For an infantryman, soft skills go well beyond just tactical ability and weapon handling. Although the military prefers technical talents, soft skills are also valued in this field. Furthermore, the military spends a lot of time teaching both hard and soft skills to make sure of mission success.
So, what are the necessary soft skills for an infantryman?
Resilience, servant leadership, effective communication, and adaptability in high-pressure situations are essential soft skills for a role like an infantryman. Similarly, strategic planning, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and team collaboration are indispensable.
This guide will go over the key military soft skills required that distinguish an infantryman from a civilian. Moreover, how to improve soft skills as well as how to utilize these skills as a civilian will also be covered. Let’s go!
Why Soft Skills Are Necessary for an Infantryman
Particularly in the infantry, soft skills are the foundation of military efficiency. While weapons proficiency and battle training take front stage, often the human factor shapes mission results.
You will be shocked to know that research from Harvard and Stanford Universities shows that just 15% of career success in the military comes from hard skills. Whereas, an alarming 85% comes from soft skills.
Thus, it’s no longer a secret that these human-centered skills directly affect operational excellence.
However, if you are wondering how soft skills come in handy in a role like infantry, here’s how;
- Promoting swift and wise decision-making
- Allowing different units to work cohesively
- Ensuring clear instructions and orders
- Encouraging moral standards and responsibility
- Reducing internal conflict under pressure
Overall, soft skills are vital that complement an infantryman’s technical skills.
Lastly, you can understand how valuable it is when a marine says, “ I have to rely on my team leaders and make the right decisions when I’m not there.” This emphasis on leadership soft skills as a whole is enough for us to know why it matters.
8 Necessary Soft Skills For an Infantryman
Technical proficiency wins battles, but soft skills win wars. Collected from veteran insights and military research, here are the 8 necessary soft skills for an infantryman to lead, survive, and thrive.
1. Grit and Resilience
Grit and resilience are what separate effective infantrymen from other soldiers and civilians. Having these soft skills as infantrymen helps overcome mental and physical tiredness as well as battle setbacks.
Soldiers with grit maintained 25% better performance under pressure, according to a Center for Army Resilience study.
As a Marine Corps veteran said, “Resilience isn’t about avoiding failure, it’s adapting when everything goes wrong.“
2. Servant Leadership
Excellent infantrymen know that real compassion promotes solid trust. “Soldiers can sense when their leaders genuinely care about them,” one veteran Army first sergeant said, “this builds trust.”
Rather than being a weakness, servant leadership creates relationships. It strengthens teams and helps them to accomplish missions through mutual respect.
3. Clear and Effective Communication
The third most wanted trait by organizations looking for veterans is communication. Great infantrymen are those who can clearly give directions in the middle of chaos.
Nevertheless, don’t confuse military level communication with civilian workplace communication. They have fewer acronyms, but the fundamental skills are exactly the same, which is being clear.
Lastly, when it comes to infantry-level communication, it’s vital to understand that infantrymen have to be prepared to both issue and receive commands clearly.
4. Flexibility in High-Pressure Environments
Studies have shown that serving in the military actually changes the way the brain works. This helps veterans act faster in unclear circumstances compared to a workplace environment with a colleague.
In battle, this cognitive flexibility, which is to modify behavior and thought to fit new conditions, is indispensable.
As a result of serving in the military, infantrymen acquire special flexibility that helps them in every high-stress situation. Thus, someone who already has it pre-developed in their system, even if it’s slightly, it’s a huge plus in this field.
5. Strategic Thinking and Planning
Not only among top executives, but strategic thinking is required at all levels when it comes to infantrymen.
Identifying essential aspects of a situation, questioning assumptions, and understanding complexity is what this soft skill is all about.
Nevertheless, it may seem challenging at first, but every soldier must adapt to it to become a better soldier.
With time, infantrymen grow to be able to predict possible futures, recognize order consequences, and combine several elements into a single unit. This larger view encourages daily decisions above just tactical responses.
6. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the capability to identify, understand, and control emotions. Army personnel are known for having this ability, where they can control their emotions as well as their team’s through strong leadership.
In high-stress combat situations, infantrymen have to be calm even as they sense the emotional state of their troops.
The infantry specifically looks for people with this soft skill. But why, you ask?
Well, infantrymen with these soft skills have reported less burnout and higher mission success rates, according to a Military Psychology study.
7. Conflict Resolution
As you already know, infantrymen have to live in close quarters. People with a strong mindset living in a close space can lead to heated situations very often.
Good conflict resolution techniques enable infantrymen to resolve problems cooperatively. Therefore, maintaining attention on the objective.
Active listening, objectivity, and the capacity to suggest ideas consistent with common objectives are what conflict resolution is about.
Army officers don’t have the luxury of letting egos collide on the field. Quick resolution of problems helps the team survive. Thus, making it an essential soft skill for infantrymen.
