Military Success Trait – Culture
In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Advantage, the author discusses how the customs and approach of a team, their culture, can be the competitive advantage in modern business. That is, marketing, strategy and execution are only as effective as the team that is doing the work. Dysfunctional teams lose their effectiveness in the noise of their bad culture.
As I assist military job seekers with finding civilian careers every day, I see a similar attribute as a military success trait – culture. Military leaders are taught to build winning teams. They do the best with who they have and motivate from the middle. They help B-players become A-players and keep A-players challenged. They accomplish this through value-focused leadership that builds performance through culture.
Culture is a force multiplier. Building a team that cares about each other and the accomplishment of their objectives – whether in business or in the military – will result in a group that outperforms perhaps more advantaged teams who don’t have the same culture strengths and get stuck in bureaucracy or turmoil.
Ever ask a veteran why they did what they did? Most did “it” for their teammates. That’s culture.
View all of the Military Success Traits series.
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