How the military taught me how to jump out of planes and survive every landing in my career

Parachute jumping to the 50-yard line is an unusual way to get to a football game.

As a senior on the West Point parachute team, I joined several of my classmates in jumping out of a helicopter and landing the game ball at Michie Stadium.

At the academy, I became addicted to jumping out of planes – Huey and Blackhawk helicopters, Twin Otters, Cessnas, and even the ramp of a giant C-5 Air Force transport plane. In 4 years I revamped 450 jumps. In retrospect, these experiences helped prepare me for a career in which I repeatedly parachuted into a latest role, a big challenge, or an unfamiliar environment.

After commanding an Army platoon in Afghanistan, I taught at the Naval Academy (deep behind “enemy lines”), worked on the presidential campaign, and served in the Pentagon. I moved into the tech industry in my 30s, first at a startup, then at Meta, and then as a corporate advisor. This yr, I started my current role as Chief of Staff at pioneering technology company Coherent (NYSE: COHR).

These transitions could seem harrowing. In fact, they are anything but. Throughout my career, I have intentionally sought opportunities to build diverse skills, knowledge, and relationships to prepare for greater responsibility and impact.

However, this required mastering the art of parachuting – landing in latest roles and unknown territory. Here’s how I learned to make the most of these changes and what others can take away from the experience.

Fear is inevitable. Get used to it

There is nothing natural about throwing yourself through an open airplane door and falling into free space at a speed of 200 km/h. During paratrooper training, even the hardest guys froze in fear… only to get a boot in the back from the instructor. My fear of heights has made skydiving a particularly unlikely passion – but it goes along with my view that the best way to overcome fear is to face it.

Changing roles, whether inside the same company or moving to a completely latest industry, could be just as scary. After all, our careers are our lives. This is our financial mainstay. They are often closely linked to our sense of self. Standing on that ledge and jumping into the abyss could be terrifying.

But facing this fear and coming to terms with it is price it. So what are the specific lessons for leaders and entrepreneurs on how to deal with fear?

• First, a shift in perspective is key – from seeing change as an aberration to a constant. As Elon Musk notes: “Some people don’t like change, but you have to accept it if the alternative is disaster.” Most people will change roles now greater than a dozen times in their lives, so all of us need to feel comfortable diving into something latest.
• Another key step is to think back to times when you were bullied and overcame challenges in the past. This type of rewiring of neural connections could be an effective antidote to fear.

You have a view of 5,000 meters: make the most

Most afternoons after class, I’d do a few practice jumps with the team. As any former cadet can attest, it’s an extremely busy time, and just getting through the day often felt like an enormous challenge.

But putting on a parachute, hanging my legs on the helicopter’s skis and getting some distance from things on the ground all the time made a difference. As we climbed higher above the Hudson Valley, I could leave my worries below. Then a free fall to the ground. It only lasts a minute, but time seems to each condense and expand.

Something similar happens every time I prepare to take on a latest role. I look at my skilled life and its possibilities with fresh eyes.

Practical questions you’ll be able to ask to achieve the 5,000-foot moment of clarity during transitions include:

• What will success appear like? Experts recommend that you just “start with why” and create a picture of what you would like to achieve.
• How can I exploit my previous experiences and skills in an unfamiliar situation?
• What do I hope to take away from this next challenge?

Preparation is essential

The jump could also be short, but that minute or so in the air requires intense preparation. During basic parachute training, called “Airborne School” at Fort Moore, Georgia, we had two weeks of ground training in a five-jump week that might make us paratroopers.

Sport skydiving takes this obsession to one other level. We spent several months packing and unpacking parachutes, practicing safety protocols, and practicing platform landings before our first tandem jump. A yr of training in my competition ended with 4 jumps and 40 seconds of recorded material during the university championships. Before I began the acrobatic sequence, I imagined myself doing it a whole lot of times, with AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” soundtracking it.

This same level of preparation can allow you to start a latest role inside your organization. Practically, business leaders and entrepreneurs can take the following steps to prepare before the transition:

• Explore lateral movement opportunities in your personal organization. Google experts emphasize the power of internal traffic to gain access to latest managers, a latest network and latest ideas. This may help test the waters.
• Identify the gaps in your skill set and look for resources that can allow you to improve them. As the saying goes, the best time to prepare for a latest role is once you already have it.
• Once you have decided on the position you would like to fill, get to know a colleague in a similar position by talking to him or observing him at work. From Richard Branson to Robert Herjavec, leading entrepreneurs attest to the power of mentorship in accelerating your career learning journey.

Glue the landing

Ironically, the fundamental challenge of an Army paratrooper is not jumping; it’s landing. The standard military parachute is shaped to fall straight down, which minimizes the risk of collision but leaves little room for finesse. Landing on your feet is impossible, so you do a five-point fall from the landing, lowering you curled up like a shrimp. Paratroopers often suffer injuries during this inelegant maneuver, some of which include ankle injuries 60% of accidents.

For anyone changing roles, the first days, weeks and months on the job also require maintaining a platform. This is where you make it or break it.

My advice: Have a limitless appetite for learning and cultivate a beginner’s mind that mixes openness, curiosity and humility. Of course, your past experiences are beneficial, but they shouldn’t blind you to latest ways of doing things. You must also be willing to put in the extra hours at the starting when it really counts. Be open to latest responsibilities, irrespective of how difficult they appear. And do not be afraid to delve into a latest topic area and all its intricacies – as I did with materials science, data transceivers, and lasers in my first yr at Coherent.

The transition won’t all the time be smooth, so expect some inevitable awkwardness. Although it could look clumsy, we hope that the five-point landing will allow you to survive. Get up and just keep marching.