K. C. Healy, a West Point graduate who spent five years of active duty in the Army and another dozen in the Army Reserve, seems an unlikely candidate for a button-down corporate career.
But the Deloitte Consulting director has found success leading the firm's federal energy management and sustainability campaign. Now he's offering his expertise as a former military man to veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"It was daunting because you don't speak the language," said Mr. Healy of the transition from Army man to businessman. Now he's working as a mentor with American Corporate Partners, a national program to help veterans make the leap into the professional world.
Aon Corp., Goldman Sachs & Co. and J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. are among the companies participating with Deloitte.
"While many core skills are similar, the way they're carried out and the way people interact is different," said Mr. Healy, who talked to me recently about making the transition.
"I 'sir'd' and 'ma'am'd' a lot of people at the beginning, and that's not done in the business world. In the military, you're focused and terse because it's all about getting the job done. I could come across as aggressive. People didn't know what to make of me," he said.
"I had to learn to relax. That was the thing that was hardest to learn."
