Starting his career as an enlisted soldier at the age of 17, Chris Schmitt understands the requirement to recruit great people and develop true leaders at organizations. Schmitt is a former Army Special Forces Green Beret and owner of Azimuth Consulting. He joins the Security Clearance Careers Podcast to talk about his 30 years of service in the U.S. Army and how the lessons learned from special operations in combat translated into him becoming an entrepreneur and running a successful (and non-traditional) leadership consulting organization.
During his three decades of military experience, he has gained a lot of knowledge through commanding, planning, and executing special operations missions around the world. His career allowed him to serve as a mentor and trainer in combat environments which he draws on to facilitate and advise dynamic leaders in today’s volatile and sometimes uncertain business environment.
Schmitt notes that the experience of starting as an Army private gave him greater perspective as he became an officer. One theme from Schmitt’s story is resilience and trying again – he even divulges that he wasn’t accepted into West Point at the start of his career and had to retake the SAT’s a few times to get in a position to be accepted.
That preparation and resilience followed him into combat – “I don’t know if I have the right weapon, the right armor, etc.” But he always took a breath. And it wasn’t until Schmitt was sitting on a cot in the Sahara Desert sipping from a hot water bottle on a scorching 122Âş day that he knew what was next following his military transition.
His tips for those about to or thinking about moving on to the next chapter in their life after service:
- Think about who AND where you want to be – he just happened to know on that hot day in the Sahara that snow skiing was the life for him after the military.
- Make space to think about all the things – take time before double dipping and hopping into another job to figure out what you want in life next.
- Go on a hike – get outside if that’s helpful to you. Put yourself in a different environment to help change or broaden your perspective.
- Have a thought partner or mentor to help you answer all these what-if questions.
- Look up the Birkman Method – this can reveal your motivation, self-perception, social perception, and mindset. In understanding these key perspectives, people can better understand the actions that drive their life.
Schmitt gained extensive experience in commanding, planning and executing special operations missions around the world and draws on this experience for an epic four-day expedition on a mountain in Montana, where he puts his clients outside their comfort zones to challenge themselves and become better leaders. He enlists the Birkman Method and recalls the days he facilitated the success of partner nation and other government leaders in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Northwest Africa and Canada, reflecting on his experience in operational and tactical level in those areas of the world.
Today, Schmitt has found his true north with Azimuth, and embraces the sound of silence in the great outdoors through his workshops and non-traditional, adventure-based programs to build better leaders.
