Former US Navy pilot Dan Bozung graduated from the Harvard Business School and took what should have been a seamless civilian transition and skillfully crafted it into a series of bungled misadventures that left him chastened, defeated, and a complete asshole. 

What the hell happened? How could someone with every possible advantage upon entering the private sector screw it up so royally?  That is precisely what Bozung seeks to find out in This Civilian Sh*t Is Hard. In concise, honest prose, he examines the epic collision of unrealistic expectations, poor choices, and bad luck that produced his hapless career odyssey. 

Listen in as he learns firsthand the value of a quality ass-chewing from a Navy flight instructor. Ride along as he carts around an Orlando golf course with a frog suit-wearing colleague on the brink of heat exhaustion. Experience his amused disbelief as a corporate boss attempts to diagnose him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Bozung carefully traces the origins of such events, spanning more than twenty years both in an out of uniform, and details the lessons learned from each. 

Comical.  Infuriating.  Incisive. This Civilian Sh*t Is Hard is a cautionary tale for transitioning veterans and a rally cry for those doing hard time in the corporate cubicle, struggling to find their way in today’s workplace. 

• It’s obvious to everyone when you’re not making your best effort. At a minimum, it erodes your credibility. At worst, it gets someone killed. 

• If you can’t be a professional at whatever you’re doing, find something else at which you can. You risk significant harm to your effectiveness and reputation if you persist in a role at which you’re either unable or unwilling to be your very best. 

• Whether an employee goes the extra mile has a lot to do with the extent to which he feels valued by his boss. And it takes remarkably little. Simple, genuine acts of courtesy are often all that is required to keep team members productive and engaged. 

• The naïve idealist I was upon leaving active duty couldn’t imagine the possibility of a leader’s not taking full responsibility for his own conduct and that of his organization. I now understand not every culture rewards those who “own it.” 

• Some of the best salespeople I know don’t give a shit about their companies or the purposes they supposedly served. But they know how to move product and make money.  That’s good for them and their companies. 

• The Pursuit of Passion is a fool’s errand. It’s a swing-for-the-fences approach to career planning that can and will fail. Rather than “Follow your passion,” I really wish someone in the career services office would have instead told me to, “Shut the fuck up, and go be a consultant!”

• Dues paid in the military count for nothing in the private sector. That was a hard lesson. 

• Not all bosses ascend to positions of leadership because they’re qualified to lead. Some have deep expertise in a certain area and are put in charge of people with similar expertise. Others have simply been around longer than anyone else. And some are put in charge, because no one else is willing to accept the responsibility.  Whatever the case, they’re the boss. So, you have two choices: Find a way to make it work, or leave.

• Employees should never have to wonder what’s most important, especially in times of uncertainty. They risk wasting valuable time and imagination on unproductive activities. If you’re the boss, don’t assume people have figured out the priorities. You must tell them, clearly and repeatedly. 

• More than 90 percent of Americans have never served in the military. As a result, most base their understanding of military men and women on Hollywood depictions of Navy SEALs. This contributes to a general ignorance of the military community that manifests itself in unusual, sometimes annoying ways. If you’re a veteran, don’t be surprised by this. 

• Many employers take great pride in hanging the “We Hire Veterans” sign in the window. But that doesn’t mean its leaders have any understanding whatsoever of a veteran’s unique experiences or capabilities. Veterans should have no expectation they will.

• The average employee doesn’t leap at the opportunity to do additional work for which he will not be paid. That’s rational. And the average employer doesn’t willingly incur additional cost via overtime and penalty pay when he doesn’t have to. That, too, is rational.

• Employees are quick to pick up on a boss’s tendencies and even quicker to notice when he departs from them. Consistency is a core, good-boss behavior.

• When the boss consistently aligns his behaviors and activities to a set of clear priorities and expectations, it’s powerful. People can go about their business without having to worry about the boss’s shifting whims or whether an activity that’s acceptable today might get them in trouble tomorrow. That’s liberating.

• Beware of made-up-sounding titles. My boss may have had a clear idea of the roles and responsibilities of the Strategic Marketing Consultant. But I sure as hell didn’t. And neither did anyone else in the organization. 

• It’s always a bad idea to attempt to correct your boss in public. Always. Especially in front of his peers. Even if you’re right. Unless he’s about to drop bombs on the wrong target, whatever correction you think your boss requires can wait. 

• When you start saving your boss’s e-mails to cover your ass, it’s the beginning of the end. One of you is leaving. And it will probably be you. 

• A competent asshole is still an asshole, even if he’s effective.  It can be miserable working for one. But not as miserable as working for an incompetent, ineffective asshole. I would prefer not to work for any assholes. But, if I had to choose, I would take the competent one. Maybe I could at least learn something.