Happy Birthday to the Civil Air Patrol. In the late 1930s, more than 150,000 volunteers with a love for aviation argued for an organization to put their planes and flying skills to use in defense of their country. As a result, the Civil Air Patrol was born one week prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Read More Here….
Hiring decisions are not always easy especially for your leadership positions. A good recruiter or hiring manager is going to screen all applicants looking for the best candidate for the job. Often times, a graduate degree is the preferred criteria, but is there a better way to find potential leaders and managers for your organization? Have you considered Senior Military Noncommissioned Officers to fill critical leader position?
Before we continue, let’s pause for a brief military history lesson. Prior to 1958, the highest enlisted pay grade across the U.S. military was E-7. On June 1, 1958, under an Amendment to the Career Compensation Act of 1949, the pay grades of E-8 and E-9 were added to the military rank structure. At the time, these pay grades were known as “Super Grades”. This is also the reason the Air Force does not have Warrant Officers, but that’s a story for another time.
The fact that these new pay grades were referred to as “Super Grades” was no accident. The men and women who attained those ranks were the top leaders in their respective service branch. Their leadership was tried and tested over a decade or more and they continued to remain at the top of their game. The attributes of those pioneering E-8 and E-9s still exist in the senior military leaders of today.
Here is a list of the “Super Grades” you might see on a resume:
Army
E-8 Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
E-9 Sergeant Major/Command Sergeant Major
Navy/Coast Guard
E-8 Senior Chief Petty Officer
E-9 Master Chief Petty Officer/Command Master Chief
Air Force
E-8 Senior Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
E-9 Chief Master Sergeant/Command Chief Master Sergeant
Marine Corps
E-8 Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
E-9 Master Gunnery Sergeant/Sergeant Major
So why should you consider hiring a Master Sergeant as opposed to a Master’s Degree? Here are the top 10 reasons for hiring a tried, tested, and proven senior military leader.
Today’s military men and women are of the highest caliber in US history with regards to training, leadership development, and their varied skill sets. Our military is the best in the world because of exceptional senior leaders.
Forward March Inc., has been helping organizations attract, hire, and retain the best Senior NCOs for organizations who want to achieve exceptional things. Let us show you how to bring those outstanding men and women into your organization. Take the next step to move your company from great to Extraordinary!
Why Invest in Leadership Development?
Perhaps my most enjoyable assignment in my 24 year Army career was a Senior Personnel and Leader Developer. I had the privilege of traveling the country briefing Soldiers on personal and professional development issues. I sat down with senior Army leaders to discuss and establish organizational development goals covering key points such as professional military education, civilian education, and Soldier development programs.
What I enjoyed the most was the one-on-one interaction with troops during breaks or at the end of the day where they could openly ask questions they did not want to ask during my seminar. Whether I was briefing on the east coast, west coast, or the mid-west, one thing was very clear, individuals were hungry for leader development. The unfortunate fact is, however, that most people do not get it at the level at which they truly need it.
Leader development is a deliberate, continuous, sequential, and progressive process, steeped in organizational values. It grows employee into competent and confident leaders capable of decisive action. Leader development is achieved through life-long blend of the knowledge, skills, and experiences gained through training and education opportunities the three pillars of leader development which are institutional training, operational experience, and self-development
Institutional Training is the formal education an employee receives through institutions of higher learning and formal organizational training programs. The purpose of institutional training is to provide a framework or basic principles behind the things we do.
Operational experience is simply learning by doing or leadership in action. It means taking lessons learned and turn them into new and effective ways of doing business. Operational experience also includes seeking mentorships from others in the industry.
Self-Development focuses on maximizing personal strengths, over-coming weaknesses, and achieving individual development goals. This can be as simple as reading a book on how to close a sale or studying a technical manual.
So why is leader development so important? Just as people are not all born with the ability or desire to play sports, not all people are natural born leaders. Different personality traits and characteristics can help or hinder a one’s leadership effectiveness. It requires formalized training, experience, and guidance to develop and shape effective leader competencies.
