Military & First Responder Qualities: What Makes them Business Minded?

When someone is in an emergency, the rescue team needs to know how to assess the situation and do what is necessary in the fastest way possible. In the case that this may not be enough, the rescue team needs someone to lead them, keep them motivated and organized.

When considering leadership roles, a background in the military usually supplies many traits that work well with making a leader. For this very reason, veterans can be an incredibly beneficial part of a business’s staff. That is why military or first responder qualities, that we will be discussing below, are also advantageous to a business’s survival. But, what are the qualities that a leader needs to have, to lead their team to success?

Military and First Responder Qualities: Teamwork

Being a true leader does not mean you are bossy to everyone and making all their decisions. It also involves working as a team and being able to delegate work. Most branches of the military inspire a strong sense of teamwork, which will transfer very well into the business world. Even though working well as a team may not be a life and death situation, it will certainly help your business run a lot more smoothly. People serving in the military are also trained to work well with all types of people, another trait that works well in business.

Military and First Responder Qualities: Communication

As a firefighter, the reasons why communication is so important can fill a book. But, communication is essential in any effective relationship. As a firefighter, there will be many types of relationships and people that you will encounter.

It does not matter if the communication is taking place in the firehouse, on the fire ground, or when interacting with the public, that communication must be clear, intelligent, respectful and open. A lot like they teach in couple’s therapy, it is important to be an active listener and also work and get along with many different types of personalities.

As a firefighter, it does not matter what kind of communication you involve yourself in. It still needs to be tactfully, patiently, intelligently and politely done. They must know how to handle aggravated citizens and use their radios to pass on important information or incident command to their crew. It is also extremely necessary to be able to calm scared patients and victims and console trouble relatives and co-workers. Crucial personal information needs to get passed on to paramedics, nurses, and doctors. Children need education in fire safety and adults need to be well educated in fire prevention and CPR. These firefighters need to be able to discuss and enforce fire codes to business owners. All these are instances of why effective communication is so essential.

Military and First Responder Qualities: Focus

Any veteran that you talk to will vouch for the fact that the military not only requires large amounts of focus, but the military will strengthen their focus as well. This fact is especially true for veterans that have seen active combat. For veterans, dealing with deadlines and working under the pressure of a regular job pales in comparison to the focus required in high-stress and life-threatening situations. Their military experience also equips them to handle long hours and stay focused in unexpected situations.

Common sense will tell a person that first aid situations can range in severity from a heart attack to a cut finger. The person applying first aid needs to be able to assess the whole situation, manage the tasks at hand, all while keeping their composure while under pressure. They are likely to cause more harm to the person they are working with and make the situation much worse if they do not keep that composure.

Military and First Responder Qualities: Organization

The military is highly structured and organized to enable their personnel to meet their objectives. Veterans can carry this skill with them in business settings so they can build projects and businesses. Before he became chairman and president of Verizon Communications, Lowell C. McAdam put the organizational skills that he learned in the military to good use to help him lead the company.

Military and First Responder Qualities: Good Judgement

An essential part of being a good EMT is the ability to make smart decisions. During the EMT training process, their decision making skill level will get determined. There will be times that the EMT’s judgment will come into play when it comes down to choosing the appropriate steps to care for a patient. Their partner will be an amazing asset when, at first, the EMT does not know what to do, and that time will come. It is then that they need to be aware of what they don’t know and lean on their partner. They should not be afraid to let their partner know and ask them for their opinion when they are not sure what the next step is.

Military and First Responder Qualities: Adaptability

Many people try to fight change, even if it is a minor change to their daily routine. But, the military trains veterans to be ready for anything improving their ability to adapt to change. The majority of workplaces put a huge value on the adaptability of their employees considering businesses are constantly changing.

First responders know better than anyone that emergencies can happen at any time and quite often when you least expect them. For this reason, they may repeatedly be working in an unstructured setting that is constantly changing. So, they need to be ready to switch from their everyday work routine to addressing serious emergencies at the drop of a hat. They also must have to capability to deal with demanding, traumatic or harmful situations, all while prioritizing their patient’s care.

These military or first responder qualities are not the only ones that make them able to work well in business settings. Military personnel can learn many different traits in their military training that help build their leadership and business skillset. No matter what branch of the military that you have served in, the skills that you acquired will very likely work well in a business setting. All the above qualities show the great structure offered by the military that prepares people with important business-related skills. These military and first responder qualities may very possibly be the deciding factor of it you get the job you are applying for or not.

So, regardless of if you are still serving in the military or as a first responder, or if you are no longer serving and are looking for work, remember to acknowledge the skill that you already have. They may get you that job that you have your eye on.