Combat Ready Future Ready – National Institute of Motivational and Institutional Development

Major Manish Naik (Retd.)

Introduction

Success will not lower its standard to us. We must raise our standard to success.

Shaquille O’Neal, ,Basketball Legend

Upon leaving the army service in 1998, I was thrown in this VUCA world where I had to figure out on my own as to how to “Repurpose” and take control of my career and life, post military. The few veterans whom I approached for guidance too were in the dark or hadn’t thought too much about their second careers. So largely home-schooled and taking on some hard knocks, I navigated the civvy channels on the strength of my own experiences from the army. Back then when I left the service, I desperately wanted a book like this, a sort of a practical toolkit. To my surprise, there was nothing like this. And after 18 years too again I was surprised to find out that there was nothing like this.

So the idea gathered a form in my mind, and when I pitched it to Nana Nikam, he immediately consented to and gave a go-ahead.

Who will benefit from this book ?

The intended target audience for the book is of course the people from the armed forces. It is not advisable for young officers and cadets to get a ‘retirement know –how’ at the start of their careers, they can use some facets in the book for pure self development. Though the contents seem skewed for tri-service officers, and Other Ranks (OR) of the air force and the navy, many inputs are suited to NCOs and JCOs coming out of the army’s technical arms and services. Defense families too may find the resources helpful.

When I write, “we” or “us”, I mean to imply, we all as a collective group of military men and women, irrespective of our ranks and years of service. The book endeavours to provide clear, understandable tools and resources to make us all harness our capabilities and make us future ready. Readers may find this a practical resource, sort of how-to guide to facilitate career progression after military duties.

My motivation in starting this project

Joining the military through the National Defense Academy was a huge blessing for me. In the course of the structured leadership development that happened, I embarked on a path of self discovery too. Over the years, excellence too became a way of life. The army further trained me to seek answers that were practical, clear, compelling and effective. And I learned to transfer difficulties into opportunities. All this helped me in my re-skilling efforts after leaving the services. Post military, in my quest to be somebody, I had the fortune of having some really diverse experiences after army service. But like most others, I too came out of the forces under-prepared, and tested waters only after plunging in. And I don’t want others to undergo similar trials and reinvent the wheel again.

Many veterans are generally under-prepared when it comes to competing for the jobs of the future. And some even do not plan in detail before leaving their military service. Prior to writing this book I had interviews with many veterans and their families who shared their own stories. So in my prescriptions for the future, there’s a reality check. Presented here are some ideas from our learnings and collective
experiences condensed into a book format.

Distinctive individual Solutions

Also, career transitions are highly individualistic. So there is no one-size-fits-all formula. And there can’t be one. So the readers have to interpret these insights described here in the light of their own situations, and steer their careers suited to their choices.
Along with sound analytical abilities, we need to foster a multidisciplinary perspective in our thinking. Today, we need to draw insights from multiple disciplines to solve complex business and societal challenges. And to challenge norms, we should be able to synthesize inputs from a variety of subject. Demand is on for critical inquiry in evaluating options cogently, and an ability to push the envelope to drive results. So the imperative is that we need to seriously look at rethinking and retooling our way to second careers. Plus we ought to ingrain an entrepreneurial thinking in our approach. My aim is to build in us a strong foundation for stewarding career transitions, and to seed a career transition revolution in the defense fraternity at the organizational scale. In the world outside, there’s tremendous respect for our forces. But this respect does not translate into a perception of a job-worthy talent pool.
Most of us (even at senior levels) are still at the security officers and estate managers. My mission is to create future-ready defense veterans. It may take some months for the outside perception to change. But without concerted efforts, we will be able to transform our image and create a totally different reality.

This is not a mere self-help book. With its workbook format, readers can use these insights and customize their own approach. We’ll be able to tide over at least three transitions at the same time.

Military life to civilian culture
Military role to a civilian vocation
Transition to the respective employer’s work culture

You will find this a simplistic book with straight-forward, hard-hitting tools. In reaching this out, I looked at these three purposes:

To offer insights, tips and resources to make transitions smoother
To promote an idea that every serviceperson must look at career transition seriously and steer it to results.
To create a movement in our defense establishments and among our men and women to plan and procure relevant resources at the unit or station level so that our officers and men can utilize these optimally to plan their transition out of the services.

Whatever career path you choose, these tips and insights are going handy. Even if you are starting up to create your own business or social enterprise, these tips will come in handy in efficiently running your venture. From MIMID’s stables, the next effort in the pipeline is a resource on startups – and a business incubator for rural enterprises to harness future capabilities of our young entrepreneurs.

Kick start early

To sculpt a truly promising tomorrow, kick start your transition planning early. Remember for outside jobs you will have to complete with the rest of the qualified civilian talent pools of a much younger population.

Beyond resettlement

To keep our employability current in the new age scenarios, we need to look at our retirement in a new form of that differs widely from the usual resettlement. Though I never wanted to be outright dyadic, I have still erred on being excessively instructive, so that we are able to rightfully project the “Future value of military experiences” to the civilian world. The book should make you think beyond mere resettlement and job search. Use it as a tool to reboot your career.

Terms of Reference

None of what has been written here is a mantra. The book does not offer any “direct-application” success formulae. Presented here are mere insights and tips that the readers have to use suiting to the situation and their individual circumstances. So please use the contents as some well-thought-of informed advice and guidance.

Hope this book should give you a reason to develop yourself and take charge of your career and life post military.

(*) VUCA as a term was coined by the US military, and the acronym stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.