From the course: Florent Groberg on Finding Your Purpose after Active Duty

Relating to coworkers

From the course: Florent Groberg on Finding Your Purpose after Active Duty

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Relating to coworkers

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- Let's talk about when you get into that first job, when you get that first opportunity. When you get to interact with that first group of people, whether it's in an interview, or actually in your first job. Don't feel isolated, because the people that you're talking to haven't served and don't understand what you've done. Although you may think that that's very important, in the grand scheme of things, it's kind of like saying that, because they didn't play high school football and you did, you don't have anything in common with them. You have to get over that, and, instead, figure out where that common ground is. Figure out where those things are that you can leverage, and you can use, and you can grow and build upon with other people. You'd be amazed what you have in common with all kinds of people around you. You'd be amazed at how many of those people are willing to help you, and help teach you, and help show you what it is that you need to do in your new job, and how to be successful. Before you know it, you'll be using those people to help you move up, and they'll be helping you. It's not different from the military, except for the fact that the military has a very structured environment of who's in charge and who's not. In the civilian world, in the commercial world, it's really who performs and who doesn't, and people all look at each other as peers until one person doesn't do a good job, or where when somebody does a great job. In the civilian world, the beautiful thing is, is that people gravitate towards leaders. People gravitate towards performers, and you can be that person. You can take that opportunity. But, when you first start, just listen, just try, just learn something new. Don't come in as if you know it already, because, even if you think you do, you probably have more to learn about how it's done in that environment, with that employer, on that team. You know, we all carry a little bit of baggage when we get out of the military. Sometimes, it's bigger baggage. Sometimes, we have to deal with things like PTSD, and those are real wounds. Those are real injuries. But, often, it's just habits. It's things that we learn in the military with the way that the military works, and those things may or may not necessarily translate to the civilian world. Some of those behaviors, you're just going to have to change, but some of them, people are going to be intrigued by and are going to want to understand, because some of those things can be efficiencies gained by the business environment that you've just entered, and you need to be open-minded enough that, although that person you're talking to may not have served, they may want to understand, and you can share those experiences with them in a way that doesn't belittle them or make them feel like an outsider, but, instead, makes it inclusive and enables them to leverage your experiences, so they can then share with you their experiences. Those things, together, make something more efficient, make something better, and make something more effective.

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