You spot them by their attitude, not their uniform. That’s how you identify the military guys in daily life.

Military professionals blend in, but their mindset stands out. Learn how to spot the military attitude in everyday work, from leadership to teamwork.

At the Yonder office, military uniforms are a common sight. As the Founder & CEO, I am still an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces, and so are some of our team members. It’s not uncommon to come by the office for an important meeting during a period of duty in uniform or to spend the morning in the office and the afternoon at a military planning conference.

However, there are more military guys in our company than people wearing uniforms. One of my co-founders is an ex-military guy (we went through conscript training together some 25 years ago), one of our account managers is an ex-Tornado navigator from the Royal Air Force, another one is an ex-infantry platoon leader.

Working with those guys for many years, here is the simple truth: You don’t spot the military guys by their uniform, but by their attitude.

Here are some real-life examples.

1. They Work in Less-Than-Ideal Conditions

Some years ago, we moved from our small office into a much bigger one to accommodate our growing team. Naturally, for a young company, the move was managed by ourselves — except for the truck driving our furniture from the old to the new office.

Because there was a lot of work going on with customer projects, we couldn’t just halt operations for a day because of an office move. So we organized in groups: One group packed up the old office, one group took over the new office, and one group continued working on the customer projects.

I remember witnessing a situation in the old office when all the furniture was already packed up — except the small table in the kitchen next to the coffee maker. At that small table, two guys were bent over their laptops, working on a customer project.

Those were the military guys. They are used to working in less-than-ideal conditions and getting the job done irrespective of the comfort of their environment.

Next to those guys, at the coffee maker, another (non-military) guy was watching them, a cup of coffee in his hands. See the difference?

2. They Are Hands-On

Later in the day, everybody in the old office switched locations, to continue working from the new office.

Working from the new office was only possible once the new furniture was assembled, so as soon as the two military guys described above arrived, they rolled up their sleeves, assembled chairs and desks, took out package garbage, and vacuumed the floor. Then they went back to working on the customer projects.

Believe it or not, there were still some people wandering around the hard-working guys, just watching them and waiting for everything to be ready.

Military guys are hands-on. They do whatever is required for the mission to succeed. Even if you think they live in hierarchies, the reality is very simple in the trenches: One for all, all for one. Everybody’s effort is required to succeed. Just like in a startup.

3. They Stick Together, No Matter What

Change of scene. One sunny morning, we were having morning coffee in the office, chatting about work and non-work topics. It was still very early in the morning, and only three people were present at the office: Myself, and two of our colleagues with a military background.

Suddenly, one of the guys collapsed, lying on the floor and screaming in pain.

Calm as we learned it in the military, the other guy and I provided first aid and got the colleague evacuated. Once it was clear that he suffered from a kidney stone, we informed his wife and his superior.

The colleague was taken to a nearby hospital, where he had to spend the night. And it didn’t take long until another of our colleagues with a military background turned up at his hospital bed to look after his colleague.

Military guys stick together, no matter what.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, the attitude examples above are not mutually exclusive to military guys. But it’s remarkable to see how military guys share those attitudes because they have learned their importance for success, and yes, even for survival in the worst case.

Having a military background leaves some traces in everyday life, not just at work: Ask my kids. Sometimes they enjoy playing tactics for everyday tasks, and sometimes they disagree with “the commander”, as they call me now and then when I give them clear instructions.

When they disagreed with my instructions, one of my sons once called me a “stupid commander.”

Well, I learned in the military that you cannot always make everybody happy with your decisions. Keep calm and carry on.