Introduction

Professionalism is one of the defining characteristics of an effective military.

Modern warfare demands more from soldiers than physical fitness and technical competence; it requires disciplined individuals capable of maintaining high standards under pressure, adapting to uncertainty, managing risk, and continuously developing themselves and their peers.

Across history, elite organisations have consistently demonstrated that professionalism is not built through talent alone, but through culture, mentorship, education, repetition, accountability, and relentless self-improvement.

In recent years, former United States Navy SEAL and Development Group (DEVGRU) operator, DJ Shipley has become a prominent voice in the active service and veteran community discussing professionalism, resilience, accountability, and elite performance. While his experiences come from the United States Special Operations Forces (USSOF) perspective, many of the principles he discusses are highly applicable to the broader Australian Army.

His ideas regarding consistency, standards, emotional control, mentorship, and disciplined preparation align closely with the intent of Professional Military Education (PME) and the Army’s expectations of its non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps and commissioned leadership.

These concepts are not limited to the military. Elite athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan demonstrated similar principles through obsessive preparation, accountability, resilience, and competitive discipline. Their approaches highlight that sustained excellence in any profession comes from mindset, culture, mentorship, deliberate practice, and maintaining standards in all environments.

Importantly, professionalism and high performance are intrinsically linked with safety and effective risk management. Within the military environment, safety is not separate from operational effectiveness; it is fundamental to it. Safe training, well-defined procedures, and responsible leadership preserve combat power, protect personnel, and ensure long-term capability. A high-performing professional force is one that can train hard, fight effectively, and maintain standards without unnecessary risk or preventable injury.

This article examines how DJ Shipley’s philosophy of professionalism and high performance can relate to the Australian Army, the importance of mentors in developing soldiers and leaders, the role of safety and risk management in military culture, and how these concepts connect directly to military training and PME.

Professionalism in the Military Context

Professionalism within the military extends far beyond rank. A professional soldier is someone who consistently performs to a high standard regardless of conditions, recognition, or personal hardship. They are reliable, disciplined, emotionally controlled, tactically competent, safety conscious, and committed to continuous improvement.

Shipley frequently discusses his concept of “be a pro” (being a professional in your chosen field) rather than relying on motivation. This distinction is important in a military context. Motivation is temporary and emotional, while professionalism is behavioural and habitual in nature.

Soldiers cannot rely on feeling motivated during long field exercises, operational deployments, or periods of fatigue – including in barracks. Instead, military effectiveness depends on discipline, routines, and standards becoming automatic. This philosophy strongly aligns with the Australian Army’s concept of the profession of arms.

The Army expects its soldiers and officers to demonstrate courage, initiative, teamwork, adaptability, ethical decision-making, and accountability even in stressful environments. Professionalism ensures that standards are maintained when conditions deteriorate, for instance, in prolonged combat operations.

A key component of professionalism is maintaining discipline in safety and risk awareness. In military environments, complacency and shortcuts can lead to injury, equipment loss, mission failure, or death. Safe weapon handling, communications procedures, vehicle movement, range practices, and rehearsals are not administrative burdens; they are necessities.

Professionals understand that safety procedures are often written in response to previous incidents and lessons learned through experience. Shipley often discusses mastering the fundamentals repeatedly. In the Australian Army, this directly relates not only to tactical drills and battle procedures but also to safety drills, rehearsals, and risk management processes.

Elite performance is usually not the result of extraordinary actions, but the consistent execution of basic skills performed correctly and safely and then later applied under pressure. Professionalism also requires emotional regulation.

Military personnel frequently operate in uncertain, dangerous, and high-stress environments. A professional soldier must remain composed, think clearly, and make rational decisions even when fatigued or under threat. Emotional reactions, complacency, ego, or overconfidence can compromise both operational effectiveness and the safety of others. Furthermore, professionalism creates trust.

Soldiers must trust that the person beside them is competent, disciplined, dependable, and capable of making responsible decisions when pressure is applied and when it is not. This trust includes confidence that teammates will follow procedures, maintain standards, and prioritise the team while still accomplishing the mission.

The Role of PME in Developing High Performers

PME is essential in transforming soldiers from technically trained personnel into adaptive military professionals. PME develops critical thinking, leadership, tactical understanding, ethical awareness, communication skills, safety culture, strategic comprehension, and the function of the team from the section level to full regiments or higher.

One of the dangers to the Army is complacency. Personnel can become technically proficient within routine tasks while failing to develop intellectually or professionally; this is called fatigue from the mundane. PME exists to counter this by encouraging reflection, learning, discussion, and self-development.

Shipley often references the idea of constant self-improvement and refusing to become stagnant. This aligns closely with the intent of PME. Modern warfare has and continues to evolve rapidly through technological advancement, information warfare, drone integration, space and cyber capabilities, combined with changing geopolitical threats. Soldiers and officers who fail to continuously learn risk becoming operationally outdated.

Within the Australian Army, PME allows personnel to:

• Understand historical lessons.
• Analyse modern conflicts.
• Develop tactical and strategic thinking.
• Improve decision-making.
• Build communication and briefing skills.
• Learn from the experiences and mistakes of others.
• Strengthen leadership abilities.
• Reinforce safety and risk management culture.