8. Team Collaboration
Success in infantry depends on trust, coordinated movements, and common objectives. Each role in the infantry is dependent on others. Thus, team collaboration is vital in a role like this where life is dependent on each other.
If infantry teams can’t pull themselves together in crucial situations, the mission is likely to fail. Thus, so much emphasis is put on team collaboration when it comes to infantry.
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Now that you are aware of the necessary soft skills as an infantryman, it’s time to develop and demonstrate them.
Developing and presenting military soft skills requires strategic implementation and careful practice. While the military’s training offers a great foundation, they still require improvement to be reflected in everyday life.
1. Role-Playing And Peer Practice
Role-playing activities, like video recording yourself, provide an effective approach for developing soft skills.
Interacting on camera helps you to learn so much about your body language, leadership style, and communication approach.
On the other hand, you can also practice these soft skills in secure settings surrounded by trusted friends. This helps overcome fears related to negotiation and other interpersonal challenges.
The military already makes great use of role-playing to develop the next generation of infantrymen.
2. Mentorship and Feedback
To help you develop in areas like leadership and communication, you need to get yourself a mentor. Ask for specific feedback on how you manage stress, settle problems, or coordinate during drills.
Always ask for feedback by asking questions like: “How could I have better clarified that order?” Structured feedback improves your approach and helps you find blind spots.
3. Utilizing Soft Skill Assessment Tools
While the military excels at training hard skills, soft skills often develop through experience and reflection. For infantrymen, identifying strengths and gaps in these areas is critical for both mission readiness and career growth.
This is where soft skill assessment tools like SAJOKI come in handy. You can use it to figure out your strengths and weaknesses by answering some questions. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
You can reassess every 6–12 months to measure growth in areas like resilience or servant leadership.
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4. Scenario-Based Stress Training
If you are an overthinker, you probably do that already, simulating high-tension scenarios.
To help you remain calm and solution-oriented, run simulated high-stress events. This includes imagining equipment breakdown during a mission and interpersonal problems in the field.
Perfection is not the goal here. It will only enhance the ability to think clearly under high stress.
5. Practice Active Listening
In meetings or briefings, emphasize listening without interruption. Later on, paraphrase what others say to confirm understanding.
This builds trust, reduces misunderstandings, and builds respect. As trust and respect are the fundamentals of being an infantryman, practicing active listening is vital.
6. Reflective Journaling
As someone from the infantry, sharing yourself with others becomes a lot difficult. Whether it be mission secrets or just being tough, you can’t open up much about yourself.
Well, this is where journaling can help you. Record every day events in which soft skills are tested. This includes team leadership, stress management, and conflict resolution.
List what worked, what didn’t, and how you might change going forward.
Patterns show up all over time that enable you to intentionally increase qualities like emotional intelligence or resilience.
Overall, soft skills are muscle memory for the mind. By intentionally practicing them in diverse, repetitive, and realistic settings, you’ll build habits that become second nature.
Transitioning Veteran Soft Skills to Civilian Careers
The soft skills that keep infantrymen alive in combat, such as resilience, leadership, and adaptability, are the same traits that fuel success in civilian careers.
You would be surprised to know that every industry aggressively hunts veterans to get them in their company. This is due to the proven ability to perform under duress, solve challenges, and bring teams together.
With these soft skills in hand, almost every role can be filled with success. As a result, entrepreneurs seek veterans to bring that success to their company.
Industries That Crave Infantry Soft Skills
While almost every industry looks for veterans, there are specific industries that crave infantry soft skills. Let’s check them out with reasoning.
- Emergency Services: Resilience and crisis management suit roles in firefighting, paramedics, or disaster response.
- Project Management: Project management calls for flexibility and leadership that fit organizing groups under demanding timelines.
- Logistics: Strategic thinking and problem-solving help handle supply interruptions in logistics and supply chains.
- Human Resources: Conflict resolution and emotional intelligence excel in fixing workplace conflicts.
FAQ
What’s the most critical soft skill for an infantryman?
The most crucial soft skill has to be resilience. All of your other skills depend on it. It helps you deal with setbacks, lead when things get tough, and stay focused during lengthy tasks.
Can soft skills be measured?
Yes, it can be measured using advanced tools like SAJOKI. By utilizing science-backed models and AI, SAJOKI is able to measure soft skills as accurately as possible.
Do soft skills matter if I’m physically strong?
Yes, they do. Physical strength handles the mission; soft skills ensure your team survives it. Always remember, a fit soldier who can’t collaborate or communicate becomes a liability.
Conclusion
For infantrymen, soft skills are just as important as technical skills. The mentioned necessary soft skills as an infantryman are vital for mission success and team survival.
However, you don’t just naturally have these skills; you have to work at them, get help, and be pushed in the real world. This is where assessment tools and regular practice come in to improve soft skills.
On the other hand, they work just as well in everyday life as they did on the battlefield. As a result, making veterans valuable in every field, especially management, logistics, and emergency services.
