Success Academy: How Veterans Learn to Command Communication
There are few things in life more crucial than communication skills.
As students of the Veterans Success Academy at UCLA Extension learn from day one, the ability to communicate effectively is the foundation from which everything else is built. During the Success Academy’s five sessions, Veterans discover that honing these skills has the potential to completely change their lives.
Whether personal or professional, improved communication can lead to new career opportunities, greater self-confidence, enhanced interpersonal relationships, more effective self-promotion, better workplace politics, and array of other positive outcomes.
Executive coach and instructor for the Success Academy program, JP Reynolds, begins by telling his students to imagine that nearly every act of communication, from an email to a conversation, should be treated as strategic, particularly while on the job.
“I tell my class, ‘Is what you’re communicating going to help you reach your goals?’ I teach from the belief that professional and personal success is grounded on trust,” Reynolds said. “Sharing and gaining trust is not only the way of successful communication, it’s the way to the kind of life you want to live.”
The Success Academy, which concluded its second installment in November, provides communication and teamwork skills training to job-seeking Veterans as part of the Vocational Rehabilitation program at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS). Beyond helping participants obtain employment, the course also presents skills for improving relationships with management, colleagues and customers, and helping maintain a positive workplace environment. The collaboration was facilitated by the UCLA Veterans Initiatives and Programs Office.
“We want our Veteran participants to increase their skill in the more formal communication style that is a necessity within the workplace,” said Marvin Wilson, vocational rehabilitation specialist with VAGLAHS. “Additionally, we want our Veteran participants to stand out from the competition within the candidate pool by making a strong first impression within their resume, cover letters, and during job interviews.”
Trust tends to happen when speech is modulated, engaged, and when your communicating partner feels they’re being heard. The drill sergeant style may work in bootcamp, but not with job interviews. A raised voice does not elicit trust, nor does it present confidence. Even if one feels confident in their position, communication that’s too emotional – hostile – can be seen as lacking confidence, Reynolds said. Not an optimum technique for building trust or reaching goals of your own.
For Veterans, considering communication in this way can be a cultural shift from their military experience. In the Success Academy they learn to do more than just react and respond; they learn to communicate strategically. For an organization, strategic means using communication purposefully to fulfill a mission. For the individual, that “mission” can be one’s own goals and objectives, including gaining trust, creating social bonds, and avoiding self-sabotage
Daniel Martin is a graduate of the program and returned as a guest speaker to inspire other Veterans. Martin spent time in the criminal justice system and overcame substance abuse with help from VA’s Compensated Work Therapy program. Martin secured a full-time job as a carpenter with West LA VA. Now, months later, he has a place of his own, a truck, three motorcycles, and money in the bank.
“I worked hard to get here, but I’m proud and grateful,” Martin told the class.
Most of the participants from the first course offered in 2019 have obtained employment, and Martin said he occasionally sees some of his former classmates on the West LA VA campus.
VAGLAHS’ Vocational Rehabilitation program provides a comprehensive range of rehabilitation services to Veterans. Services and programs include core vocational rehabilitation assessment and case management services, work therapy, supported employment and supportive programs for the seriously mentally ill and chronically homeless.
The Success Academy curriculum demonstrates that communication is the bridge to a better life.
Prior to his experience with Success Academy, Martin said he could be standoffish and doubt the good intentions of people who tried to help him.
“I have been so grateful to UCLA Extension,” he said. “[It] changed my life. I now have more self-esteem and compassion and kindness than I have ever had in my life, and it stems from making sure that I came to this class and I graduated.
“The Success Academy and UCLA has been instrumental in my job at the VA. It has carried me in ways I didn’t even recognize at the time.”
To learn more about the Vocational Rehabilitation program, email VHAGLAVCEDCOMMUNITYEMPLOYMENTCOORDINATORTEAM@va.gov.