Perhaps former Chief of Staff of the Army, General Edward C. Meyer said it best, “Just as the diamond requires three properties for its formation—carbon, heat, and pressure—successful leaders require the interaction of three properties—character, knowledge, and application. Like carbon to the diamond, character is the basic quality of the leader.… But as carbon alone does not create a diamond, neither can character alone create a leader. The diamond needs heat. Man needs knowledge, study and preparation.… The third property, pressure—acting in conjunction with carbon and heat—forms the diamond. Similarly, one’s character attended by knowledge, blooms through application to produce a leader.” The bottom line is this; leader development is a process or constant learning and development.
Here are some key points for an effective leader development program:
Commitment. Leader development training its more than a once or twice a year event. It’s a long-term investment for the future that requires a high level of time and dedication. Commitment, however, goes both ways here. An organization must pledge the time develop its employees, and employees must buy into and commit to their own self-development.
Formal and Funded. Part of an organizations commitment to leader development is developing, planning, and executing formal training. This can be done internally or using an outside organization to train. Either way, a certain level of capital must be set aside to ensure the training happens.
Mentorship. A huge piece of the operational experience pillar is mentorship. Mentorship starts at on-boarding and continues throughout an individual’s career regardless of their level within the organization. Mentorship can come from within the company or even from mentors externally within the same industry. Either way, good leaders learn from the successes and failures of themselves and others.
Leader Rotation. I have seen it time and again where leaders are afraid to put too much time in developing their employee. The fear is that the better job they do in developing young leaders, the more likely they are to become irrelevant to the organization and replaced. First, if this is your thought process, you might need to move on anyway. Second, you owe it to your future leaders to show them how to lead within the organization. What better way to learn how a company operates than rotate within each department. This in leadership in action!
Best Practices. Great organizations are always looking for ways to improve processes and practices. It takes engaged leaders on the ground to track what is working, not working or could be done better. The same applies to current management processes. These best practices need to be shared with leaders at all levels in the organization and applied towards the company’s success.
With over 110 years of military leader development experience behind us, let Forward March Inc., help you achieve your leader development goals. We offer varied types of training courses tailored around your needs, ranging from one-on-one professional coaching, to on-site group training, that bring a “boot-camp” style of training with a fun flair. It’s not just training, it’s a commitment to organizational excellence!
According to the Small Business Association Office of Advocacy veterans make up approximately 9.1% of business owners. Veterans have a long standing history of leaving or retiring from military service and venturing out as small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Today there are more opportunities for Americans to start their own business than ever before. There are a multitude of ways that you can start your own business from franchises and licensing opportunities to buying into existing businesses and sales distribution markets, just to name a few. Starting a home-based-business is also always an option and many people exercise this option with varying results. The reasons for business failure are varied but one thing that helps ensure success is a good business model and sound business planning.
Many opportunities touted in the “sharing economy” and in the world of multi level marketing (MLM) promise great financial futures but the statistical reality is that few people who embark in these ventures ever make the income they dreamed of making when they started. These kinds of business “opportunities” have been in the news again with the public commitment of Uber to bring 50,000 vets onboard. You can read about what is going on with that here.
If you want to avoid the pitfalls of becoming another statistic in these markets you can mitigate your risk. Take your time, and research the business you are getting into. If a business opportunity sounds too good to be true, conventional wisdom dictates that it probably is. However, no harm comes from doing your homework and researching opportunities. Entrepreneur magazine has some great advice on how to research a business opportunity. You can find their informative article here.
Veterans who wish to go down the road of entrepreneurship have a lot of opportunities today to learn, get mentored and find proven methods of business success. If you are interested in joining the ranks of veterans who own their own business then you will definitely be interested in some of the outstanding opportunities available to you right now. Many of these opportunities are free for veterans! While many of these opportunities are in the San Antonio area we encourage veterans to look into their local Chamber, SBA, and university locations to find out if programs like this are being offered in their location.
We posted a while back that the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is “re-booting” their entrepreneurial boot-camp for military veterans. You can learn more about that here.
Veterans who want to join the SBA and start down the track of entrepreneurship should check out the latest article on the San Antonio Business Journal site. The SBA is extending their fee waiver program for veterans through 2015!
Veterans and transitioning military interested in starting their own business should also check out the San Antonio Small Business Development Center at UTSA. This program offers a number of benefits including special veterans assistance.
