It's a Battle for Talent.

I spent most of my IBM career speaking with senior executives of the largest international financial services companies. My role was to explore with the their executive teams the potential of and possible starting points for the next generation of Emerging Internet Technologies.

IBM's kinds of customers can afford to make whatever investments that they deem appropriate. Whether speaking with banks in Russia, London, Thailand, Turkey, Brazil or New York, the themes of these conversations had two common threads: 1) executives understand the business potential of these fantastic, new technologies (mobile devices, cloud storage, data insights and the incredible range of new tools for learning and social interaction); 2) CEOs, Board Presidents, CIOs, CMOs and CFOs all stated in nearly every meeting or briefing, in some form or manner,

that as they appreciate the business opportunities enabled by Emerging Internet Technologies, where would they find the talent (the leaders) that could change their company's culture to take advantage of these opportunities?

Matt and I, 34 years apart in our service experiences, are convinced that high performing military veterans possess the talent - the skills and experiences - sought by these evolving companies, both large and start-up.

Critical to a successful transition from military service to the civilian or commercial world is a translation of the veteran's world, one of mission-focus, to that of the world of the potential civilian employer, one of profit and loss. The next post will address our Day In The Life recommendation.