Johnson & Johnson’s Alex Gorsky. Procter & Gamble’s Robert A. McDonald. FedEx’s Fred Smith.
These current and retired CEOs are alike in that they have all brought invaluable military service experiences to their executive leadership roles.
And these are just three of many successful executives with military ties.
“For decades, former generals or officers frequently found high-flying new careers in corporate executive suites, and their leadership was almost universally lauded,” notes Elizabeth G. Olsen in a piece for CNN Money.
But the number of veterans winding up in the C-suites of large, publicly held firms has declined over the past few decades – since 1980, the proportion of CEOs with a background in military service decreased from 59 percent to just 6.2 percent today, according to Northwestern University’s Kellogg Insight.
Despite these dwindling numbers, however, I’d argue that companies would be remiss to continue overlooking veterans’ capacity to contribute as executives.
Here are three reasons why:
1) Veterans acquire desirable competencies from the school of hands-on experience.
While some may pass over veterans for a C-suite role, opting instead for those with Ivy League credentials, they could be missing out on a candidate with a rigorous hands-on – rather than university – education.
Thomas Wiffler, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., explains well the influence of his military experience on his business successes. In an interview with Crain’s Chicago Business, Wiffler says: “(My time in the military) helped me identify opportunities and how to work through challenges, and how to motivate people toward executing on a plan. I actually refer to my active duty time as the hands-on, practical leadership MBA. … The role I play is to identify opportunities for people to bring out their best. I think the skills that I learned in the Marines served as a foundation for that: listening, making sure you get to know your people and what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to invest in them so they can become stronger and more dynamic.”
While the paths may be different for civilians vs. military veterans, the important thing for hiring companies to keep in mind is the resulting competencies taken away from candidates’ past experiences.
2) Veterans perform well under pressure.
Military training can set up leaders to perform well when stressed, both as soldiers and as civilians.
The results from a 2009 paper by Harvard University’s Efraim Benmelech and Boston University’s Carola Frydman illustrate this point, indicating that CEOs with military service perform better during industry turndowns and times of distress, while also exhibiting other strengths such as reliably ethical behavior.
“(Veterans) perform better under pressure,” says study author Benmelech in an interview with Kellogg Insight. “Our interpretation is that service in the military may prepare one to make tough decisions and show leadership in tough times.”
3) Veterans garner the trust of Americans.
Each year, Gallup conducts a poll that asks Americans about their confidence in both public and private institutions. The one institution that has consistently topped the list most every year since the poll began in 1973? The military, according to the Harvard Business Review.
The latest results of the poll show that 76 percent of those surveyed have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the military, while only 22 percent feel the same about big business.
So whether CEOs with military backgrounds are “rallying their troops” to improve business outcomes or are winning the confidence of outside investors, the amount of trust that the American people have in veterans is a potential boon for the companies they go on to lead.
Happy Memorial Day from the team at Lantern Partners.