Forward March Inc. has an outstanding relationship with our customer Fred Astarie Dance Studios. You owe it to yourself to check out our previous post to learn more about the outstanding opportunities for employment and even franchise ownership with them.
For veterans who want to learn a new skill, or expand on a skill-set should check out the fine folks over at Workforce Solutions Alamo and Alamo Colleges are collaborating to offer short-term skills development programs in the areas of Information Technology, the Manufacturing Industry and Aerospace. Learn more here.
Don’t forget, that if you are a veteran or transitioning military and you are looking for employment or a career change make sure you check out our FREE Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event on November 17th. Details can be found here.
If you represent a company, organization, or educational institution this VET Networking Event is free for you as well. Forward March Inc. is committed to continuing our 35+ year history of bringing veterans and companies together to make careers happen! Details can be found here. Make sure you check out or Corporate to Camouflage Conference where we teach businesses and organizations the art of finding, attracting, hiring and retaining veteran talent.
Its R.E.D. Friday.
Remember those who are deployed, catch our post here to learn more about what you can do. Today however, take the time to remember the families of those deployed. Why? Well, tomorrow starts Military Family Month, you can read more about what that is in our post yesterday. Take the time to do something more than just think about a military family. If you know one, or know of one, take the time to reach out and connect in a meaningful way.
Here at Forward March Inc. we are in high gear getting ready for our Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event. This event on November 17th is FREE for all veterans, transitioning military and their families! Learn at the end of this post.
Remember that Forward March Inc. is a company of veterans helping veterans. We NEVER charge a veteran in any way for our services. Come meet employers, schools and connect with veteran organizations at this outstanding event.
Are you a veteran or transitioning military that is looking to be your own boss?
Are you interested in starting your own business or owning a franchise?
If so, we would like to share some information with you today.
Forward March Inc. is an SDVOB, that is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business. We are a company of veterans helping veterans. We take a lot of pride in our work and in the fact that we are in the ranks of our military service brothers and sisters who have started their own business. As of 2012, according to the SBA, veterans made up 9.1 percent of all business owners. According to the George Bush Institute, and many other research groups, veteran owned businesses are far more likely to succeed than non-veteran owned businesses.
If you are interested in joining the ranks of veterans who own their own business then you will definitely be interested in some of the outstanding opportunities available to you right now. Many of these opportunities are free for veterans! While many of these opportunities are in the San Antonio area we encourage veterans to look into their local Chamber, SBA, and university locations to find out if programs like this are being offered in their location.
Here is a roundup of opportunities that we found for veterans this week:
The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce is “re-booting” their entrepreneurial boot-camp for military veterans. You can learn more about that here.
Veterans who want to join the SBA and start down the track of entrepreneurship should check out the latest article on the San Antonio Business Journal site. The SBA is extending their fee waiver program for veterans through 2015!
Veterans and transitioning military interested in starting their own business should also check out the San Antonio Small Business Development Center at UTSA. This program offers a number of benefits including special veterans assistance.
Forward March Inc. has an outstanding relationship with our customer Fred Astarie Dance Studios. You owe it to yourself to check out our previous post to learn more about the outstanding opportunities for employment and even franchise ownership with them.
For veterans who want to learn a new skill, or expand on a skill-set should check out the fine folks over at Workforce Solutions Alamo and Alamo Colleges are collaborating to offer short-term skills development programs in the areas of Information Technology, the Manufacturing Industry and Aerospace. Learn more here.
Veterans, Transitioning Military Personnel, and their families are encouraged to meet with employers at this free event.
Don’t forget, that if you are a veteran or transitioning military and you are looking for employment or a career change make sure you check out our FREE Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event on November 17th. Details can be found here.
If you represent a company, organization, or educational institution this VET Networking Event is free for you as well. Forward March Inc. is committed to continuing our 35+ year history of bringing veterans and companies together to make careers happen! Details can be found here. Make sure you check out or Corporate to Camouflage Conference where we teach businesses and organizations the art of finding, attracting, hiring and retaining veteran talent.
