ONONDAGA — The idea of veterans operating their own business “is a noble cause.” Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste used the phrase in opening his remarks as the keynote speaker at “Operation: Start Up and Grow — 2015 Veteran Business Conference,” the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8th annual business conference held March 19 […]
ONONDAGA — The idea of veterans operating their own business “is a noble cause.”
Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste used the phrase in opening his remarks as the keynote speaker at “Operation: Start Up and Grow — 2015 Veteran Business Conference,” the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8th annual business conference held March 19 at SRC Arena on the Onondaga Community College campus.
“With over 80 percent of jobs in America provided by small businesses, there is an opportunity for veteran-owned businesses to make a huge and dramatic impact on the economic resiliency of America,” said Batiste.
Batiste retired from the Army in 2005 after more than 31 years of commissioned service, according to his biography in the event program.
He is now serving as the president and CEO of Buffalo Armory, LLC of Buffalo, a startup company focused on “producing a better armor and high-strength steel to protect our troops in harm’s way,” the biography said.
After retirement from the Army, Batiste joined Klein Steel Service, Inc. of Rochester and served as its president and CEO from 2005 to 2013. He “took charge” of Buffalo Armory in 2011, according to the event program biography.
Buffalo Armory is a company that both Batiste and Joe Klein, the chairman of Klein Steel, co-own, according to a news release Klein Steel issued Dec. 20, 2013, announcing that Batiste had assumed the full-time president and CEO role at Buffalo Armory.
Batiste believes the nation needs “more than anything” to have veterans return to civilian life and “exercise their many talents, to include starting well-led, high-performing businesses and enterprises. Our nation is in dire need of values-based leadership.”
In his years as a company CEO, Batiste told the gathering that one of his key roles was recruiting talent.
He would always “love it” when a veteran walked in the door because the person is “smart and well trained.”
“If this is a former officer … they’ve been through a whole lot of institutional training … leadership training that their civilian counterparts have never even dreamed of,” said Batiste.
Six principles
The individual also brings six leadership principles that Batiste believes are “really important.”
Veterans know how to set the azimuth, or what Batiste described as “the cardinal direction of your organization,” or the goals, objectives, and strategic plan.
“If you don’t have a strategic plan, any road will get you there and that’s a recipe for failure in business,” said Batiste.
Veterans know how to set and write a mission statement. They also understand values and “how to protect that culture that is so important,” he said.
Veterans also know how to listen, which Batiste noted as the second leadership principle. “You understand that listening is all about treating your team members with dignity and respect … and that two heads are better than one,” said Batiste.
He listed the third principle as knowing how to trust and empower. People want to work for a company that has a CEO who will trust and empower the employees.
They want to be “… where the mantra in the organization is ask for forgiveness, not permission,” said Batiste. “You want to work for a CEO that gets that.”
The fourth leadership principle is “doing the right thing when no one is looking.” Speaking from 10 years’ experience, Batiste said it’s “really hard to find” a recruit who gets that.
Veterans also understand that if you’re a leader, “you take charge,” said Batiste, noting it as the fifth leadership principle.
“Whatever level you’re at, take charge. Your country needs you. The region needs you. Businesses need you. You’ll create jobs,” he said.
The final principle that a veteran can bring is balance, someone who understands the importance of balancing “the personal and the professional.”
“So, those are six leadership principles that, believe me, you guys get,” Batiste told the crowd of veterans at SRC Arena. “You’re taking that out into the workplace.
Those skills transfer directly to business.”