Nick Co

Pivoting from one multi-year tour to the next, A military career is one full of repeated transitions. Mastering these critical points of career inflection will bring you greater success and enable you to add value more quickly to the team.

Each unit has its unique onboarding programs; however, solely relying on your unit is a disservice to you, your team, and your Nation. Owning the initial process accelerates your journey as you integrate into the culture and understand the relationships and system.

The military has sponsor programs, checklists, and lots of meetings with the administrative team. But your onboarding needs to be holistic to your role, not purely a paper exercise. A holistic onboarding encompasses the people, processes, logistics, and expectations. Fortunately, Michael Watkins dedicated his career to this topic. I recommend reading the book below.

“The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins

One easy way to demonstrate care for the unit is to document your onboarding experience. From your documentation, identify avenues for improvement, and propose solutions to the process. This document should be a simple one-page write-up on your experience and a timeline of events. Taking this action, illustrates your initiative, thoughtfulness, and team mindset.

When you ultimately leave, pause and contemplate lessons learned and seek to integrate that knowledge into the onboarding program. Leave the organization better.