That’s a statement I hear a lot in my work with the training and staffing team here at Vets2PM as we help thousands of military members become successful veteran project managers in the CIVDIV.
I give them a little thought exercise, “thoughtEX”, by asking them to determine whether I am talking about their X Service branch or Coca Cola…
“Is the large, complex, bureaucratic, rules and SOP-laden organization that you’re asked to solve hard problems in through others, some unwilling or unable, with limited resources and time, your Department of X (insert there Branch of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard) or Coca Cola?”.
And regardless of the answer, they’re right! While the mission and purpose of the two organizations couldn’t be more different, the organizations themselves are the exactly the same. Look at the description above in the thoughtEX.
I go on to conclude with them that their experience is germane to both organizations, if conveyed accurately, in their terms they understand; the language of ‘management’. Of which leadership is a function. Vets2PM’s free project management experience translator and digital copy of How To Speak Civilian Fluently! can take a lot of the hard guesswork out of translating military-to-civilian experience. Just ask one of the thousands that have used them. For free. For life.
www.vets2pm.com/freeresources and www.vets2pm.com/cmthankyou