5 lessons the Army taught me about business...

I served 6 years in the Army National Guard.

5 lessons that I use in business today:

1. Trust but Verify

I find myself teaching this to leadership on our team.

You should have trust within your company that people will do what they say they did.

But you should still verify.

As a leader the task is your responsibility, so when something isn't done or done right - it is your fault.

2. Semper Gumby

Always flexible.

Things change, situations change, environments change.

Software in business break, bugs pop up, clients leave, and so on.

Always be flexible and ready to change on a moments notice.

3. Attention to Detail

A single typo, an inch, or a second can be the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

I worked in IT, so for us it was the difference between the entire base of operations being functional or not.

In business and client-work, the truth remains the same.

4. Chain of Command

This isn't so much a lesson but a structure.

Building a chain of command within your business gives your the bandwidth to keep moving it forward.

This means training operators AND leaders as you grow.

5. Layer 1

This comes from the Computer OSI Model.

When troubleshooting an issue, the problem is most commonly layer 1.

AKA a physical issue.

• Forgot to press send

• Forgot to plug something in

• Forgot to turn something on

• Etc.

I find that 50% of problems are solved at layer 1 and the other 50% are solved in the other 6 layers.

Hope this was helpful

Cheers