Blake Stilwell
No matter what branch we served in in the U.S. military, there are a few things that are universal. All veterans have this innate need to show up 15 minutes early to everything. Many of us can still eat Thanksgiving dinner within two minutes (including dessert). Many veterans would also be lying if they aren’t a little proud of themselves when their pee is clear (if you know, you know).
While those are fun but forcibly instilled personality quirks, there are a few things that will turn out to be pretty handy over the course of a veteran’s life and career that our service has provided us. These are things that aren’t just good to know, they’re good to keep. Here are five of those habits you learned from the military that you should keep doing in the workplace forever.
1. Praise in Public; Criticize in Private
It’s seldom a good idea to embarrass or belittle a subordinate in front of the entire unit. The same can be said for working in a civilian job. If we have to chew someone out, we don’t do it in front of all their coworkers.
Veterans know that a public ass-chewing doesn’t do the group any good, will hurt the group’s respect for you, and impact their performance. A good subordinate will know they messed up, no matter how loud you get. We all know discipline in private saves face and doesn’t hurt the unit as a whole.
2. Integrity First
Lies only force the teller to create more lies to support the original lie. Honesty is important in every aspect of everyone’s life, and dishonesty can hurt your relationships with everyone around you. The reason every branch of the military insists on integrity is because that’s how critical it is.
Once anyone is caught in a lie, it destroys the trust between two or more people. Faith in each other’s integrity allows us all to operate with full support and confidence in each other and our surroundings.
3. There is no such thing as “I can’t”
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