Master Class: What Happens to Leadership When You Leave the Military?

What are you supposed to do with your leadership skills once you leave the military? So many senior leaders come to their first career coaching meeting with me, looking for a way to use their leadership skills in their first civilian job.

Leadership is their most transferable skill, their dominant personality trait, their true strength. Besides, employers constantly claim that they want to hire military members for their leadership skills, right?

Skip the job hunt and be a leader who goes straight to being their own boss. Sign up today for our newest master class, “Working for Yourself: Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Veterans and Spouses,” on Thursday, May 23, at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Employers Don’t Hire for Leadership

Job hunters — both officers and enlisted — soon find out that employers do not hire for leadership. In fact, it is considered bad form to call yourself a “proven leader” on your resume or on your LinkedIn profile. There is no job listing for “leader.” Even in the defense industry, leadership roles are usually reserved for those who have experience with profit and loss.

Stay on the job hunt long enough, and you can feel like you are expected to fold away your leadership ability with your old uniforms. Or mount it in your shadow box as a relic of your military past. What a waste.

Veteran Entrepreneur?

I don’t like waste. So I always have senior leaders consider self-employment when they transition. They are usually intrigued at the idea of being their own boss, but they shy away from the concept of entrepreneurship. “I don’t have any big idea,” a senior chief told me recently. “Besides, you have to be born an entrepreneur.”

Stop right there, Senior. There are so many avenues to self-employment in the post-COVID world, especially for veterans. Leadership is not a nice-to-have skill in self-employment; it is a must-have skill. Every transitioning service member, military veteran and constantly moving military spouse owes it to themselves to look at what self-employment and entrepreneurship mean for them in the current economy.

That is why we are proud to announce our newest FREE master class, “Be Your Own Boss: Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Veterans and Spouses” on Thursday, May 23, at 4 p.m. Eastern. In this 60-minute class, you will learn:

• How to tell whether you have the right stuff to be a successful entrepreneur.
• Nine different kinds of self-employment that do not require The Big Idea.
• How to identify the best veteran and spouse entrepreneurial programs for you.
• How to navigate the pitfalls of self-employment and make more money.

Your leadership skills are needed in the civilian world. Find out how you can make that strength work for you so you can get the income, life and rewards that you want most. Sign up for our FREE master class today.

Find the Right Veteran Job

Whether you want to polish your resume, find veteran job fairs in your area or connect with employers looking to hire veterans, Military.com can help. Subscribe to Military.com to have job postings, guides and advice, and more delivered directly to your inbox.

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