4 Things The RAF Taught Me About Business
Rob Stewart
As a 4th generation RAF pilot I’ve spent the majority of my life living in a military environment. Great grandad flew in the Great War, both Grandads we’re WW2 aircrew and Dad was a Cold War era fighter pilot. Despite trying my hardest not to (a story for another time), flying was in the DNA and the inevitable happened in Oct 2001 when I rocked up, wide eyed and nervous as hell, at the doors of the RAF College to start officer training.
After 12 intense years with extreme highs and lows, (and a few stories to tell) it was time for another challenge, and I left the military to go it alone in business. At first I didn’t realise it, but there are huge lessons learned in the military that are transferable to business.
I’ve tried to detail my top 4...
1. Money Follows Service
The “Services” are named as such for a reason. They serve others. Whether it’s their own or other countries, in times of war or peace, hostile or humanitarian reasons…There is a bigger purpose. (And please, I don’t want to go into or spark any form of political discussion here which is over most of our pay grades, that’s not the point of the post). Members of our armed forces do not join for selfish or egotistical reasons and often spend significant periods of time away from friends, family and loved ones, in distinctly sub-optimal environments with low salaries. Sacrifice was part and parcel of the job in every form.
If there is anything I have taken from my 12 years in the RAF, it is the importance of service to others. Apply this into your business, any business, and you will succeed. Because businesses should exist to create, supply, innovate and serve their clients and customers BEFORE making profits…Money follows service. Not the other way around.
2. Excellence Wins
As a military pilot, we spent a good portion of our time in training. Everything we did was about precision. To take nothing more than a jet, a paper map and a 1960’s stopwatch…and fly around the UK, 250 feet off the ground at 7 miles a minute and put a bomb through a letterbox within 5 seconds of a nominated time… Took skill. Was this because military pilots are demigods, born with an innate ability to interface with these aircraft on a cerebral level, possessing superior hand eye coordination and brains that can process stimuli at a rate greater than most supercomputers… (Not to mention an aggressively chiseled chin) Of course not. We started on the most basic and slow aircraft we could. We immersed ourselves in the job and it became a way of life. We practised day in and day out for YEARS learning our trade. I remember spending weeks of evenings and weekends sitting in front of cardboard cockpits learning checks and procedures by wrote.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the 10,000 hour rule. Excellence doesn’t come overnight. We live in a world of instant gratification where people want it all yesterday and give up quickly when they don’t make their first million in year one. Excellence takes application and time and is a humbling experience as you make mistakes, accept the feedback and improve. But when you have achieved it - you will attract more high quality business to you than you can deal with.
3. The Importance Of Community.
This wasn’t a job - it was a lifestyle. We lived out of each other's pockets for years, trusted each other with our lives on a daily basis and created bonds that will last for life. And that support network was vital to carry you through the hard times - of which there were plenty. Business can be a lonely place - with it’s own challenges and hard times.
As humans we crave significance and by building community we can satisfy that. When I study successful businesses - one of the things that is obvious is the internal culture they’ve created. People want to work for them, and feel they are part of something… Bigger. So how can you create community, either internally in your business or externally with your market? Get this right and you will lead a more enriched and fulfilled life with a thriving business.
4. The 6 (or 7) P’s!
Prior Preparation & Planning Prevents P*&s Poor Performance. 90% of our job was done in the planning stage. Get this right and often missions ran on rails. When we went flying we would have very defined objectives and understood outcomes. Could you imagine taking off from point A, having to get to point B but no one told you where it was? The chances of you setting off in the right direction are almost zero - you’re going to run out of gas along the way. (And if if you do find it you probably won’t even realise you have!) Business is no different. If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to move in the right direction and ever get there…? Your business is about getting from A to B. Define what B is.
How do you want your life to look, your business to look, your routine to look? Do you want a lifestyle business that gives you mobility, freedom and monthly cash flow, or are you growing an international conglomerate that you can sell for billions in the future.
There is no right or wrong, just what you’re connected with.
I hope this article may stimulate thought or help your own business in some small way. Most important thing is to enjoy and be connected to the process.
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