Soldiers Pursuing Harvard MBAs

Most students enter Harvard Business School with company experience under their belts. Increasingly, however, students are arriving with experience not from from the business field but from the battlefield.

At Harvard Business School, upwards of 90 students have a military background, and applications from both active military and veterans are up almost 50 percent, numbers that catch even Scott Snook, a former Army colonel and current HBS professor, by surprise.

Boston TV station WGBH reporter Emily Rooney recently aired this interview, Veterans Pursuing MBAs, with Snook; Tim Joyce, a current HBS student and former Marine captain; and Alan Chase, an executive recruiter.

For employers looking for potential executive talent, Chase's comments are particularly revealing. He says companies see armed forces veterans, especially former officers, as a tremendous source of executive talent. Why? Because the military has taught these young men and women the importance of:

• Strong leadership One moment a soldier might be building a bridge, the next leading a team into a fire fight. "It's an unbelievable leader development experience," says Snook.
• Decision Making Soliders often work in the field autonomously, having to make smart decisions in complex environments such as Iraq, where sensitive political, religious, and government realities must be negotiated.
• Team Work In the military, effective team work can spell the difference between life and death.
• The Big Picture As Chase mentions, officers who have faced deadly situations know how to prioritize and also understand the importance of work-life balance. They are wise 10 or 15 years beyond their actual age.