For military veterans and first responders, service to others has always been at the core of who you are. But when the uniform comes off and it’s time to transition into civilian life, one of the biggest challenges is realizing that connections—not just qualifications—open doors. Whether you are preparing to step out tomorrow or just starting to think about life after service, building relationships that matter is one of the most powerful tools in your transition toolbox.
In this week’s Round 63 of the Tactical Transition Tips, on the Transition Drill Podcast, we address Be the Person Others Want to Connect With. But here’s the part that gets missed: being someone others want to connect with is a skill that can be learned, practiced, and mastered—no matter if you're a soldier, sailor, firefighter, or police officer. It’s about developing presence, approachability, and adding value to others. It's about shifting from being the one people call when things go wrong to being the one people want in their corner when building teams, companies, and communities.
This week’s three transitioning tips are:
Close Range Group: Master Active Listening
Medium Range Group: Become the “Resource Person”
Long Range Group: Give More Than You Take
Because no matter when, your next chapter will be written through the connections you build today.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
Close Range Group: Master Active Listening
For those of you preparing to step out of service in the next year, there’s a lot coming at you. The stress of figuring out your next job, worrying about supporting your family, and trying to envision life after service can feel overwhelming. With so much on your mind, it’s easy to focus on what you need. But the key to unlocking your next opportunity often comes from focusing on what others need to say. This is where mastering active listening becomes one of your most powerful assets.
Active listening is more than just nodding along or waiting for your turn to speak. It’s about showing people—potential employers, mentors, or professional contacts—that you respect them enough to truly hear them. And in a world where everyone is distracted by their phones or focused on what they want to say next, being fully present is a rare skill that makes you stand out.
If you think back to your time in uniform, whether as a firefighter, airman, or marine, you already know what it's like to be present in critical moments. You’ve listened carefully during tactical briefings, when a life might depend on hearing every detail. You’ve read people under pressure, knowing when words mattered and when silence said more. Active listening in the civilian world draws on those same skills—just applied differently.
When you meet someone who might connect you to a job, refer you to an opportunity, or introduce you to someone influential, your ability to truly listen makes a lasting impression. First, it shows respect and professionalism. Imagine you're in a coffee meeting with a hiring manager or a fellow veteran already working in an industry you want to enter. If you keep eye contact, don’t glance at your phone, and ask thoughtful follow-up questions, you’re telling them without words: “You matter to me. I respect your time.” In a world of constant distraction, that level of focus is rare—and powerful.
Active listening also makes people feel valued and seen, and that can open doors in ways you might not expect. Think about your time in service—who did you trust most? It was the people who paid attention, who cared enough to hear you out. Civilian life is no different. If you reflect back to someone what you heard—“It sounds like you had to overcome a lot to get where you are”—they feel heard. And when people feel heard, they want to help you. They might offer advice, share a contact, or even mention a job opening that hasn’t been posted yet.
And that brings us to one of the biggest hidden benefits: listening for hidden opportunities. Not every job or opening is on a job board. In fact, many of the best opportunities never get posted—they’re shared among trusted networks. When you actively listen, you catch these subtle cues. Someone might say, “We’ve been struggling to find someone who can handle logistics,” and if you’re paying attention, that’s your moment to say, “I’ve got experience with that—want to hear how I handled it in my last role?”
But active listening isn’t just about job hunting—it’s also about creating a positive, memorable impression. Most people leave conversations feeling unheard, rushed, or dismissed. If you’re the one person who made them feel heard, they’ll remember you. And when they hear of an opportunity later, you’ll be the first person they think of. This matters in competitive markets, where it’s not always about who has the best résumé but about who people feel they want to work with.
Another overlooked benefit is how this skill sharpens your interview game. Employers want to hire people who listen—people who’ll take direction, collaborate, and work well on teams. If you’re practicing active listening now, by the time you sit in that interview chair, you’ll naturally reflect patience, focus, and emotional intelligence, all without having to force it. Hiring managers notice when a candidate listens carefully to questions, answers thoughtfully, and asks smart follow-ups. These are the candidates who get the offer.
Now, let's talk about why this is hard to do—especially right now. When you’re under stress—worried about finding a job, paying bills, supporting your family—it’s natural to focus on your needs. You might be so focused on what to say about yourself—your experience, your value—that you miss what others are offering in return. You might find yourself rehearsing your answers in your head while the other person is talking. That’s human, but it’s also a trap. You need to fight the instinct to talk and instead lean into listening. Remember, the more you listen, the more you’ll learn—and the more likely you are to find the opportunities you're seeking.
So how do you do it? First, when you’re in conversations—whether formal networking events, casual meetups, or job interviews—put away your phone. Nothing kills connection faster than glancing at a screen. Next, focus your eyes on the speaker, not the room, not your notes. Give them the same level of attention you gave your squad, your team, or your partners when lives were on the line. Finally, practice asking follow-up questions. Instead of thinking about your response, think: “What’s one more thing I can learn about this person or their work?”
