What was your most recent win as an Executive?
Do you know how it happened?
Would you like to repeat it?
In this article I’m going to show you ‘7 Ways To Get More Executive Wins’ so you can inspire your Executive Team and build a more profitable company.
What Is An Executive Win?
But first, let’s define what an Executive Win is.
According to Merriam-Webster the definition of a ‘win’ is, “To get possession of by effort or fortune” and “To obtain by work.”
With that in mind an ‘Executive Win’ can be defined as, “When an Executive works to obtain a goal by effort and/or luck.”
Whether it’s luck, skill or a combination of both, it is worth taking a structured approach to getting more wins.
An Executive Winning Example
You could say that Steve Jobs is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of Executive Wins.
His wins included:
- Profitable products like the iMac, iPod and iPhone
- Music industry disruption with iTunes
- Marketing firsts like the 1984 Super Bowl commercial and Apple stores
- Winner of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation
- 450 patents and more
All these wins led to trillions in sales and a rabidly loyal customer base.
In this article I’ll help you break down the way he got those wins, and you’ll also be able to apply this process to get your next win.
Executive Wins Workshop
If you want a great team-building opportunity to help you get more wins, then check out the Executive Wins Workshop.
Learn More7 Ways To Get More Executive Wins
Here are 7 steps that you and your Executive Team can learn to get more wins.
- Executive Wins Framework
- How To Reverse Engineer An Executive Win
- Save, Delete, Join – How To Choose Your Next Win
- How To Build A Wins list
- How To Incorporate Winning Language
- How To Celebrate an Executive Win
- Take Action To Get More Executive Wins
With this structured approach you and your senior leadership team will be able to consistently achieve profitable results.
1. Executive Wins Framework
You can use the Executive Wins Framework to break down any win. It includes 5 key areas which are:
- Strategy
- Work Plan
- People
- Operations
- Results
For example, let’s use the Executive Wins Framework to show how Steve Jobs built his first computer, the Apple 1.
1. Strategy
Steve jobs had the vision for how to build a new kind of computer in 1976.
2. Work Plan
He sold his VW van to raise money to get parts to build the computer and he started the design process.
3. People
He built the computer with his business partner, Steve Wozniak (who also sold his HP calculator for $500 to raise money).
4. Operations
Jobs and Wozniak worked out of Wozniak’s garage with their own tools.
5. Results
The Apple 1 retailed for $666.66 and they produced 200 of them before moving on to their next product.
If Steve Jobs can win, then you can to.
2. How To Reverse Engineer An Executive Win
Think about one of your most memorable wins. What would happen if you could reverse engineer that win so you could repeat it?
For example, let’s say you’re an Executive in the custom sneaker business, and your latest design just sold out and customers are clamoring for more.
Now let’s use the Executive Wins Framework in reverse to look at what happened.
5. Results
At $500 each, you sold 1 million pairs of sneakers for a total of $500 million, with a profit margin of 30%, which netted $150 million for your company.
4. Operations
You produced the sneakers in your new factory that is more efficient, which allowed you to make the sneakers at a lower cost and improve profit margins.
3. People
Your factory workers have been working with you for an average of 8+ years, and you pay them well and they take pride in their work as they produce a high-quality product.
2. Work Plan
You took a short-term loan for $50 million to buy materials in bulk at the cheapest possible price, and you also hired a hot new sneaker designer out of Hong Kong because you knew that you could capitalize on their influencer status and reduce marketing costs.
1. Strategy
You wanted to break away from your regular sneaker designs so you could produce a new shoe that would appeal to teenagers.
Now that you understand how to reverse engineer a win, you can use the next step to figure out how to choose your next win.
3. Save, Delete, Join - How To Choose Your Next Win
If you think about your last win, do you want to:
(a) Save it?
(b) Delete it?
(c) Join it with another win to produce a new result?
For example, let’s say you’ve been running a successful software business since 2000, and now, in 2024, competitors are using artificial intelligence to take market share.
(a) Save It
Keep running your software business as it is.
(b) Delete It
Sell your software business to a cutting-edge competitor who values your client list.
(c) Join It
You could invest in innovation and learn how to combine new AI techniques with all of the customer knowledge you have gained over the last couple of decades to build a new software offering.
