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Life as a Soldier

To be able to lead others, first you need to lead yourself 

When my 12 years contract as an officer in the German armed forces came to an end, I left the Bundeswehr as an Air Foce Captain with mixed feelings.

On one hand I felt happy for the perspective to start something new. My learning curve had dampened during the final period of my 12 years time contract with the armed forces and I was left with the impression that my constant challenging of the status quo often times annoyed or plainly outraged some of my colleagues and superiors alike. During my final months in office I recruited my successor and convinced him to take my job. Few weeks later he started and we immediately started the transition process in which I shared my knowledge, introduced him to my contacts, familiarized him with everything of importance so he would gradually take more and more responsibility to fill the new role. As my work required me to collaborate (remotely) with multiple experts all across Germany, I planned a roundtrip to introduce my successor to these key contacts in person and so that he would have an impression of the organization these experts were working for. This plan almost went through just smooth as a baby. Eventually however it got us a memorable appointment with the chief of staff of my unit. With little ado he literally shredded me to pieces in fromt of my successor, for even coming up with a plan to do a three days' business trip to Germany's north. His argument was something like 'If I let a captain and a first Lieutenant do such a trip, we all know it's going to be a three day leisure and recreation ride rather than a work related business trip'. Shortly after that I was done - metaphorically as well as literally. My successor felt slightly beaten down and we had a longer discussion.

On the other hand I felt -and still feel- a deep gratitude for the opportunity to serve my country. I was able to meet many inspiring and enthusiastic people of different origins, of different organizations within the armed forces (Navy, Army, Medics) and from all over the world (mostly on CISM*-missions) during my 12 year journey. I learned how to take responsibility for my actions and decisions and to own my each and every day, regardless of they being great or not so great. Most of all I learned a lot about leadership. In today's age of the internet there's tons of advice and shared knowledge on leadership. Back in the late 90s and the early 2000s the available supply was not that vast, let alone free of cost. There were some good books but the internet was not as versatile and rich a field on leadership knowledge, as it is today. Despite these day's abundance in supply on leadership knowledge: True leadership can still only be learned by leading and by putting your actions to the test. I am glad I had some great leaders to copy and to inspire me. As a leader in the military I had lots of valuable training opportunities in the military and was given responsiblity in my early-mid twenties. At 27 I was the head of a platoon with 140 soliders(!). That is exceptional, even (or especially) in today's fast changing work enviroments. However I had only made my first babysteps as a leader and my professional journey had just started.

My life as a soldier and the first hand experience of leadership is one of the most precious treasures in my identity and I would not want to miss any piece of it.


*Conceill International du Sport Militaire - International Military Sports Federation

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