As a military veteran or first responder, you already know how to stay present when it counts. Your mission now is to use that same skill to build relationships that will open doors for your life after service. Whether you're a police officer ready to leave the force, an airman thinking about your next chapter, or a firefighter or EMT considering what comes next, being someone others want to connect with is a skill that will serve you long after the badge or uniform is gone. And it starts with listening.
WATCH THE EPISODE
Medium Range Group: Become the “Resource Person” — The Leader People Trust and Remember
If you are five or so years away from transitioning out of service, your transition may still feel like something far in the future. But here’s what many military veterans and first responders share on the Transition Drill Podcast: those who wait until the last year to start building connections and credibility often find themselves scrambling. Those who start earlier—building relationships, sharing value, and becoming known as someone others seek out—step into life after service with a network that works for them.
Becoming the “Resource Person”—someone who always knows the right book, article, expert, or connection—may not seem like a transition strategy on the surface, but it’s one of the most powerful ways to set yourself up for future success while elevating your position today. When people inside and outside your organization see you as a go-to person, they are more likely to think of you when opportunities arise.
Right now, you are in a unique position to start shaping that reputation. You’re still in uniform, still wearing the badge, but you can begin shifting how people see you. If you’re always the one sharing a great podcast episode, recommending an article about leadership, or connecting people to helpful resources, you become memorable—and valuable—long before you start your transition.
One of the first ways this benefits you is by keeping you engaged and relevant in your industry. Whether you plan to move into private security, corporate leadership, emergency management, consulting, or a completely different field, the more you learn and share now, the sharper and more prepared you’ll be when you step out. Staying connected to thought leaders, reading up on trends, following veteran transition stories, and knowing what companies are looking for ensures that when the time comes, you won’t be starting from zero—you’ll be ready.
But the value of becoming the “Resource Person” goes beyond just knowledge. You also position yourself as a leader, even before you hold a formal leadership title. Think about it: in the military, in law enforcement, in firehouses, people gravitate toward those who bring value to the table. If you’re always showing up with insights, tools, and connections that help others do their job better or think differently, you earn trust and influence. And when the day comes that you need a reference, a recommendation, or an introduction to a hiring manager, these are the people who will step up for you because you’ve already proven yourself as someone worth helping.
One often overlooked benefit of being a “Resource Person” is that you naturally become a connector—the person who knows someone who can help. Maybe a fellow veteran is looking to break into a field where you happen to know someone. Maybe a colleague is trying to learn a skill, and you’ve got the perfect podcast episode or article to send them. Over time, people come to see you as someone who makes things happen—and when you're seen as a connector, people will bring opportunities directly to you.
Now, let’s address what may be holding you back. You may think, “I’m too busy just trying to do my job. I don’t have time to read every new book or listen to every podcast.” That’s understandable. But being a Resource Person doesn’t mean you have to know everything—it means you’re intentional about knowing enough to bring value. Maybe you commit to listening to one new podcast a week during your commute or following a few key industry leaders on LinkedIn. Maybe you read one article every few days or ask others what they’re reading and share that forward. Small, consistent actions compound over time.
Another hesitation may be thinking, “Why should I do this now if I’m not leaving for five years?” The answer is simple: reputation takes time to build. You can’t rush trust and relationships. Starting now means when you do begin your transition, you won’t be just another face asking for help—you’ll be someone people are eager to help because you’ve already given so much to them and others.
And let’s not forget the lasting legacy you leave within your organization. Many veterans and first responders share that when they finally walk out the door, what people remember is not how well they handled a gun or drove a rig, but how they made others better. If you are remembered as the person who always had a tool, resource, or connection to share, your name will be spoken with respect long after you’re gone—and that reputation often leads to surprising opportunities down the line.
Finally, becoming the "Resource Person" is also future-proofing your transition. The jobs you think you want today may not be the ones you pursue when the time comes. Industries shift, and personal goals evolve. But the network you build and the reputation you cultivate by being a resourceful, helpful person will open doors you can’t even imagine right now. Whether it’s a former colleague introducing you to a hiring manager, or someone from your past connecting you to a business opportunity, these connections will be critical when you need them most.
For military veterans and first responders, life after service can feel like unknown terrain. But if you become the person others look to for value, information, and connection, you’ll never walk that path alone. You’ll have built a network that will guide and support you—because long before you asked for help, you were the one offering it first.
THIS WEEK'S GUEST INTERVIEW
Long Range Group: Give More Than You Take — The Secret to Building a Network Before You Need It
If you’re at the beginning or midpoint of your career, it might seem strange to think about your life after service. Right now, you're focused on serving, leading, and building experience. But what many military veterans and first responders say after they leave is this: "I wish I had started preparing earlier—not just in skills, but in relationships."
