There are some critical learning(s) that we need when we enter the civil professional world. Here are 10 readings / videos that helped me a lot:
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Applying principles learnt in Service to a career in civil: S.T.R.I.P.T.E.A.S.E. - by Mukul Deva:
I was just out of the Army and found this book very encouraging. Here was another Indian ex-military person, telling us how he successfully adapted basic principles from the Armed Forces (Selection & Maintanance of Aim, Concentration, Economy, etc.) to ensure success in civil.
- It's a short book and a MUST read.
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The Basics of Accounting, without a formal education - Accounting Videos at Youtube, by Craig Pence:
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How to Read a Balance Sheet - Romancing the Balance Sheet, by Dr. Anil Lamba:
Why would you want to read a balance sheet? Because it is essential knowledge, to run a company, to invest in one and to even grow in one! At senior positions, one would be expected to understand such things.
Ideally this is best read after going through Accounting. However, go ahead and read this first if you wish to - it can be read as a standalone subject.
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Knowing Computers & IT Well:
This is an absolute must, whatever your profession in civil. The level of IT understanding you will require shall depend on your industry / function.
Everyone must first become a good 'user'. Apart from Word, Power Point and Excel one must learn typing (all fingers preferably), learn about web applications, Google Apps like Google Hangouts, Google Analytics, etc. and know about Godaddy, Siteground, Amazon Web Services, etc. (Look at computer: Free Basic Computer Video Tutorial Series (1 of 24) by Technophobics Anonymous & Learning Pictorially - Access, Excel, Power Point, Word and Google Apps)
Getting Absolutely Technical (Watch Free Computer Science Video Lecture Courses. Also look at courses at Udacity, Coursera and Stanford Online. This is another interesting resource - How to Learn Everything about Computers).
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Learn to Sell - The New Rules of Selling
Outside, you sell your / your company's products / services, sell yourself as a job applicant, and sell your ideas to others. Selling is a survival skill in civil.
The New Rules of Selling is an amazing Slideshare presentation - an eye opener on how social media drives marketing and sales in today's connected world.
Another great book is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A Moore – a Book on how to sell High Tech Products to mainstream customers. Whilst the book is particularly relevant to technical sales, it also explains the underlying beliefs of buyers. Once you understand how a buyer thinks, half the problem is solved. This book has actually helped my company sell software services better.
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Marketing - Marketing Management - at Slideshare:
Marketing means placing your goods in the market for people to buy. Like selling, everyone needs to learn marketing. I too went through “Marketing Management”, the standard volume on marketing by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller. The examples in this book heavily favor large enterprises but one has to apply this to micro / small enterprises, which is what a fauji usually starts with.
Since reading Keller and Kotler is quite a task, an alternative is this slideshare presentation on Marketing which tells you, in a nutshell, the principles and basic concepts of marketing.
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Micro-entrepreneurship - The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau:
This book is very relevant to ex-military people who would like to start something of their own in civil.
A most enjoyable and inspiring book, for anyone who wants to start a business with almost nothing!
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How to conduct a successful job search - What Color is Your Parachute:
Almost every military person in civil does a job, at sometime or another.
This timeless classic is very relevant to conducting a successful job search. Job changes are inevitable in the corporate world. It pays to remain prepared when one needs to look for a new job.
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Learning the Language of the Civil World - The 10 Day MBA:
Jargon is very important to a profession - just as a person in defence would be ineffective if he does not use military terms, so also a person from defence is less effective, if he does not understand and use industry jargon.
The 10 Day MBA covers this very well. If you are an MBA already, you may not need this.
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Un-learning to Re-Learn: a book for faujis, that does not exist yet :-):
Why should ex-military people continue to live in the past? Should we all not have achievements in the present to talk about? We need to retain all good things from our past, whilst remaining ready to learn new skills, as well as to re-learn how to apply some of the old skills.
For example, the military meant making the best within resources available. Asking for more was discouraged. In civil, doubling resources might be another good means of quadrupling output. In the military, one learnt to make the best of the team one had – and that is an excellent quality, but in civil one can even choose the best team. So why not leverage this whilst also making the best use of available resources.
The above are just a few examples. “Adaptability”, we were taught, is the greatest quality of a good leader. Perhaps that is what unlearning and re-learning is all about.
Would you also like to suggest a good read?
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