Learning to Lead: Chief Operating Officer Dave Im Reflects on Military Service
On every Veterans Day, we honor the courage, sacrifice and service of our nation’s military members. This year, we sat down with Dave Im, veteran of the U.S. Army and Chief Operating Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Im reflected on his time in the military, the lessons he learned, and how those experiences shaped his leadership philosophy.
Making a difference through service
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Im was once an aspiring physician.
“My personal mission has always been to make a positive difference in people’s lives,” Im said.
As someone who wanted to be a doctor from an early age, Im’s life experiences opened his eyes to other opportunities where he could make a positive difference.
“The epiphany for me was that you don’t have to be at the operating table to make a positive impact,” he said. “You can make a difference through service, and that’s when the army became a career for me.”
Im served 11 years in the U.S. Army and Minnesota Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Major. He spent a total of 40 months on operational and training deployments overseas.
Lessons in leadership
As part of Im’s military training, he learned the 14 Military Leadership Principles, which serve as a guide for leaders at all levels and provide a framework for effective decision-making, team building and mission accomplishment:
- Know yourself and seek improvement
- Be technically and tactically proficient
- Know your subordinates and look out for their welfare
- Keep your subordinates informed
- Set the example
- Ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished
- Train your subordinates as a team
- Make sound and timely decisions
- Develop a sense of responsibility among your subordinates
- Employ your command within it capabilities
- Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
- Take calculated risks
- Ensure unity of effort
- Know your mission
Im said these principles still guide his approach to leadership at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He shared his own version of these principles with his division when he started, and likes to spend an hour getting to know every new member of the team.
“It’s about knowing your subordinates and allowing them to know you,” Im said. “You have to build trust. If it’s clear how I lead, and what I expect, it will be clear to them how to deliver and to understand what to expect from me as their leader.”
Im also emphasizes the importance of good communication and said it’s the anchor for any military model.
“That’s how you can have an engineer unit, a supply unit, a mechanic unit and an armor unit working together on an operation,” Im explained. “There is a central command delivering the information to every leader who is then responsible for sharing that all the way down the chain so every single person understands what’s going on.”
Im said the corporate structure isn’t always built the same way, but the fundamentals are the same.
“I have translated that into asking, ‘Who else needs to know?”, he added. “That way I can disseminate that information and ensure that the teams involved are all informed so they can execute accordingly.”
Perhaps the biggest parallel Im sees between the military and corporate sectors is what drives them.
“In the military, it’s mission first. Everything is anchored in the mission and everyone needs to understand that,” Im said. “What is the end-state? What strategies and tactics are you going to use to get there and how will you measure it? What lessons can be learned and applied to make the process better?”
Im sees an easy dovetail with the mindset at Blue Cross. “We are mission anchored,” Im said. “We are all working to pave the way for everyone to achieve their healthiest lives. Everything we do is rooted in that mission and we are constantly evaluating how we can continue to deliver on that in the most effective ways for our members.”
Supporting those who sacrifice
Blue Cross has a long history of supporting military members and their families, including a commitment to hiring and supporting veterans.
We’re proud to support the United Heroes League, a nonprofit that is dedicated to helping children of military service members play the games they love. They’ve provided over $30 million worth of sports equipment, game tickets, sports camps and other special experiences to military families.
In 2024, Blue Cross received the Freedom Award, the highest honor given by the U.S. government to employers for their exceptional support of employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve.
“It’s really important for us to support those that are sacrificing for the good of the country,” Im said. “The most important thing that we can do here is ensure their families and their job responsibilities are taken care of so they don’t need to worry about that when they are deployed.”
As a veteran himself, Im said observing Veterans Day means a lot to him and he extends his thanks to all who have served.
“I am super proud to be affiliated with this brotherhood and sisterhood with others who have given themselves as instruments to the United States in order to protect the freedoms of this country,” Im said. “Until you walk a mile in their shoes, it’s hard to know what that’s like. I have walked 11 years in those shoes, and I know the sacrifices they have made. I’m so proud to be a part of this family that will endure for a lifetime.”
Learn more
To learn more about the Freedom Award, click here.
