Better Together – the Guiding Philosophy Behind Forces Network

For those who may not know Forces Network is the professional Network of the military veterans in the corporate. It was founded more than 11 years ago as an online community. At that time the prevailing environment amongst the recently retired / released veterans was one of bitterness and negativity with most people feeling unsatisfied with the organizational support system for their second careers. The founding premise was that while the establishment is doing all that they could what if all the veterans came together and contributed in their own small way. Adding up we felt that over a period of time it could become a force to reckon with. Back in the day it seemed like a laughable idea – however, to me as the Founder it was clear that I was in it not for vanity but impact. I knew that it would be a long haul, I decided to take it up as a leadership challenge for myself, I was confident that we could pull it off.

We set two objectives for the community. First to make the military to corporate transition a frictionless process and secondly to set up the Network of the veterans in the corporate. While we were keen to help our ilk make no mistake for we were not seeking any favours and that is why we established the TSOFN- The Spirit Of Forces Network.

The Spirit Of Forces Network (TSOFN). It is not about seeking doles or favours but maintaining one’s dignity, not about a sense of victimhood but about competing on equal terms on the corporate turf. It is also not about cribbing or negativity but about a “Can-Do” attitude, not about being a “Know-it-all” but about humility and constant learning. We have banished negativity from our Network for we realize that complaining is not a strategy.

While the journey has been long arduous I would like to summarize with a few outcomes. From a nobody Network we are today a platform of choice wherefrom top industry CXOs and entrepreneurs vie to speak especially at our seminars. Our event venues have moved from humble buffet diners to 5-star venues and our membership has grown from zero to over 5000 members. We have transformed from a Network of Hope to a Network that delivers – ask and thou shall receive, this statement seems to aptly capture our brand promise, a Network that works. Hundreds of officers have found worthy and meaningful job placements, mentoring, information and inspiration from Forces Network.

All of these and more were possible because of our guiding philosophy Better Together. If you observe Nature at work you will notice that least effort is expended when we are in a community setting. Look at the migratory birds flying in the echelon (V) formation, they extract maximum benefit with least effort and yet are able to travel thousands of miles. The ant nest is based on the principles of collaboration and mutual support. A single ant does not live for very long working in isolation, however as part of a community their life span increase by nearly 10 times. They are interdependent and hence stronger, for instance they interlink their bodies to survive flooding.

Similarly man has been designed by God to be a social creature. By being together there are obvious effects of synergy but what I am referring to is beyond that. Contrary to what you might have learnt if you want to make any permanent changes in your life your will power in NOT enough. No matter how much internal resolve you have, you will fail to change your life if you do not change your environment. Your environment is overpowering and much more impactful than your will power.

Creating Conditions that Make Success Inevitable. This is how Forces Network is designed as an environment for enabling success. Human beings take the form of the environment in which they are placed. If you want to be a Boxer you cannot get there sitting in your bedroom and dreaming about it- you need to be in the boxing ring, surround yourself with professional boxers and realign your whole lifestyle and mindset to that goal. Accordingly if you wish to be a successful corporate executive or an entrepreneur you need to be in their company – learning, getting inspired and mentored by them. Since we adapt to our environments thus we must consciously choose our environment that can mould us to be the person that we want to become.

One of the best ways this happens in Forces Network is by way of our seminars. We have conducted 21 such events so far. Top notch industry executives and entrepreneurs are invited to share their wisdom and advice on a chosen seminar theme. Furthermore, you can interact more with them via Q&A and informal interactions during the Networking tea and lunch breaks. In addition the last one hour of our seminar is devoted to mentoring sessions. In this established and select industry leaders are assigned as mentors to the seminar participants based on the participant’s choice and the expertise of the mentors. Typically one mentor is mapped to 4-6 mentees and they are seated F2F on a round table. The mentees can seek advice and ask any kind of questions that they wanted to ask and didn’t know where to ask.

Our seminar participants have reported very positive feedback on the above, they have reported accelerated learning and consequently their success time curve became steeper and shorter. In Forces Network we have a concept where you first come and learn and then once you attain success come back and teach. The cycle goes on setting up a virtuous cycle of learning. Everyone serves the community. Everyone learns not just the mentees but even the mentors. As a community we are future focussed and we believe that learning is magical as it helps unlock you true potential.

That gets me back to our core philosophy of Better Together. As you can see now that we Learn Better Together, Grow Better Together, Prosper Better Together and consequently become Extraordinary Together!

IQ

Founder

Forces Network