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. “
– Douglas McArthur
Companies and organizations rise or fall on the leadership abilities of those who are in charge within the organization. Leaders in business today come in a wide variety of types, each seeming to bring their own leadership style to the table. Anyone who has worked for a company will be well aware of the successes or failures of various people in leadership positions. While everyone seems to enjoy the successes of a particular leader, it’s the failures that haunt the workplace for much longer. It goes without saying that quality leaders provide not only good morale and workplace organization, they also directly affect the company’s bottom line.
Just as people are not all born with the ability or desire to play sports, not all people are natural born leaders. Different personal traits and characteristics can help or hinder a person’s leadership effectiveness and require formalized programs for developing leadership competencies. Everyone can develop his or her leadership effectiveness, which takes focus, practice and persistence more akin to learning a musical instrument than reading a book.
What we have learned in business is that classroom-style training and associated reading is effective in helping leaders to know more about what is involved in leading well. However, knowing what to do and doing what you know are two very different outcomes. It is estimated that as little as 15% of learning from traditional classroom style training results in sustained behavioral change within the workplace.
So what is the best form of leadership training? That question probably has a variety of differing answers depending upon who you ask. At Forward March Inc. (FMI) we are less concerned with the variety of answers and more concerned with documented methodologies for achieving high quality leadership training. As they say, opinions are like belly-buttons, but at the end of the day what any company or organization needs is high quality proven leadership training and not opinions or half-baked theories. FMI focuses on training for results.
Training for results starts with changing the behavior for maximum performance. FMI collaborates with your management team to increase your bottom line while building an environment. This environment starts with a mindset which flows to an organizational mindset thus setting a new standard of excellence. Our team has extensive experience in:
We offer varied types of training courses tailored around your needs, ranging from one-on-one professional coaching to on-site group training, some that bring a “boot-camp” level of training style with a fun flair. Please refer to our program page to find out the best program for you.
Our program will help your company or organization to develop strong leaders that will be equipped to drastically change the culture of your team. Your team can expect growth in:
We grow leaders, organizations and bottom line like no other!
Contact us today to start your transformative leadership training!
Learn more about our leadership training HERE.
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If you want to have high quality leadership and improved team performance then you need to come to our Camouflage to Corporate Conference. You will learn how to start hiring high quality military talent which will help you achieve mission success!
Come see us at our Corporate to Camouflage Conference and/or our FREE Veteran Employment Transition Networking Event.
Employee turnover can be costly for any employer of any size. The more responsibility and skill that a position entails then the harder it is to fill. Today’s employees, across the board, tend to stay with an employer for a shorter and shorter period of time. On average employees stay with employers for about two years. According to a 2012 article in Forbes the vast majority of Millennials spend three years or less with an employer. The reasons for “job hopping” include salary increases, benefits increases and upward mobility.
According to The Navy Times 65% of vets are likely to leave their first civilian job within 2 years.The reasons cited above for the Millennials definitely come into play for veterans but the real reason for the high turnover has more to do with the things we have been blogging about here on the Forward March Inc. news site for a while now.
As we have pointed out in the past veterans need to do a much better job of translating all of their skills and experiences into a resume that a civilian employer can understand. Verbal communication during the interview process is something veterans need to work on as well. Just as in the civilian world veterans need to spend time researching the jobs and companies they are shooting for. Veterans need to practice their interviewing skills and have their resumes reviewed to insure that it is understandable to a civilian HR recruiter. Employers, as we have noted, in previous articles, need to do a much better job of learning about military vocabulary, rank, and military skills.
Employers who actively work a strategy to retain their high quality military talent see benefits in a multitude of ways. This is a win/win for employers and veterans alike. You can learn more about retaining military talent in our recent article here.
The good news for veterans and transitioning military is that there is a wealth of information as well as organizations that are committed to helping veterans prepare for civilian employment. Check out our previous three part article on interviewing, resumes and job preparation for veterans and transitioning military personnel.
The good news for employers is that Forward March Inc. can help with the finding, attracting, hiring and retaining of high quality military talent. We have written quite a bit about this lately. Our solutions can be employed quickly, they are cost efficient and they are scalable. We can help your company learn the proven methods of retaining high quality military talent as well. We are a company of veterans committed to helping veterans find outstanding career opportunities with companies committed to hiring veterans. Veteran retention is as important to us as it is to our customers.
How can you get started hiring veterans today? Its easy, just contact us today.
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