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| Sergeant Horvath taking care of a problem |
In the oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan, Tom Sizemore played Sgt. Horvath....right-hand man of CPT Miller, played by Tom Hanks. I always loved this character because he was so representative of so many NCOs I had the pleasure and honor of serving with when I was a junior officer in the Army. He was tough, dedicated, loyal, asked tough questions when needed, but ultimately supported the captain's orders and took care of business.
What I have learned in my 10 year career in the corporate world is that there are NO SGT Horvath's in the corporate world. For me, this has been one of the most difficult things for me to adapt to outside of the military, In the Army, I had competent NCOs with lots of experience who often needed little guidance and oversight to make things happen. As a matter of fact, in many cases the most common response to a request was "don't worry LT, I got this." While in the military, you have to lead and guide and set a vision, people are generally eager to take direction and go execute to make things happen. Outside the military, you will rarely find someone waiting and revved up to execute your plan. It is much more about getting people bought in and aligned to doing something…and they often want to know what is in it for them. In the coporate world you will have to be part officer (Planner, leader) and part-NCO (executor, activator). Sometimes I pine for the days in the military where you spend a lot of time planning, but then there is a lot of assistance with the execution.
Enjoy the search,
Greg
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