The Mission
SEALs deploy in response to potential emergencies. However, it’s rare for a SEAL platoon to be put together with a single specific operation in mind. SEAL platoons are formed up to 2 years before they deploy to a forward base from which to conduct operations. This is because, in between forming up and forward deploying overseas, the platoon receives up to 2 years of training to master its assortment of skills. The bottom line is that the contingencies to which the platoon might have to respond—kidnappings, coups, piracy, invasions—don’t usually take place with 2 years’ advance warning. When you initially form up, you don’t know what missions you might be conducting down the road.
With this in mind, SEAL platoons are initially constructed to meet the requirements of possible future missions, not simply ongoing operations. And the list of possible missions that a SEAL platoon may be tasked with is long: It includes everything from ambushes to building assaults to pilot rescues.
Despite the uncertainty over future missions when SEAL platoons are initially constructed, however,careful scrutiny still goes into manning those platoons. Instead of trying to decide what specific mission a SEAL platoon will have to conduct, it is assumed that a SEAL platoon will have to conduct all potential missions.
Accordingly, SEAL platoons are stuffed with a wide variety of expertise. Communicators, snipers,breechers, corpsmen, linguists, Intel specialists, mechanics, hull technicians, cooks—you name it.
The list goes on and on. In fact, there are more required specialties than there are members of the platoon, so platoon members double and triple up with skills.
The team members you want, therefore, are operators who can handle several skills at once. You want versatile jacks−of−all−trades who can quickly become experts in niche specialties.
The Take−Away
Don’t rush out and hire the best people unless you know what they are going to do. There’s little value in hiring snipers for guard duty, or bringing in Wall Street bond traders to handle customer service. Right now, sharp, smart MBAs are being overpaid and wasted in jobs that could be filled by teenagers. Great people do great things in the right jobs. They can also botch things up thoroughly in the wrong jobs.
Make sure you know what your people are going to be doing before you hire them. This doesn’t mean you have to know the exact title and responsibility they’ll have in 2 years. But you do need to know what personality traits and tool sets will be required. Then bring in only those people who have a chance of fitting into the role.