Steve Speakes

From "Hero" to Zero and Back! Steve Speakes

This book is written for Veterans retiring or separating from the Military. Little has prepared us for life "after we put away the uniform". It is a story borne of lessons learned from failure followed by recovery and ultimate redemption. Following 35 successful years in the Army, Steve was fired from his first civilian job. To help you in your journey, this is his story. We may feel we are alone in this transition, but over 50,000+ Veterans annually retire from the military and transition to civilian life, many of whom will struggle in commercial management positions. A common concern is we lack the needed awareness and skills to be successful in what is for us a strange new world. To help you in your journey, Steve reflects on his seven years as a civilian businessman and compares the two environments to share lessons learned. After describing his release from his first civilian job, Steve begins a thoughtful assessment of how to become more successful moving forward. He believes that while Servicemembers have much to provide, they also have much to learn before they can parlay their time in uniform into successful civilian careers. Using vignettes and his personal experiences the author builds a rich lore of common sense coaching to guide the prospective former military leader through the thicket of complexity obscuring and complicating the transition. Steve believes the key to strong civilian careers begins by studying how to interact, communicate, and relate to new civilian counterparts. While the author is primarily focused on speaking to Veterans, civilian leaders also have much to learn from this story. They will gain valuable insights to assist transitioning Veterans by learning both the vulnerabilities and needs of potential new Veteran associates. As Americans we can all learn from this candid story of initial failure followed by thoughtful self-examination leading to ultimate success in transitioning to a new way of life. Join the quest!