Core value · Success family
Winning
Coming out ahead
Also covers Being the best, Competition and Victory
What does winning mean as a core value?
Winning as a core value means thriving on competition and wanting to come out ahead, whether against rivals, a target or your own previous best.
A scoreboard sharpens you. Winning means coming out ahead: of rivals, of last year’s numbers, of the other side at five-a-side. Competition brings out your best focus, and victory is clear proof that the effort was worth it. You like knowing where you stand. Wanting to be the best pushes standards up in sport, business and plenty else. For you, a close contest that you won is one of life’s great feelings.
What does winning look like in practice?
- You keep score in games that don’t officially have one.
- You study competitors’ pitches closely before writing your own.
- You ask for a rematch straight away when you lose.
- You set targets based on being top of the league table.
- You rally a team by giving them a clear opponent to beat.
When is winning overplayed?
When winning is everything, every interaction becomes a contest: the meeting, the family quiz, the conversation about whose week was harder. Colleagues turn into rivals, and losing, even at things that don’t matter, can sour your mood for hours. There’s also a pull towards caring about the result more than how you got it. The mature form competes hard and loses well. A useful habit is to name, at the start of the week, the two or three contests actually worth winning, and let the rest go.
Often confused with
Winning vs Success
Success is doing well by your own measures. Winning is doing better than someone else, which needs a contest and a loser.
Winning vs Excellence
Excellence is reaching a high standard in its own right. Winning is relative: you can win with ordinary work if the competition is weaker.
Winning vs Achievement
Achievement is reaching the goals you set. Winning is coming out ahead, and the target is usually defined by the competition.
Questions to sit with
- Which contests in your life are worth winning, and which have you entered without meaning to?
- How do you treat people after you’ve beaten them, and after they’ve beaten you?
- What would you give up to win, and where is your line?
More values in Success
Achievement, ambition and coming out on top.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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