Winning versus Success

In business, we often get caught up thinking about “winning.” We have to “win” contracts, employee buy-in, financial gains, and on and on. We may sometimes confuse winning with success, however, and they are not the same thing.

Simply put, my definition of winning is that it is tactical when you think of it as it relates to contracts and even employee engagement. But success is more of a long-range goal. Success–as I think of it–means that you will have wins and losses as you navigate your course toward becoming successful.

Here’s an analogy. During a basketball season, a team will likely both lose and win games. But, the team that’s holding the championship trophy at the end of the season is the one that succeeded. So, success is not defined by winning everything.

I offer these words to encourage you as you look at where your company is now, where you want to be, and what you need to do to get there. Remember, you will inevitably face challenges and what can be perceived as losses along the way. Despite these losses, you can still gain your ultimate objective by keeping the difference between winning everything and ultimate success clearly in your mind.

Have you gone through a period of having a number of proposal losses and become frustrated because of it? What did you do to get back on course? Based on your average win rate over the years, you can get excited about a loss because it moves you closer to the next win.