Helping Military Students Adjust

Harvard's Scott Snook talks about what sets military students apart, and how he advises them while they study for their MBA

With a 22-year Army career under his belt, Scott Snook, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, often finds himself advising many of the 81 MBA students who have come to B-school from the military. Snook himself got an MBA at Harvard more than 20 years ago while serving in the Army. In 2002 he earned the rank of colonel before officially retiring. He has served as professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and directed West Point's Center for Leadership & Organizations Research.

Snook's past experience as a military MBA student gives him firsthand insight into the challenges many students today face in this transition. Snook helps admissions officers read military applications and invites students to share stories in his office on Friday afternoons. He has helped military students cope with adjusting to the B-school environment after returning from combat.

BusinessWeek reporter Jane Porter spoke with Snook about the hardships of the transition and what unique talents these vets bring to the classroom. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation:

How valuable is a military background to business school, and do Harvard and other MBA programs acknowledge that value?

The school is very cognizant. I talk to admissions folks about how you should read someone's file and how to talk to military people. There's an emphasis in business schools on leadership and leadership development. The business schools recognize that in fact, there's probably no other institution in the world that takes young undergraduates—the 21- to 27-year-olds—and gives them more leadership experience and responsibilities at a young age than the militaries of the world. These people bring an amazing amount of managerial and leadership experience to the classroom. Other students, they may have been an analyst, but very few of them have been in truly leadership positions.

Why are so many veterans looking into B-school when transitioning from the military?

Even in peacetime there are always people looking to transition after five years. Most have gone to the service academies—Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, or West Point—so they incur a five- or six-year agreement after graduating. They made the decision at 16 years old that they want to go to a service academy. Ten years later, they might realize they don't want to stay in. It's right at that time when service academy graduates and graduates from four-year and Ivy League schools are finishing their first commitment to the military. That happens to coincide with the average age at business schools. That's the first transition point.

Military veterans have been coming to B-school for decades. What makes this generation different from those in the past?

What's been significant about this group is the kinds of experiences that they bring to the classroom have been hugely impactful. When I was at [Harvard Business School] from 1985 to 1987—in the Cold War era—if you were in the military, you were kind of an oddball. People never really thought very much about the military. Today people are very open, given the international mix in our student body, given the changing nature of the U.S. position in the world and the politically sensitive nature of some of these wars. These veterans put a personal face to the war. The other students are reading about all this going on but most people in this classroom have never met anybody or know anybody that's been in a combat situation or in uniform. Now they get a chance to finally meet somebody who has served in the military. They get to actually put a personal face on the wars that have been a part of the news of their cultural experiences growing up.

And in terms of leadership experience, what do they contribute to the classroom?

They've done it at the most intense level under crucible-like conditions. Whenever it comes to the real essence of leading, not the more technical strategy skills, when it comes to how do you influence people to do the ultimate—risk their lives—they just bring capabilities that have become second nature when you've been leading for years. They speak with a voice of authority in the classroom. They are most likely to have the richest leadership experience in the truest terms of influencing people.

What are some of the challenges these students encounter during their transition from the military to business school?

What is it like for these people to be here coming straight out of combat? For some it's been very difficult. It's a very difficult decision to leave the service in a time of war. In a perverse way, you miss it even more when your country is at war because you think you should be there serving. There's some survivors' guilt. Students come to see me struggling with that, not usually in the first year because it's intense, but when they get time in the beginning of second year or once they start an internship at an insurance company in the summer after their first year and it pales in comparison in terms of significance of what they are doing. They are very strongly socialized to be selfless servants and it feels like a selfish move.

What is the response from the business world and recruiters with regard to interest in hiring vets with MBAs?

It's increasingly recognized that those five or six years of military leadership experience with an elite MBA is a powerful combination if you want to lead in the business world.