What makes a good Officer? What makes a bad Officer?

[Centurian1985]

In effect, they are all 'managers' not 'leaders'; one of the arguments I often get into with other consultants is that I say not everyone can be trained to be a 'leader'.  Leadership is not only self-leadership but group leadership skills and the willingness to take responsibility for decisions which a lot of managers refuse to do.  In addition to needing a minimum level of knowledge/skills/aptitude, you must be willing to make a decision and accept responsibility for that decision. Then, based on the situation and the employees perception of your history and ethics, you can achieve a level of trust and respect from your subordinates.  In the civi world the employee cannot be prosecuted for failing to obey an order, only fired, and even then the employee has legal rights that can prevent being fired, especially if the order was unlawful or outside the realm of their occupation.     

This is a big stumbling block beacuse if you want to sell a program to a company, they dont want to hear that over 50% of their managers will fail a course in leadership.  They dont understand that a manager with a history of poor ethical actions and mistreatment of employees will not be accepted as a group leader in times of stress or emergency.

 

[pbi]

Centurian/Recce DG: What you guys are saying, IMHO, reinforces what I tell a lot of people who worry that service in the Combat Arms will not leave them with any useful skills in civvy street, unlike a more technical (read "saleable") MOC (Or MOSID, or WTF we call it now...) From my (few) conversations with employers, what they really seem to value are not so much the technical skills (most people can be taught these, either at school or on the job) but the human qualities that good service, particularly in the Cbt Arm and especially as an Officer/WO/NCO, tends to develop. Reliability, team work, dedication, ability to put up with BS and still function (to a point...) and basic leadership are all vital to organizations. As we have all highlighted, these traits tend to be sadly lacking. I will say, though, that there are a few progressive organizations that do try to develop leaders, selecting from within based on human qualities. Unfortunately, the tight grip of the union movement, (which IMHO is bitterly opposed to merit-based promotion), tends to exclude these policies from a goodly part of  the work force, especially the uniformed protective services. In the commercial world, especially retail, promoting seems to be based on sales volume, another incentive to let the wrong people get in the driver's seat.

Cheers

 

[Centurian1985]

That just leads to another ranting subject: are retirees being given the right information about how to write their resumes?

The help I got from base HR staff about resume writing was not useful.  I got a lot of help from HR people at university and in business and went through over ten versions before I got it to a level where mine is now considered an industry standard. 

It is rather depressing to know that noone wants to see your military service and achievements.
(Not true in the US, a retired memebr can get a job anywhere with a clean military record.  In canada you have to, not ignore it, but tone it down.) 

The most important part to put in (and that they dont tell you at the BPSO/HR office) is your transferable skills.

Heres are your general titles and what you need to mention in your resume.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
- put in your transferable skills!
highly skilled
energetic
self-motivated
experience in management
seeking a challenging position
level of creativity
problem-solving capabilities
excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communications skills
effective and creative leader
instructor and mentor (if you have been in those positions)
team player (if you are applying for a job as an employee)
team leader (if you are aplying for management positions)
cultural effectiveness
proven record of success and achievement (give examples under achievements!!)
mature, dedicated, and ethical
proven ability to successfully plan, coordinate, and execute complex tasks with little or no direction.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

List educational facilties attended and/or certifications obtained
(DO NOT list battle school, but can use other schools like CFSIS or CFSAS)

I.E. 2004-2005: Human Resources Management Diploma; (Institution, City, Province).
or
1999: Certification in Targeting and Analysis; Royal Military College Air Warfare School, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
or
1994: Leadership Qualification 6A; CFSIS, Canadian Forces Base Borden, Borden, Ontario.

ACHIEVEMENTS
- list recognized achievements related to your transferable skills, and preferably ones you can back up with a piece of paper; doesnt have to be a formal commendation it can be backed up by a statement from your annual PER.
- mention level of success, training positions, leadership positions, any transferable skills related to business, and work in other countries!
- indicate how many courses and training sessions you have been in over the past 5-10 years to show you are a 'continuous learner'.

