WHAT’S NEXT Transition to Civilian Life By Eve Nasby & Kristin Hennessy
The Young Maverick
Working backwards works
He was 9 years old sitting in a New York city movie theater with his Dad watching what is arguably one of the greatest movies of all time, “Top Gun”. As the theme song played out its last stanza and the credits rolled up the screen, he thoughtfully placed his empty popcorn bowl aside and turned to his Dad and said, “THAT’s what I want to do. “ His Dad responded, “You’re a kid from Brooklyn. Is that what you really want to do?” Wisely, on the drive home his Dad continued the conversation and laid out a plan and a path for him to achieve his starry-eyed goal. “So, you want to be an aviator? Great! You may want to consider going into the Naval Academy. That means as of today you need to be thinking about being a good community leader and getting good grades. Do you really want to do that between now and your 18th Birthday?”
Jeremy took the lessons learned from his Dad’s conversation and his subsequent entry into the Academy and made it a life pattern, including his transition out of the military. Begin with the end in mind. Jeremy, though he is gainfully employed at a large company helping veterans, feels that he is still in transition. He notes, “I’m still developing my postmilitary life. My family is still adjusting to me coming home at night. I’m lucky that I’ve found my purpose through my company, helping veterans but I do miss my sense of purpose that I had in the military. “ What made the difference for you? “I began my transition interviewing 2-3 months before I actually separated. I joined veteran transition programs that had connections to companies that I wanted to work with. “
www.bandofhands.com
Jeremy literally took business classes just to learn the language of business so he could effectively communicate within this new culture called, the “Civilian Workplace”. He learned to stop speaking in acronyms, and began using the word “I” versus “we”. He notes that veterans lose their sense of self and need to learn to speak in the “I”. One of the programs that helped him the most was the Deloitte Core Leadership Program. The Program participants access Deloitte’s award-winning leadership development curriculum, and learn how to identify their unique edge and make a career choice based on their personal passions. Specifically, the CORE Leadership Program helps veterans and armed forces members: 1. Define their personal brand, identify their strengths, and be able tell their own story. 2. Learn innovative networking strategies and communication techniques, which include best practices in using social media, through personalized and repetitive employment simulations.
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WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / DECEMBER 2021