would be a catastrophic failure for any team. Military operatives must learn how to recover, assess what went wrong, and get back into the fight as quickly as possible.

Similarly, every company faces challenges at some point during its existence. Sometimes these will be minor issues that are easily taken care of. Other times, the business can be on the brink of destruction. However, the entrepreneurs who find a way to face these challenges and keep moving forward are the ones who will thrive in the coming years and decades.

Building a Cohesive Team

A military could not consist of a single person no more than a healthy business can. Partnerships must be made so that all aspects of the organization are well taken care of by specialists.

In the military, various rankings and groupings allow each division to function effectively. For example, instead of a supervisor trying to manage 100 people, they break the 100 into 10 groups of 10 and assigns one of the members of each group to be the leader for that group. These leaders report back to the supervisor to help with any major issues. This means each leader only has to focus on managing the nine other people on their team while the supervisor can focus most of their attention on supporting the ten leaders. This keeps each person from spreading their efforts too thin while maintaining an overall necessary group size of 100 people. Similarly, ranks like captains, colonels, and generals are meant to oversee lower-ranking officers.

While the military has many pre-established ranks and titles that personnel can be assigned, entrepreneurs may have to start building their team from nothing, creating and modifying roles within the organization as they go.

Clear Communication

Any team that cannot communicate clearly with one another risks low productivity, low morale, and disappointing business performance in the market. Team members need to understand their roles within the organization, as well as other team members’ roles, for a business to run efficiently. Stepping on the toes of other departments, undoing the work of teammates, and working toward varying goals are all things that can happen when the company’s mission, each department’s goals, and each individual’s responsibilities are not clearly defined. 

Trust

To work together, team members need to be able to trust one another. This is as true on a battlefield as in an office space. Consistently delivering payroll, facilitating meetings, holding workers accountable for their performance, and communicating shifting objectives during a project are all examples of ways entrepreneurs can garner trust within their teams. When partners or employees no longer see their work environment or teammates as reliable, they are more likely to leave for a more consistent and safe place.

Empowerment

The military demands a lot from its members. But that’s only after those members have been empowered. Once they understand expectations, they are asked to meet them. Once they are provided with skills training, they are asked to use those skills on behalf of their unit. Even providing food, clothing, and shelter is a way to invest in each soldier so that they can support the organization as a whole.

Entrepreneurs can apply this same principle to their enterprises. This can be by providing partners with opportunities for growth, training them in the skills they need to be stronger assets for the business, and providing them with the technology and other tools they need to do their best work on behalf of the company. Empowered team members are more effective in their work.

A Case Study in Military-Experienced Entrepreneurship: Jair Matis, CMSgt-(R)

Jair Matis is a retired Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force, where he was a combat controller. He retired from military service on September 1st, 2023 after serving his country with honor and distinction for nearly 22 years, and went on to become an entrepreneur of multiple business entities.

He is the co-owner of Optimize U locations in Louisville, Jeffersonville, and Owensboro, as well as a site in Cincinnati, Ohio. Optimize U offers wellness solutions involving treatments such as cryotherapy and hormone level optimization to help clients with goals such as lowering anxiety, losing weight, reducing mood swings, and gaining muscle.

At JLM Consultants and CJM Consultants, where he is also a co-owner, clients receive business services, including help with call center management, customer retention, security, and project management.

His example illustrates precisely how the knowledge and training received in the military translates to accomplishments in the business world.

Military Training is Entrepreneurship Training

Being in the military means learning to be a leader, a team player, and a disciplined member of a larger organization. These skills are the foundation of achievement within the commercial world. Anyone with military training is well-positioned to translate their talents and education into an exemplary business venture that can withstand the various trials and risks inherent in the business world and thrive for decades.

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