Your career might span another decade or more, but the relationships you begin to build today will shape the opportunities that will come to you when you are ready to take that uniform off. Giving more than you take—offering knowledge, support, and mentorship freely—is one of the most powerful ways to lay that foundation for a successful transition when the time comes.
Think about the people you trust the most in your organization right now. They’re not usually the ones constantly asking for favors—they’re the ones who give without keeping score. Maybe they showed you the ropes when you were new. Maybe they passed along advice or helped solve a problem when others looked the other way. These are the people everyone wants in their corner—and that’s who you want to become.
Building a reputation of generosity and value is a long game, but it pays off more than you can imagine. When people see you as someone who gives without expecting anything in return—whether that’s guidance to a new recruit, advice to a struggling teammate, or connections to outside resources—they begin to trust you, rely on you, and recommend you. And when your transition to civilian life begins, you will already have a loyal network ready to step up and open doors.
But giving more than you take isn’t just about helping others—it also shapes who you are as a leader. In today’s world, leadership is less about pulling rank and more about showing emotional intelligence and humility. Those are the traits employers look for when hiring military veterans and first responders into leadership roles. If you’ve spent years building others up, your reputation will precede you when you start talking to recruiters, hiring managers, or business partners. They’ll know you as someone who invests in people, and that’s a rare and valuable quality.
Now let’s address the mindset that holds many back: the fear of giving too much and getting nothing in return. After years of service, many police officers, military veterans, and first responders have learned to be cautious about where they invest their time and energy. Maybe you’ve seen people take advantage of generosity or felt like giving doesn’t always pay back. But here’s where the abundance mindset makes all the difference. Choosing to give more than you take is a decision to believe there’s enough opportunity and success for everyone. It’s a way of showing up in the world that reflects strength, not weakness.
The people who adopt this mindset—who believe in collaboration over competition—are the ones who rise faster and farther, even in civilian careers. Employers want team players, not lone wolves. Business leaders want collaborators who think big and help others grow. And when you approach life and career this way, you become someone everyone wants to work with—because you lift people up, not tear them down.
There’s also a deeper reason to start giving now: you’re investing in a future you can’t predict. Transition doesn’t always happen on your timeline. An unexpected injury, burnout, organizational changes—any number of things can suddenly bring your career to a crossroads. If you’ve spent years giving, building relationships, and creating goodwill, you’ll have a network that catches you when life throws curveballs. You’ll have people in industries you never imagined, ready to help, because they remember what you did for them when you had no reason to.
For those just starting out, you might be wondering how to begin "giving more than you take" when you’re still figuring things out yourself. The answer is you don’t need to be an expert to be helpful. Sometimes, being there to listen to a colleague going through a rough patch, offering a book that helped you, recommending a veteran podcast like Transition Drill, or connecting someone with a mentor you know—these small acts matter more than you realize.
And as you rise through the ranks, taking on more leadership, this approach becomes your brand. You become known as the person who helps, the one who shares, the one who makes others better. And when it’s your turn to step into civilian life, that brand follows you—making it easier to get hired, get referred, or even build a business of your own.
In every police department, firehouse, military unit, or EMS team, there are people everyone remembers as the ones who made a difference. Not because they asked what others could do for them—but because they gave their time, their knowledge, and their support. That’s how you want to be remembered when you transition to the next chapter of life.
So if you’re early in your career, don’t wait to start building your reputation. Life after service will come faster than you think, and the relationships you start nurturing today will shape the path you walk tomorrow. Give more than you take—and watch what comes back to you when you need it most.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Connection in Your Transition Journey
Whether you’re weeks away from leaving service, five years out, or just starting to think about what life after service might look like, one truth remains constant for every military veteran, police officer, firefighter, EMS, and first responder: your next opportunity will be built on the relationships you start shaping today.
Transition isn’t just about finding a job—it’s about redefining your mission and finding your place in a world beyond the uniform. But as every veteran and first responder knows, no mission is accomplished alone. By mastering active listening, becoming a resource for others, and giving more than you take, you become the person others want to know, help, and work with—the person who stands out when opportunities come calling.
Whether you're preparing for military transition, police retirement, or simply thinking ahead about life after service, your reputation as someone who listens, helps, and connects will open doors no résumé ever could. Start now—because the relationships you build today will shape the future you step into tomorrow.
The Transition Drill Podcast is the best podcast for military veterans, police officers, firefighters, and first responders preparing for veteran transition and life after service. Helping you plan and implement strategies to prepare for your transition into civilian life. Your transition is more than a career shift—it’s a chance to redefine your purpose, continue serving others, and build a meaningful life beyond your uniform.
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