Discover how lessons learned by a special forces veteran can be applied to the worlds of business, finance, strategy, and marketing.
“It’s not survival of the fittest; it’s survival of the most adaptable.” -Robert Patrick Lewis
The Cheat Sheet:
- The worst time to plan for an emergency is after it’s already happened.
- Understand the importance of teamwork, but be prepared to rely on your own strengths and adapt to a situation for those times when teamwork falls through.
- How much could you write if you never had writer’s block?
- Why is there a disconnect between veterans and the HR departments of companies that want to hire them?
- How can military and combat experience be used in the business world?
- And so much more…
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When you’re doing whatever it is you do to put food on the table and a roof over your head, do you consider yourself more of a team player or a lone wolf? Either way, if you feel like you’re in crisis mode at work most of the time but you’re too overwhelmed to do anything that would improve the situation, you could do with a new perspective — and a new strategy.
Former guest and US Army Green Beret-turned author, entrepreneur, podcast host, and public speaker Robert Patrick Lewis returns to The Art of Charm to tell us how his unique experiences in active duty translate to the civilian business world. After all, who knows more about teamwork, communication, and planning for — and reacting to — an emergency than a Green Beret?
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Whether you’re an entrepreneur, involved with a small business, or exist as part of a larger corporate hierarchy, you’re expected to set goals, perform tasks, and get results. That’s just the nature of business — any business. As human beings, some of us operate more efficiently on our own than with others, whereas some of us possess a more natural affinity for being part of a team.
As Robert Patrick Lewis discovered during his time as a US Army Green Beret in Iraq and Afghanistan, the chaos of war doesn’t allow its participants the luxury of picking and choosing between being team players or lone wolves. Green Berets are expected to know how to work within the framework of a team with all of its members’ expertise, support, and resources, but they need to be prepared if they’re cut off from that team and get the job done on their own if Plan A (or B or C or D or E, etc.) is thwarted.
Green Berets must be able to conquer any scenario (or country) with, as Robert tells us, “very vague instructions and a general direction.” Being successful (and his colorful assortment of medals — including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star — lends credibility to his assertions) relies on being able to adapt to navigate whatever hazards, obstacles, and unexpected detours are working against you.
So when he made the transition from military to civilian life, was it a shocking world of difference? Robert tells us how he was taken on by Accelerate ExBellum, a recruitment company run by former Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, Land teams) that specifically hires special operations veterans for companies. “Omnicom hired a few special operations veterans and just loved them,” says Robert. “Went, ‘Oh, my God! These guys are awesome!’ because of the way we can look at things, the way that we don’t really play politics, the way we compartmentalize, and the way that we handle problems and find solutions quickly.”
From this perspective, the logistic demands of corporate leadership and the can-do attitude of people who have been involved in special operations seem like a good fit. But isn’t there the risk of boredom among these recently active field veterans when you get them a cushy desk job?
Robert, even though he describes himself as someone who’s always had trouble sitting still, sees this as just another challenge. As he learned from college science, the only constant in the universe is change.
“That would be the difference,” says Robert, “between special operations and the training of the conventional Army: be adaptable. It’s not survival of the fittest; it’s survival of the most adaptable.” Rather than being given strict guidelines to follow that are done in the same way every day, Robert was trained to come up with solutions to often life-threatening problems on the fly.
“I’ll figure out how to be the apex predator and just dominate…whatever I’ve got to do.”
Upon introduction to the corporate world, Robert was assigned to the company’s new business department. “New business is not being shy, going out and finding people, and once you find people…[being able] to assimilate to whatever their corporate culture is,” says Robert. “If we are [a good fit], how do we help each other? That’s special forces! I find the warlord I need to work with, sit down with that warlord, make sure I don’t do any faux pas that’s going to my head chopped off, and then figure out how we work together to defeat whatever our enemy is. It sounds very abstract, but it’s a pretty close correlation.”
Green Berets are taught how to adapt to the nuances of foreign cultures to avoid committing any of those so-called “faux pas” that Robert mentioned, and being well-studied on those cultures — and their languages and traditions — well before taking the first step toward interacting with them is key.
In a war zone, lack of preparation can spell a literal death sentence. “If you only know about Iraq,” says Robert, “you’ll get your head chopped off going to Afghanistan, because [they’ve got] wildly different cultures.”
The consequences of not being prepared may be less severe in corporate America, but here’s the important point: a special operations veteran doesn’t go into any situation half-assed. “The marketing industry,” says Robert, “is changing so rapidly that by the time they write a book and create a new course, it’s outdated. Translating all that stuff, again, is just learn to be adaptable. Understand you only have a basic foundation and the learning experience starts on the job — which is the same thing as special forces. They teach what they can…and then you learn once you get to your team.”
In spite of the obvious benefits that people who have been involved in special forces can bring to the table, and as many companies like to say they’re veteran friendly, Robert concedes that there is a disconnect between popular PR and the reality of hiring. “HR reps are so used to writing a job description and looking for black and white bullet points in that job description,” says Robert. Unless an HR rep has direct experience as a veteran or with placing other veterans, the list of qualifications provided by someone who’s been in special forces is going to seem irrelevant to the task at hand.
That’s where Accelerate ExBellum is working to bring clueless companies up to speed, and why Robert started his podcast, Green Beret MBA, a few months ago. It’s the first podcast designed to bridge the gap “between the worlds of the military, corporate America, and entrepreneurship” and “help veterans that didn’t have four years of business school or the past 10 years of experience in the business world.”
Listen to this episode of The Art of Charm in its entirety to learn Robert’s extremely methodical process for writing books — both fiction and non-fiction, how strategy applies to everyday life (not just work), how making your ambitions known on the job can get you flagged (in a good way) for promotion opportunities, why you’re missing out on leads if you’re not using LinkedIn properly, and lots more.
THANKS, ROBERT PATRICK LEWIS!
Resources from this episode:
Robert Patrick Lewis’ website
The Pact by Robert Patrick Lewis
The Green Beret MBA Podcast
Love Me When I’m Gone by Robert Patrick Lewis
Accelerate ExBellum
The Art of Charm bootcamps
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-The Art of Charm Toolbox
-Best of The Art of Charm Podcast
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