Save, Delete, Join. It’s a quick way to help you choose your next Executive Win.
4. How To Build A Wins List
Building a Wins List is a great investment for every Executive.
One way to do this is to take five minutes at your next Executive Meeting and ask each leader to write down as many wins as possible. Then you can gather up all the answers and start your own Wins List.
In addition to making a broad Wins List, you may also want to set up a few categories that could include:
- Leadership Wins
- Communication Wins
- New Product/Service Wins
- Operations Wins
- Capital Investment Wins
You might also want to introduce a timeline that includes:
- Past Wins
- Current Wins
- Future Wins
Once you get through the first draft of your Wins List, then you’ll be able to apply the previous steps in this article to understand how you got them, and whether or not you want to save, delete or join these wins.
5. How To Incorporate Winning Language
Winning language is critical, especially when it comes to achieving Executive goals.
So, when you look back on how you got your biggest wins you can ask yourself:
“What words did we use to achieve that win?”
Then you can write them down and figure out whether or not those words would apply to getting your next win.
For example, if you got a win by pushing your employees hard and using tough, deadline driven words like:
- “Let’s work overtime, it won’t be for much longer”
- “No pain, no gain”
- “Let’s push this over the finish line”
Once you review the list of words you used, then you can decide whether or not you want to use that language again.
This is a great exercise to help Executives become aware of their current company culture, so they can choose the right language to be successful in the future.
Tone
After you make a list of the words you used for your last win then you can also ask:
- How did I speak to myself as we got that win?
- How did I speak to my team?
- What were we saying to our customers?
Inspiration
For inspiration you might also want to make a list of your favourite quotes from successful Executives.
The ability to choose the best language to create future wins is in your hands.
Executive Planning System Masterclass
If you want to learn how to optimize your entire organization then check out the Executive Planning System Masterclass.
Learn More6. How To Celebrate An Executive Win
I had an epiphany one day when I was leading a corporate training session with a group of Executives.
After listening to their frustrations and complaints about what was happening at work I asked them, “How do you celebrate a win?”
The room went silent.
This moment showed me that many Executives are comfortable complaining and putting out fires, but they struggle when it comes to celebrating wins.
With that in mind I hope you take a moment to ask your Executive Team:
“How do we want to celebrate our next win?”
Here are a few suggestions from my book titled the ‘Meeting Leadership Solution.’
Ways To Celebrate On A Tight Budget
- Learn how to look each other in the eye and honestly say ‘thank-you’
- The meeting leader can send handwritten thank-you cards to each team member
- Have someone who benefits from your work write a testimonial letter, and then get him or her to read it out loud at your next Executive Team meeting
Ways To Celebrate With Money
- Give gift cards for meals, travel, and entertainment
- As a team, you can choose a charity that you want to support and then, instead of doing your regular meeting, you can use the time to volunteer for that charity
- Have fun at off-site events like paintball, bowling, golf, and softball or take the whole team and their families on a vacation
Finding authentic ways to celebrate wins will pay off big time as you go for your next win.
7. Take Action To Get More Executive Wins
To help you take action, let’s start with the types of language that might be holding you back from getting your next Executive Win:
- “I’m too busy”
- “It’s a different time, so we can’t repeat that win”
- “That sounds like too much work”
Now take a look at why you should invest in getting your next Executive Win:
- I’ll be happier and get a raise
- The Executive Team will be more productive, and we’ll all get a bonus
- Our customers will thank us
So don’t hesitate to reprioritize your time so you can take action to get your next win as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
In this article you learned ‘7 Ways To Get More Executive Wins’ which include:
- Executive Wins Framework
- How To Reverse Engineer An Executive Win
- Save, Delete, Join – How To Choose Your Next Win
- How To Build A Wins list
- How To Incorporate Winning Language
- How To Celebrate an Executive Win
- Take Action To Get More Executive Wins
Once you master these techniques, you’re Executive Team will be in a better position to win more often and make your entire business more profitable.
Executive Wins Workshop
If you want to learn these techniques from an experienced instructor, then check out the Executive Wins Workshop.
It’s a great team-building opportunity, and it will positively change the way you do business.
Executive Planning System Masterclass
If you want to go even deeper, then check out the Executive Planning System Masterclass in which Gord Sheppard teaches you how to optimize your entire business.
