How Marines Motivate the Front Line

I recently visited with a VP of sales of a successful company who is a former U.S. Marine. When he introduced me to his staff, I noticed that many of his top sales producers had been Marines or graduates of the Naval Academy. When I asked him about his recruiting strategy he said, “These recruits have a common value system, they understand what it means to have a mission and they take pride in everything they do.” While former Marine Corps members often run successful sales organizations, experienced business executives are frequently unaware of the motivational master plan that runs America’s finest military organization.

Don Carrison, a former Marine and co-author of the book Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way says sales leaders can learn a lot from the Marine Corps model about how to recruit the best people, design better training, develop teamwork, inspire loyalty and achieve victory.

Here are some of the key components of the Marine blueprint for success:

1. Recruiting: Marines send out their top performers to recruit the best people. These experienced officers display a missionary zeal, and they personify the values and pride of a Marine. Carrison suggests that sales managers send out star performers who embody the values of the organization to serve as role models for new recruits.

2. Training: Marines spend 12 weeks in basic training. When the training gets tough, drill sergeants often quote the old saying, “the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” Boot camp is not designed to weed out certain people, but to cultivate everybody. While corporate America fires those who don’t perform up to standard, new Marines practice until everybody graduates.

3. Leadership: Marine officers lead by example. If a leader asks a platoon to climb a 100-foot wall, he will be the first one to start the climb. Of all military services, the Marine Corp has the highest casualty rate among officers. In corporate America, the best sales managers are not the ones who hide behind their desks, but those who go out to see the toughest customers with their front-line people.

4. Commitment: The Marine Corps credo is do or die. Carrison says that you have to be careful what you ask a Marine to do because he’ll die trying. Marines in action show how much a highly committed team can accomplish. What if salespeople adopted such high standards for conquering new territories or introducing new products?

5. Loyalty to the troops: While corporate America often tells employees that they are replaceable, Marines are told that they are irreplaceable. They know that the entire country and their fellow Marines depend on them. It’s natural for a Marine to say, “I love my Marine Corps.” How many salespeople say, “I love my company.”More and more companies are studying the Marine Corps model for motivation. As a result, their sales teams take more pride in their product and more pride in their companies. Imagine the possibilities. Imagine every salesperson in your company as proud as a Marine. Imagine how many competitive battles you’d win. Every year, thousands of loyal and highly trained Marines retire: why not deploy their talents to win more sales?