Why lessons learned at war help me run a non-profit organisation

The alarm usually pulls me out of bed before 5am. I make my way to our kitchen, prepare a fresh cup of pour-over coffee and as of late start my daily writing ritual. At 5.30am I head out for my morning workout. Occasionally, I will play some music to get me going. But most days I continue my study of leadership through podcasts or audiobooks. The majority of these explore lessons learned at war.

Why?

On a personal level, listening to stories of perseverance is a great motivator. It helps me push through hard times and be more empathetic. I am a big believer in that to be our best we need to train hard in all areas of life, find our weaknesses and attack them. A lot of the military leadership lessons endorse that mindset. The daily exposure to these stories makes me a better leader in all areas of my life.

On a professional level, the gap between my work and military experiences seems wide. There are many leadership resources derived from my particular role, circumstances and industry. After all, as a CEO I am managing a business, not leading troops into battle. The military commander is confronted with fighting mortal enemies. Actions here can influence the course of history. Decisions taken likely result in the death of people. So why do I choose to learn from lessons learned in an environment that seems so far removed from my own?

Because I have found that despite their differences, both the military- as well as the non-profit leader, draw their inspiration, energy and drive from the same source.

The understanding that it is not about them.

The conviction in serving the greater good.

The belief in the mission.

Looking at the military and the non-profit sectors through my economics lens reveals some more commonalities. Both sectors often offer no performance related pay incentives. The usual business performance indicators do not apply to their main mission. They do not focus on creating large profits that can get passed on to shareholders.

For the amount of work that both leaders put in, they could find much better paid jobs in the private sector. It is the fulfilment of the inner values that provides a much more meaningful reward than a higher pay-check elsewhere. Granted, these are not universal statements, but I have found them to be true more often than not.

The military leaders whose work I study inspire me through their purpose-driven life. The integration of their whole being with the mission. I find inspiration in learning about how they encountered hardships. How they dealt with conflict when living and working so close with their fellow soldiers. These lessons provide great insights into my unique work-life situation.

The leadership lessons learned at war come from the most hostile 'work' environment. They come from situations where everything else is stripped away. Here you find the fundamental lesson of leadership: it is about human relationships. A lot of the traditional business lessons I encounter are filled with fluff. They try to be clever about the latest innovation that a good leader must do. When all a great leader needs focus on the fundamentals. Focusing on building and maintaining connections between people.

Even in the military, human relationships trump the the chain-of-command.

Listening to those fundamental lessons every day forces me to become a better leader.

The non-profit I work for is all about human relationships. I am fortunate that the people I work with are all clear about our common mission. Having said that, any team will have its shares of conflict. The pandemic certainly made it harder to build and maintain good relationships at work. Studying tactics used in actual combat has improved my ability to lead the team. Applying these lessons has made me more effective. As a leader being effective is the key measurement for mission success. I will explore the exact tactics I use in future articles.

My work as a leader of a non-profit is ensuring that I protect and deliver our mission. The pandemic has amplified my understanding of the essential need of our work. At the same time, I have found myself in new, changing and challenging situations. My work suddenly had to focus on virus containment measures, remote working and challenges to income generation. At the same time my team felt that pressure and was looking for leadership. I needed support to tackle these. But more importantly I needed to identify which tasks to prioritise over others.

Studying lessons learned at war helped me overcome these challenges. Their essence continues to grow me into a more effective leader when the pressure is on.