In the business world, A. G. Lafley is well-known as the chairman of the board (and former CEO) of Procter & Gamble Co., the giant Cincinnati-based household goods manufacturer. But he got his start in business running the Navy Exchange at a naval air station in Japan. Here's how he answered the call.
I've spent 32 years in the corporate world, but if I were writing a recruiting ad for the military, it might well read:
"I GOT MY JOB THROUGH THE UNITED STATES NAVY."
Serving in the Navy-first as an enlisted man and then as an officer-steered me into what later became my professional calling. If I hadn't been in the military, I probably would have ended up as a history professor or a lawyer. Instead, I joined the Procter & Gamble Co., where I ultimately served for nine years as CEO and have just recently become full-time chairman of the board.
Until late 1969, I hadn't even given the military-or a career in business-a thought. I graduated in 1969 from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where I studied history, politics, art, cinema, and drama. I had taken a break in the late '60s to go to Paris to study at the Sorbonne and hitchhike around France on the weekends. History was my passion, and I had entered a Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia to study medieval and renaissance European history. I expected to finish up in four years. After that, I planned to teach.
All this changed when the government conducted the Vietnam War's first draft lottery. Since I'd drawn a number that was well below the magic 100, being drafted seemed inevitable. In a pre-emptive strike, I enlisted in the Navy. In March 1970, I reported to boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois.
My first few months in uniform put me on a different track. After boot camp, I was groomed for the Naval Security Group. I took a course in electronics, followed by several weeks of language training in modern Hebrew (never to be used). Then a warrant officer recommended me for Officer Candidate School. If I completed that successfully, I'd become a line officer.
But that, too, was derailed after the Navy discovered that an old injury had degraded the vision in my right eye to 20/400-too impaired to be a ship-driver. After that, the choice was more limited: become a supply officer or go on to divinity school and join the Chaplain Corps. I chose the former, and it changed my life.
My first duty assignment-at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Atsugi, Japan-did it. Rather than ordering aircraft parts, I was detailed as assistant Navy Exchange officer at a sprawling complex that included the commissary, the Navy Exchange, and a broad array of recreational attractions, from an enlisted men's club to a golf course.
I got into it! We operated grocery, department, and specialty stores-all the retail and service operations for a small town of about 10,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel and their families. Retailing turned out to be a lot of fun.
My boss had an ambitious goal. The air station was the smallest of some half-dozen military installations in the area, and he wanted us to make the retail stores and amenities at Atsugi-such as a restaurant and swimming pool-so good that all four services would flock there on weekends or on R&R trips from Vietnam.
This meant that, contrary to the usual image of the Supply Corps, we were driven by competition. We upgraded the stores and recreational facilities, expanded our stock, sharpened prices, and turned in respectable profits, which in turn helped service members and their families.
I learned one of my most important business lessons: "The consumer is boss." I talked to the women who came into the stores. I asked them what they wanted. I asked them about their shopping experience. We changed to meet their expectations, and it made a difference. We more than met our goals-and I got the business bug.
When the Navy Exchange officer completed his tour, I was assigned to take his place, and I got to manage the entire operation. Over the next two years, I acquired a lot of great experience and learned how to run a company. I'd have had some good opportunities if I had stayed in, but I decided on a career in business. I earned an MBA at Harvard and joined Procter & Gamble. And I've been there ever since.
A taste for business wasn't all I took with me when I left the Navy. I've always remembered how much responsibility the military was willing to give a junior officer. P&G does this too, although I have to concede that we don't out-do the Navy on that score.
I also learned how to work as part of a team-something history professors rarely need to do, but a situation that Navy people encounter every time they're on watch. I recall one night when one of our aircraft missed the runway and crashed, and I was the senior watch officer. Within minutes, we had a response team in place to handle the emergency.
Running the Navy Exchange as a business was only one of the parallels between the Navy and my time at P&G. Both organizations are purpose-led and value-driven-qualities I first encountered at the Dominican Brothers' high school I attended, and that were reinforced in the military and in corporate life.
And in both the Navy and corporate life I learned how to interact with a variety of people-from brilliant and inspirational leaders, who quickly became role-models for me, to some who unfortunately weren't so effective. I vividly remember those whom I admired. I remember the others, too, and learned from them as well.
I'm not much for hanging on to mementos. For years, I kept a set of my blue, white, and khaki Navy uniforms-all tailored to perfection in Asia-in a closet at my childhood home. I still have the farewell plaque I received at NAS Atsugi. But not much else.
I've also kept in touch with former shipmates (yes, we still have reunions) over the years. I root for the Naval Academy's football team. And I've never regretted having joined the military. If I hadn't been in the Navy, I never would have done what I've done. The Navy totally changed my life.