8 Lessons in Military Leadership for Entrepreneurs. Robert T. Kiyosaki
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lives. Rather than face their financial fears, they hide from them. Many employees hide under the blanket of a steady paycheck and job security.
I joined the Marine Corps to fight for capitalism and against communism, but when I retuned from Vietnam I came home to find an America with a dying spirit and a growing entitlement mentality.
I found more communists here in America than on the fields of Vietnam.
I am writing this book to turn America around. If anyone can save America it is those who have sworn to protect her and have fought for her. It’s not just our duty, it’s what we are trained to do.
This book will show you that the eight principles of our military training are the same principles that are essential for being a successful entrepreneur. The men and women in the military have incredibly strong spirit. It is our spirit that will turn our country around and return us to the capitalism that is the foundation of our country.
It breaks my heart to read about veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan, unable to find jobs.
It breaks my heart to see young veterans, wounded warriors, facing the rest of their lives without legs, arms, or handicapped in other ways.
It breaks my heart to give a few dollars to a fellow Vietnam era veteran, standing on a corner, head bowed, asking for food or money.
And it breaks my heart that many military families are on Food Stamps and other government support because they do not earn a living wage.
The Need for Entrepreneurs
This book is written for anyone who is an entrepreneur, or dreams of becoming an entrepreneur one day.
This book is also written for men and women who are serving—or who have served—in the armed services because they have already gone through a unique and rigorous educational process, a process that’s essential for all entrepreneurs.
As you may know, nine out of 10 new businesses fail within the first five years. Of the one in 10 that survives those first five years, nine out of 10 of those ‘survivors’ fail in the second five years.
The primary reason why most new entrepreneurs fail is simply because they lack the core training, the core strengths they need to withstand the rigors of being an entrepreneur. Some people call it guts. Others call it perseverance. In the military, it might be put this way: “Stand up, get off your butt, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop pouting, stop sucking your thumb, and get going again. Your mama is ashamed of you—because your mama is tougher than you are.” I think you get the point here.
Another important reason why most entrepreneurs fail is because our educational system trains people to be employees, not entrepreneurs. The world of an employee is very different from the world of an entrepreneur. One big difference is the concept of paychecks. If an employee does not receive his or her “paycheck” they quit and go looking for a new job”. Most entrepreneurs must be tough enough to operate, sometimes for years, without a “paycheck.”
In the world of ‘small business,’ sometimes called “mom-and-pop businesses,” the entrepreneurs often earn less per hour than their employees, when the total number of work hours is taken into consideration. In most small businesses, the entrepreneur’s most important work is done when the business is closed for the day. It is called paperwork… and addresses the behind-the-scenes jobs that keep a business running—like compliance requirements, invoicing and collection, accounting, and taxes.
When employees go on vacation, they can leave their work behind. When entrepreneurs go on vacation, the business goes with them.
If the business struggles or comes crashing down, an employee can walk away and look for a new job. The entrepreneur’s work, at that point, is just beginning. When a business collapses, it’s like digging yourself out of the rubble of a building brought down by an air strike. The damage, carnage, liabilities, and litigation can bury an entrepreneur for years. Many never recover, suffering from a business version of PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Many ‘experts’ say, “Entrepreneurs fail because they are under capitalized.” This means they do not have enough money—or access to money—to keep the business afloat. This fear of being “under capitalized,” this lack of money as well as the absence of a steady paycheck, is what keeps most people clinging to job security as an employee.
I take a different position. In my opinion, it’s not a lack of capital, it’s a lack of entrepreneurial education, real-world business experience, and guts. If you talk with successful entrepreneurs, they will tell you they are always “under capitalized.” They never have enough money to meet all the financial obligations required as an entrepreneur, let alone the capital needed to grow their business. Yet, somehow, true entrepreneurs keep going. Then one day, for some entrepreneurs, the money starts pouring in. It may take years. And I always find it amusing when I hear people say, “Oh, she was lucky.” Or “They’re an overnight success.” Few know or appreciate the real story behind entrepreneurial successes.
This is why I believe men and women in the military have the unique core strengths and training to be entrepreneurs. In many cases, you have been trained to “do the impossible.” Most college graduates are trained only to “find a job.”
The character differences between those who have been trained to do the impossible—those willing to pay the price that’s often called the ultimate sacrifice—are in sharp contrast to a person who has been trained to “look for a high-paying job with good benefits.”
My military career began at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point in New York, considered to be one of the top schools for leadership in the world. In 1965, I received Congressional nominations to both the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy from U.S. Senator and Medal of Honor recipient, Daniel K. Inouye.
I accepted an appointment to Kings Point. The school’s mission is to train leaders for the Maritime Industry and graduates can be found working in ports and harbor operations all over the world, as captains of passenger liners, cargo ships, container ships, oil tankers, and ocean-going barges. A few graduates, like myself, opted to serve in the U.S. Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard.
A graduate of Kings Point has the same pedigree in the Maritime and Shipping Industry as a West Pointer has in the U.S. Army. When I graduated in 1969, Kings Pointers were among the highest paid graduates in the world. That’s because, although a military academy, the Academy was under the direction of the Department of Commerce, not the Department of Defense.
After graduating from Kings Point, I was accepted to U.S. Navy Flight School in Pensacola, Florida and flew for the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam. I am quite certain that if not for my military training, I wouldn’t have made it as an entrepreneur.
What Is Cheating?
In traditional schools we’re trained to take tests on our own. If you cooperate at test time, it is called cheating.
At the Academy, in flight school, and in the Marine Corps, we are trained to co-operate, to take many of our tests as a team. Even a Marine sniper has a spotter, someone to “call the shots.”
One thing I loved about being a helicopter gunship pilot was that my “mechanic,” aka “crew chief,” flew with me. We flew as a five-man team, two pilots, two gunners, and one crew chief. We all depended upon each other.
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