Former Army Captain Turned COO Shares Keys to Post-Military Success

Army veteran Grant Miller believes there is a misconception when it comes to strong military leadership, especially among civilians.

It’s not about authority. In fact, the reality is vastly different.

Miller, who spent more than five years as an officer, exiting as a captain, feels that success depends on forging trust, adapting to unique personalities, and motivating units to accomplish a shared mission. And he’s applied what he’s learned to his post-military career in business, working for the past three years at StableDry, a home services company.

Miller was promoted to chief operating officer in July 2025, where he serves as a “people, operations and strategy leader.”

Miller, a 2013 West Point Academy graduate, led a company of 160 soldiers through stressful, complicated missions.

While he’s passionate about business, Miller is also focused on aiding other veterans through their post-military transition, from comprehending job titles to learning how to make their resumes stand out in a competitive civilian workforce.

Leadership in War

Miller was only in middle school when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, but it had a profound impact on his young life.

“9/11 was the moment that really changed everything for me,” he told Military.com. “I didn’t fully grasp the scale of what was happening, but I remember feeling this deep sense of duty and a clear calling to serve something bigger than myself.”

Miller worked hard on academics and was accepted to West Point in 2009. From 2016-2017, Miller served in Iraq with the 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in its quest to liberate Northern Iraq, specifically the city of Mosul, from the grips of ISIS.

Miller found fulfillment mentoring soldiers from various backgrounds, leading them to a clear vision and sense of purpose.

“When you invest in junior leaders by challenging, mentoring, and empowering them, you see them grow into confident, capable individuals who can lead others,” Miller said. “Being part of that transformation is what fueled my passion every day, and something I naturally carried into my civilian career.”

A key aspect of being an effective leader is the ability to overcome challenges. Miller said he sometimes struggled trying to balance the constant pull of competing demands.

“As a leader, you’re responsible not only for meeting mission requirements from higher headquarters, but also for being the coach, mentor, and example your soldiers deserve every day,” Miller said. “That tension is real—protecting your people’s time and focus from unnecessary tasks while still ensuring they’re trained, disciplined, and ready to fight and win.”

Miller said attempting to strike the perfect balance in meeting expectations was a constant battle. There was always more to be done.

“More for your leaders, for your soldiers, and for your own standards,” he said. “But over time, I learned that leadership isn’t about perfection; it’s about showing up consistently, making the best decisions you can with the information you have, and never losing sight of the people you’re entrusted to lead.”

Finding Success After the Military

Miller separated from the Army in the summer of 2018, taking a senior advisor role with Dell Technologies. As he climbed the executive ladder at Dell, Miller also went back to school, earning a master of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas in 2023 and learning how to become a viable business leader through Summit Park’s Leadership Excellence and Development Program (LEAD), paving the way to his chief of staff role with StableDry.

“In that position, I worked closely with the leadership team on strategic growth initiatives and helped manage our (mergers and acquisitions) pipeline,” Miller said. “It was a unique opportunity to operate at both a strategic and execution level, and it gave me a front-row seat to how the business scales and creates value.”

Coming from the Army to the business world, Miller realized there are several aspects of military talent that civilian high-level executives struggle to comprehend.

“I think the disconnect is twofold: a misunderstanding of what military leadership actually requires, and an underappreciation for how transferable and valuable those skills really are in the business world,” Miller said.

Companies must stop assuming all veterans are the same and, according to Miller, the notion that leadership in the Army can be reduced to simply dishing out orders and expecting compliance.

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “Effective leadership in the military is built on trust, accountability, and genuine connection with your people. Rank may give you authority, but it doesn’t automatically earn you respect or make you a leader.”

On a resume, translating military experience into language that a hiring manager is going to understand also poses challenges.

“Many of the most valuable skills, like operating in ambiguity, building teams in high-pressure environments, and figuring out how to accomplish a mission with limited resources, don’t translate cleanly to a resume,” Miller said. “In the Army, you’re often expected to step into complex situations, adapt quickly, and deliver results without a clear playbook. That ability to ‘figure it out and get it done’ is second nature for many veterans, but it’s not always easy to articulate to a hiring manager.”

Like many service members leaving the military, Miller had a tough time finding purpose, an experience he said was both unexpected and humbling.

“How do you expect someone to step out of an atmosphere that provides a clear sense of purpose and mission into a role that seemingly only exists to drive more profit or productivity? It’s hard to make that connection to your purpose, especially when you step into a large Fortune 500 company like I did, where you are a small gear in a giant machine,” he said.

While camaraderie can be built on the job, it often pales in comparison to military life.

“It becomes more challenging when you now find yourself surrounded by coworkers who share nothing in common beyond the badge they wear to scan into a building,” Miller said. “I eventually got over it and found my purpose, but it was certainly not a feeling I expected when I took off my uniform.”

Failure is OK, Learn to Grow

Another way to succeed in business is learning to fail. Not a lesson Miller embraced in the Army, as failing on a mission could bring dire consequences, but one he learned to accept as a civilian.

His advice to veterans: learn to grow in your new surroundings and don’t be afraid to stumble initially.

“Leaving the military is a big shift, and it’s unlikely you’ll land in the perfect role right away,” Miller said. “The key is to not be afraid of taking that first step or even failing along the way. That first job outside the service is less about having it all figured out and more about learning what you want to grow up to be. Understand what you enjoy, where you add value, and what kind of environment you want to be in. If it’s not what you expected, don’t be discouraged. Treat it as part of the process.”

He believes that veterans with the ability to successfully transition from service to civilian life are adaptable, take stock in their development, and pursue the skills and experience needed for the next opportunity.

“There’s always another path forward, but you have to be willing to pursue it,” Miller said.

In building strong teams and establishing a solid business culture, transparency must be at the forefront, according to Miller.

“There’s no point in hiding metrics or masking business performance from your team – make them visible and speak to it. Creating an environment where team members’ voices are heard and considered goes a long way in creating buy-in and ownership,” he said. “Giving the ‘why’ behind decisions helps your team understand how they fit into the overall purpose or mission of your business and helps develop an environment of trust and that ‘we are all in this together.’ Culture is easy when you are winning, but operating with transparency helps you get through lean times when everyone needs to row together.”