Lessons learned from those who’ve served

As we pause to observe Veterans Day on Wednesday, I will proudly join peers across the financial industry to honor the many brave Americans whose service and sacrifice have ensured our freedom and our way of life.

What often goes unnoticed and also is deserving of recognition, is the ripple effect veterans have on the professional organizations they enter and the colleagues they work alongside when they transition to the civilian workforce.

Their capacity to share what they’ve learned under circumstances far more difficult than many of us will ever face — that’s a remarkable and humbling gift to be given, and one that I’ve personally benefited from.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to come to know hundreds of current and former service members at work and in the community. These men and women come from all walks of life and served in a number of different capacities, yet I find what they always have in common is a ready willingness to share their experiences, knowledge and training. Leading by example, they consistently bring out the best in those around them and enhance their organizations’ effectiveness.

Their advice and actions have inspired this civilian to emulate the standards they’ve set, which can sometimes be dauntingly high. When I think about some of the things these brave men and women have generously passed on to me, three things stand out.

First: Setting a clear goal is critical to success. Every service member I’ve had the fortune of getting to know has been goal-oriented because that’s how they’ve been trained. When in uniform, a mission either succeeds or fails — there’s not a lot of gray area. And that success is defined by the answer to one question: Did we achieve our goal?

In business we need to have a firm grasp on where we are headed and we need to set clear metrics for how we will define success. This means establishing individual goals to ensure all team members are doing their part, as well as incremental group goals to ensure everyone is effectively working together to move an organization closer to long-term, sustainable success. The margin for error sometimes can be razor thin, so balancing ambition with pragmatism is critical when defining organizational objectives — after all, isn’t that what sound risk management is all about?

Second: Delivering under pressure is crucial. Those who’ve served have told me that maintaining focus in a dynamic, high-pressure and even hostile environment is a fundamental requirement in order to perform at your best. When you’re able to keep calm during challenging or volatile periods, you prove your value to those who depend on you.

Keeping a clear head and perspective is important for all of us. Our industry has experienced tremendous change in recent years — and in fact, there is a lot of volatility and uncertainty in the markets and in the world in which we live. I’ve learned, and I believe, that we truly serve our clients best when we’re able to step back, set emotion aside and deliver thoughtful perspective. That’s not always easy, but we should all commit ourselves to cultivating the ability to stay focused when others give in to groupthink and hysteria.

And the third lesson: No one can do it alone. Time and again, I’ve heard veteran friends and colleagues describe the military ethos that says success is never the result of a single person’s actions. Rather, they’ve learned the value of being surrounded by a team of specialists — men and women with deep subject-matter expertise and unique, complementary skills.

The same goes for the workplace. I know I rely on colleagues in all areas of the organization to do their jobs — and do them well — so that I can move my own work forward. No one has enough time or capacity to perform every function. Instead, cultivating an environment where colleagues can count on each other and understand how each of their roles ladders up to a broader success is important.

And just as accountability must be shared, we also must share praise. Giving due recognition to those who help achieve an objective is essential to keeping morale high and fostering trust. Instilling that sense of common purpose and the idea that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves is the bedrock of any strong organizational culture.

It’s been said that we often don’t realize the full impact that we have on others. Personally, I know that I’ve captured lessons from people who I’m certain were unaware they were teaching me at all. As Veterans Day approaches, I look forward to thanking those touched by military service, and their families — not only for protecting our country but also for the ways they’ve helped me learn, grow and, I’d like to think, be a better leader.

Robert J. McCann is president Americas and president Wealth Management Americas at UBS.