EXPERIENCE

Mar 05 to Present: Company Name, City, Province
                                Current Position: Project Consultant
                                (phone number and contact name)

Mar 85 to Apr 05: Department of National Defence, (last city and province worked in)
                                Last Positon title: xxxxxx
                                (phone number and contact name of good reference for you)
Thats it for your service - unless you are applying for close protection or overseas private security, then no units, no weapons quals, no postings, if they are interested in that then you can tell them later.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

(now you can list your other skills)
X years experience as an instructor and trainer.
x years experience in leadership, management, team-building, or analysis.
x years experience in interviewing, briefing, or presentation techniques.
x years experience in interpreting human rights or other laws.
x years experience in crisis and change management.
- dont forget volunteer experience especially if you were a president, VP, coach, or committee member!
- mention your skill on computers and which programs you know

I.E. Highly adaptive and skilled in the use of computers and application of computer operations and programs, with training and extensive experience in most Microsoft Office suite products, and additional training and experience on over a dozen other software packages and unique computer configurations.

List other signficant courses,
I.E. Feb 1997: St. John’s First Aid Instructor qualification

REFERENCES AND AVAILABILITY

Available for full-time employment after (Day Month Year).
- Exceptional work and personal references, and letters of reference, are available upon request.
(you do not by law have to provide your references when you apply, but some companies still ask right away; its your choice whether to give it to them or not)
(get reference letters written by people you know BEFORE you leave the military)

Any questions?

 

[Roy Harding]

My Father was a senior executive in a civilian company.  He was was what used to be called a Registered Industrial Accountant - now designated as a Certified General Accountant, I believe.

He was never happy with my career choice in the military - I was supposed to be a Doctor, or an Engineer, or a Lawyer, or something.

Anyway - I recall having dinner with him one night, and I happened to bring up the military definitions of "management" and "leadership".  He was amazed - he told me that they didn't teach such things in the civilian world.  This was a man in a very senior position in a civilian organization admitting that he had never been taught how to "manage", or how to "lead".

Having been in the civilian world for over two years now, I can verify his observation.

 

[pbi]

Roy:  A similar, if not so profound, example from the civil protective services world. A friend of mine was Deputy Chief for Operations of a large Canadian fire service. Following a major multiple alarm fire incident that had a somewhat embarassing outcome for the fire dept, he told me that he and the District Chiefs were looking over how to establish a better command and control system at a major, multi-agency incident, where the scope of incident was too big for the incident commander to be able to see it all from one vantage point. He described that their current system was not very effective, and in fact might have conrtibuted to the bad outcome at the recent fire.

All I did was to describe the very basic C2 setup of a battlegroup HQ, which was the closest thing I could think of to what he was talking about. He was amazed, and very appreciative. Now, I am not trying to mock my friend nor his fire service. I am trying to make the point that in the Army we make a real art and science out of leadership and C3I, far more than any organization I know of. We have a depth of knowledge and experience in these areas that IMHO has no equal. Much of what we see trumpeted about by civil management experts (and sold back to us by consultants) is clearly based on techniques and theories that we have known and practiced for years, if not centuries.

Cheers

 

[pbi]

That just leads to another ranting subject: are retirees being given the right information about how to write their resumes?

I have an excellent little book that I picked up a few years ago in a US Army PX. It is written by a former Command Sgt Maj of the Army, and is entitled "Does Your Resume Wear Combat Boots?. The author wrote it to help retiring US Army personnel get a leg up on getting good civvy jobs.

He identified that a major problem in the US was that an increasing number of employers had little or no understanding of military service, nor of the potential value of transferable skills. For example, a retiring Armor Capt might write:

"I commanded an M1 tank company for two years"

The author said that most employers in the US would have little or no idea how to assess the experience and skills this represented. Instead, he suggested that the officer should have "translated" his military experience something like this:

"For two years I was the CEO of an organization of 120 people, and was responsible for the effective and efficient operation of inventory and infrastructure worth over 100 million dollars. I controlled an annual operating budget of 1 million dollars (or whatever amount...) to ensure the operational readiness of the organization to relocate rapidly anywhere on the globe, complete its mission, and return to its home location. I was personally accountable for all aspects of the training, leading and management of the organization."

Anyway--you get the idea. It's a great book, and one I highly recommend if you can still find it.

Thanks for the info on resume preparation: it is interesting to see what is currently "market standard" these days.

Cheers

 

[DG-41]

I've lost count of the number of times I have walked co-workers through simplified versions of a time estimate, a mission analysis, an estimate, or orders....

DG