The Art and Science of Veteran Entrepreneurship
Written By TLP Coaching Advisor: Mike Steadman
Your biggest weakness as a veteran business owner is overconfidence in your own leadership abilities.
Although you bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in leadership from your time in the military, you have to also master the art and science of leadership as it applies to your current field of play, building and scaling your business.
This is a different field of play than what you’re accustomed to in the military.
When I was an Infantry Officer in the Marines, I had a great foundation to build upon, first at the Naval Academy, followed by The Basic School, and then eventually the Infantry Officer Course. By the time I showed up to my unit, I was well versed in the science of leading, i.e., briefing the Five Paragraph Order, navigating my chain of command, etc. However, I lacked the art of leading because I hadn't been in front of a Marine Rifle Platoon before.
As a result, I made a lot of mistakes as a platoon commander. Over time, I eventually understood what it meant to lead Marines and how to do it well.
Once I became an entrepreneur and started IRONBOUND Boxing, there was no Basic School or IOC to teach me how to fund and run a free inner-city boxing program. I participated in many great entrepreneur programs that taught me how to explain my idea, but it was a completely different story once I was in the fight.
I already had the grit, resilience, and perseverance to inspire others around me, but what I didn't have was a strategic plan with the following:
Core Values
Quarterly Objectives
Weekly scoreboard to track and measure our progress
Building and managing your operating system is the science of leading as a veteran-owned business owner. You need to develop and practice it as such. You can only wing it for so long until it stifles your growth.
More than likely, you lack the proper tools and frameworks to grow and scale your business, because you have yet to be taught them. Due to overconfidence in your leadership abilities, you’re not even seeking them out, let alone investing in them, unlike your civilian counterparts.
I don't care what anyone says; building a business is a lot like making sausage every day. Most people are making it up as they go, even though they'll never admit it. At a certain point, successful entrepreneurs realize there has to be a better way, which is why they invest so heavily in EOS Worldwide, Scaling Up: A Gazelles Company, and The Lions Pride.
I challenge you to level up, get out of your way, and start to learn the art and science of running a successful business.
Christina Wodtke's book, Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results, is a great place to start. I conducted an interview with her on The Transition Podcast here: https://lnkd.in/epNtdjpt
My next recommendation is that you build out a One-Page Business Plan, which we teach and use at The Lions Pride, which I'll be covering later.
Before you can start developing your own art of leading, you have to master the science of implementing the proper tools and frameworks first. We can show you.
If you’re looking for accountability, resources, and coaching to help you master business, life, and self, all at the same time and aren’t afraid to do the work, book a one-on-one coaching session with me at admin@weareironbound.com.