What is the definition of winning? The dictionary says – Successful, triumphant, victorious, unbeatable – well yes, I suppose a lot of that description does fit. I have so far been successful in my fight against breast cancer, successful in my career and fortunate enough to have won several accolades.

But to me, what is more important than the winning is the process.

Winning is but a fleeting moment of victory – it’s what you do before and, most importantly, after that counts. To me, it is the journey that you take to achieve that winning status and then what happens after the spotlights are off, the media packed up and gone home.

For me what remains are not the trophies and awards that I can hang on a wall rather it is the memories and pride in the individuals and businesses that I have had the pleasure of mentoring and working with. They may have all approached me initially because I had a profile as a result of my accolades but it has been a genuinely pleasurable experience to be the ghost in the background. The ghost that has helped their lights to shine brightly – this is what I call a winning relationship.

Winning provides an opportunity and can, if managed correctly, open doors that were previously closed. In my book winning is about sharing, teamwork and working to create a better society for the generations that follow us.

Winners are influencers and with influence comes a great responsibility. I’ll be talking more about influence later this week at the Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium.

Michelle