Alexander Sinclair Edwards of Oklahoma City is a military veteran, police officer, football champ and entrepreneur. With his up close and personal knowledge of what military training can teach, Mr. Edwards discusses in further detail below just how one’s military training can help with a career in starting, running, and operating one’s own business. Mr. Edwards explains the advantages a military background brings to business, and the core values bestowed upon all those who serve.
Who hasn’t heard the myriad of pop songs paying homage to the military, or experienced firsthand the benefits of the brave men and women in uniform? As excellent as the military is for protecting a country, it also prepares its members for running their own businesses says Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City.
The military provides training not only for tactical situations, but teaches skills such as dependability, leadership, a team mentality, and accountability which can be similarly applied to running a business.
In this article, Alexander Sinclair Edwards of Oklahoma City gives an examination of the skills given to a military member in training will be examined, as well as how those skills can translate to an aspiring business owner.
Business Values
Military training is rigorous and the skills it provides to a veteran in the context of military action last well beyond years of service. One of the places these skills can be most useful is in business ventures explains Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City. Listed below are the skills that are applicable to both military and business activities:
- Dependability
- Leadership
- Team Mentality
- Accountability and Responsibility
These descriptive traits certainly sound good on paper, but what do they mean? In the next few sections, Alexander Sinclair Edwards of Oklahoma City dives into each and uncovers what makes these skills so valuable, not only in the army, but in running a successful business.
Dependability
Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City says that the dependability of an employee cannot be overstated as a valuable trait. After all, according to a study performed and published by MoneyPenny.com, as many as half of the workforce in America admit to taking a sick day in order to avoid work.
The value of being where you’re scheduled to be, and performing the tasks you’re required to perform, is summed up in the term “dependability.”
Dependability is something that the military also builds into its trainees. In fact, Alexander Sinclair Edwards of Oklahoma City says that the United States Marine Corp defines dependability as “the proper performance of duty.” In leading others, whether in the military or in business, dependability can promote confidence in those under a supervisor’s authority.
Leadership
In order to run a business, the trait of leadership is a given. In the military, leadership is not only encouraged, but woven into the fabric of the system by way of a hierarchy explains Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City. There are thirteen army ranks of enlistment, according to Military.com. Learning to follow orders and operate within these ranks to accomplish a goal is a trait that translates well to business models.
According to a study done by Kemal Surji of Hawler Medical University, leadership has a positive effect on not only the workplace environment, but on individual employees in terms of performance and organization at large.
Team Mentality
Harvard Business Review found that teamwork is sometimes impactful enough to be the source of employees’ drive to produce new ideas, better performances, and just generally enjoy their work. Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City says that when employees feel that they have a positive impact on the success of their place of work, they become more likely to return and encourage one another in getting the job done.
The military, on the other hand, also teaches teamwork as an essential. If one member of a military party fails to accomplish their task, an entire operation can fall apart. According to Marine Corps Commandant David Berger, a lack of teamwork can ruin operations.
Because of this importance placed on teamwork in the oftentimes life-or-death context of the military, teamwork in the workplace after service is often given equal weight.
Accountability and Responsibility
Alexander Sinclair Edwards of Oklahoma City says that the military places a heavy emphasis on accountability, or the responsibility to answer for one’s own actions, through the action or reporting to one’s commanding officer. This helps military members to work toward a common goal, but it also gives the leadership the information they need to coordinate more efficient activities.
Taking responsibility for one’s own actions and understanding that skill well enough to teach it to others, is just as important in business. In the food service industry, for example, when supplies are not cleaned properly, trainees attempting to learn the proper procedures can become confused, and a loss of excellence in the workplace’s cleanliness can be the result.
Alex Edwards of Oklahoma City says that accountability could resolve this issue: if the employee who, hypothetically, did not properly clean the equipment was answerable for their actions, the problem could be dealt with before bad habits are formed.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, the skills or life lessons that the military imparts to its members are valuable throughout all of life, but especially in running one’s own business. A business model has many of the same requirements for success that the military does, and often benefits from veterans who have already learned leadership, accountability, and teamwork.