Safety is connected to PME because military history repeatedly demonstrates that poor planning, weak leadership, complacency, and failure to follow procedures can result in catastrophic outcomes.

Studying historical incidents, training accidents, and operational lessons allows leaders to better understand risk and prevent repeat failures. Recent conflicts such as Ukraine demonstrate the importance of adaptability, initiative, innovation, and force preservation.

Combat effectiveness is not simply about aggression; it is about maintaining combat power over time (sustainment). Reckless leadership, poor planning, or unsafe practices can rapidly degrade capability.

PME also develops humility. Exposure to military history and operational analysis demonstrates that even highly trained organisations can fail through arrogance, poor leadership, or an inability to adapt. Continuous education encourages leaders to question assumptions, recognise risks, and seek improvement rather than believe they already possess all necessary knowledge solely due to the rank they wear.

Mentorship and the Development of Soldiers

Mentorship has the potential to be one of the most important factors in military development. Formal courses and doctrine provide structure, but experienced mentors provide context, guidance, culture, wisdom, and awareness.

Throughout the Army (and all military organisations), high-performing members are often shaped by influential leaders and mentors who have invested time into their development. Mentors help younger soldiers avoid mistakes, develop confidence, refine leadership styles, and understand professional expectations. This becomes, with enough time, a self-feeding mechanism. Great mentors create great soldiers/officers, who in turn become great mentors themselves.

Shipley frequently discusses the impact experienced operators had on him during his development early in his career in a SEAL Team and again later in DEVGRU. Within all military units, standards and culture are often passed down informally through mentorship and example.

Senior personnel shape junior members not only through instruction but also through behaviour, attitude, and standards. This is, however, amplified in organisations like Special Operations or any organisation that has a “filter” for those who are joining.

This same filter can be seen in any high-performing role within Army.

Being a Special Forces member or a pilot (as two examples) can be highly desirable and sought after; however, it is not achievable for everyone, especially without dedicated practice and training that require a hefty time commitment. The practice is often basic, mundane, and monotonous.

This principle is highly relevant within the Australian Army. Young soldiers and officers frequently model their behaviours on respected NCOs and commanders. A strong mentor can:

• Build confidence.
• Correct poor habits early.
• Encourage discipline and accountability.
• Develop tactical competence.
• Reinforce safe training practices.
• Support resilience during hardship.
• Reinforce Army values.
• Inspire long-term professional growth.

Importantly, mentors teach soldiers and officers how to train hard without becoming reckless. In military culture, there can sometimes be confusion between toughness and unnecessary risk-taking.

Professional mentors help younger soldiers understand that true competence involves balancing aggression with judgement, discipline, and safety awareness. Conversely, poor leadership and negative mentorship can damage morale, standards, and safety culture. Toxic leaders who encourage shortcuts, ignore procedures, or reward reckless behaviour often create environments where preventable incidents occur.

Mentorship also supports emotional resilience. Military careers involve stress, uncertainty, operational tempo, injuries, and setbacks. Experienced mentors who have endured similar challenges can provide perspective and guidance. This is particularly important within demanding environments such as combat units, training establishments, and special operations pathways.

The Australian Army relies heavily on its NCOs to mentor and develop junior soldiers. Corporals and sergeants are often the most influential leaders in a soldier’s career because they directly shape the daily culture and standards of the units. Effective mentorship at this level can significantly influence retention, performance, professionalism, and the long-term culture within these units.

Lessons from Sports: Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

The principles discussed by DJ Shipley are also reflected in elite athletes such as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Although professional sport and military service are fundamentally different professions, both environments require discipline, resilience, accountability, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence.

While exposing those in the professions to an inherent degree of risk.

Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality” centred on relentless preparation and constant self-improvement. Bryant became known for extraordinary training habits, studying opponents obsessively, and maintaining intense discipline. Importantly, his success was not based solely on natural talent, but on deliberate practice and consistency over extended periods of time.

This mindset directly parallels military professionalism.

Soldiers who consistently train; rehearse; study doctrine, tactics, and history; improve weaknesses; and seek guidance and then apply these to the best of their ability become more effective under operational pressure. They also become better peers in the barracks.

Bryant’s philosophy reinforces the military principle that preparation builds confidence, competence, and performance.

Compare Bryant shooting free throws for hours to a soldier dry firing. Bryant is making shots from around the court to see how it feels in different positions, to the soldier who changes the position of the pouches on their webbing to learn what has the best flow. This is a mundane task that, over time, can have huge implications. And the lessons learned by doing this can be passed down to more junior soldiers.

Similarly, Michael Jordan demonstrated exceptional competitiveness, resilience, and leadership. Jordan demanded high standards not only of himself but also of his teammates. He understood that successful teams require accountability and collective excellence rather than individual talent alone.

This is the kind of mentorship that can be seen in good NCOs, who not only display and model the highest standards but also demand and assist soldiers in reaching higher standards. Army units operate similarly to sports teams.

Strong teams are built through shared standards, trust, discipline, and accountability. One weak link can compromise mission effectiveness and increase operational risk. High-performing leaders in the Army can create cultures where standards are maintained or raised collectively rather than enforced solely through rank.

It is important to note that high standards do not mean special or niche skills. It refers to doing the basics to an exceptionally high level. This commitment of time and repetition is what raises the standards and allows for future niche skillsets. A sniper must be able to hold and maintain the position before they can take the shot.

Another important lesson from both Bryant and Jordan is the role of failure in development. Both athletes experienced setbacks, losses, criticism, and adversity. However, they used failure as motivation to improve rather than as justification to quit.

This is highly relevant in military training environments. Difficult courses, exercises, and selection processes are intentionally designed to expose weaknesses and build resilience. Professional soldiers learn from failure, adapt, and continue improving while still maintaining discipline and improving training practices.

Military Training, Safety, and Building High-Performance Culture

Military training exists to prepare individuals and teams for the physical and psychological demands of combat. Effective training develops competence, confidence, resilience, cohesion, and disciplined decision-making under stress.

Shipley often discusses the importance of realistic stress exposure. Military organisations understand that personnel perform more effectively under pressure when they have previously experienced controlled hardship during training.

This is why military training frequently includes:

• Fatigue.
• Time pressure.
• Information overload.
• Physical stress.
• Uncertainty.
• Repetition, sometimes under pressure.

The purpose is not simply to make training difficult; it is to develop automatic competence, emotional control, and sound judgement. Under extreme stress, individuals rarely rise to the occasion; instead, they fall back on their level of training.

Realistic training does not mean reckless training. Safety and risk management are essential components of military effectiveness. Risk cannot be eliminated from military service, but it must be understood, managed, and justified.

Professional leaders identify hazards, apply controls where possible, and balance mission accomplishment with force preservation. Within the Australian Army, safety and risk management are embedded into all aspects of training and operations. This includes but is not limited to:

• Weapons handling procedures.
• Range safety.
• Vehicle and aviation safety.
• Combat shooting.
• Medical planning.
• Navigation.
• Fatigue management.
• Environmental injury prevention.
• Rehearsals, drills, and risk assessments.

These measures exist because military history consistently shows that complacency, shortcuts, and poor judgement can result in serious consequences. Many safety procedures are written in response to lessons learned from previous incidents and operational experiences.

High-performance culture is also essential to the Army. Culture determines what behaviours are rewarded, tolerated, or rejected within a unit. Military cultures often encourage:

• Accountability.
• Discipline.
• Teamwork.
• Initiative.
• Continuous improvement.
• Humility.
• Professional standards.
• Safety consciousness.

These behaviours are separate from, but entwined with, the ADF and Army values. For example, you cannot have excellence without accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and a set of standards. Shipley frequently references the importance of surrounding oneself with high-performing individuals.

In military environments, culture becomes contagious. High standards elevate group performance, while complacency spreads equally quickly.

The old adage ‘show me your five closest friends and I’ll show you your future’ holds true, especially in the military where people bond strongly to their peers and have a shared purpose.

Sustainable performance must also include recovery and balance. Modern discussions on high performance increasingly recognise that burnout, injury, and mental fatigue can reduce long-term effectiveness. Being a high performer and reaching excellence include maintaining physical health, emotional stability, and personal discipline outside the workplace.

The two work in synergy with each other.

Safety and risk management are not obstacles to military excellence; they are essential elements of it. Professional soldiers and leaders understand that realistic training, disciplined procedures, and responsible risk management create stronger, more capable, and more effective teams.

Conclusion

The concepts discussed by DJ Shipley regarding professionalism, accountability, discipline, mentorship, safety, and high performance are highly relevant to the Australian Army and PME. His emphasis on consistency, emotional control, preparation, standards, and disciplined behaviour aligns closely with the profession of arms and the expectations placed upon military personnel.

Professionalism is not built through motivation alone but through disciplined habits, strong culture, mentorship, continuous self-improvement, and responsible risk management. PME plays a critical role in developing adaptable leaders and soldiers capable of understanding modern warfare, learning from history, and improving organisational effectiveness.

Mentorship is one of the most powerful and often underused tools in developing soldiers and leaders. Experienced mentors shape culture, reinforce standards, promote safety awareness, and help younger personnel navigate adversity and professional growth. The lessons demonstrated by Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan further reinforce these ideas.

Elite performance, whether in sport or the military, is built upon preparation, resilience, accountability, discipline, and the relentless pursuit of improvement over long periods of time. Ultimately, military excellence is not created through isolated moments of intensity, but through consistent professionalism practised daily over time.

High-performing individuals and organisations are built through disciplined habits, strong mentorship, effective training, sound risk management, and a culture that refuses to accept complacency or mediocrity.

True professionalism within the Army means being capable of fighting hard, thinking clearly, leading responsibly, and maintaining standards while protecting the force and accomplishing the mission. This is best brought to fruition with good mentoring of junior soldiers and officers.

Still Interested?

Why not also read The Science of High-Performing Teams by Aleesha Shimeld? 

Cove+ also has short learning courses on similar topics, including Project Leadership and Teams.