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I need to submit my achievements for purpose of an interview. But the questionnaire format is such that I need to use as few words as possible.

I want to convey "led my team to victory in ABC XYZ competition".

Is there a way to write this as "<word> in ABC XYZ competition"?

Edit:

  1. yes, a shorter punchier phrase would work
  2. ABC XYZ is a fitness competition within the company i was working, where we had to log our daily activities, worth double when we did in group. We were organised into teams of 8 each. My role was to nudge people into doing more, and encouraging them to work out in groups.
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  • 6
    I fear you're not going to win this one.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Mar 27, 2021 at 10:34
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    Asking for a single word may be a bit too much. Instead, a shorter, punchier phrase might be in order. Are you open to that?
    – RobJarvis
    Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 13:13
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    Does led my team to victory in ABC XYZ competition actually not fit on the form? It's quite concise and clear. What is your character count maximum?
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 22:43
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    Shorter at the expense of clarity is not better. I cannot think of a more concise way to say what you said. Words like mentored or coached might better serve you in an interview, but you can't really swap in either of those directly for led in your example.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 3:22
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    I doubt a single word is doable, but it feels like there might be a single word for 'to lead a charge', which could perhaps be used to get across the idea of leading a team, in one word. Could then replace 'to victory' with 'victoriously', if you're really trying to cut it down, although it does slightly shift the meaning. Might be overly dramatic, and in any event, even for this shortened problem, I can't come up with a word!
    – DoublyNegative
    Commented Apr 5, 2021 at 12:51

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I am not sure whether you want to minimize WORD count - or CHARACTER count. You state WORD count - but that is unusual - so I'm thinking CHARACTER count is more likely. Regardless, precise English is not, in my experience, required on such forms. Rather, colloquial - expressional English is preferred.

So, "led my team to victory in ABC XYZ competition", could be expressed as "Led team to win ABC XYZ competition"; which shortens both WORD and CHARACTER count.

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  • I am genuinely surprised this didn't occur to me. Or to others who looked at this question. This is the simplest shortening while retaining the meaning exactly. I only wish this answer had come up 3 days back. That's when I submitted my form.
    – utkarshk5
    Commented Apr 8, 2021 at 7:51
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I don't think there is a single word for your example. It's also pretty hard to get a phrase around five words, but I'll try:

... inspired my team's win in ABC XYZ competition...

Inspired is defined like this by dictionary.com:

  1. to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc.): to inspire confidence in others.
  2. to influence or impel: Competition inspired her to greater efforts.

"I led my team to victory" also works perfectly fine.

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  • Thanks for your response, @Nai54, you did reduce the word count by 1. I was hopeful of more, but this seems the best possible now.
    – utkarshk5
    Commented Apr 3, 2021 at 3:12
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I can't manage a single word, but I feel like you could encompass much of the same idea in 'spearheaded a victory in ABC XYZ competition'.

In particular, being the person leading a charge seems like too important a historical and modern concept to not have a single word covering it. A similar by more modern notion might be to 'be on point', although this is obvious far less succinct. The central idea I'm aiming for is to encompass the notion of 'my team' implicitly within the verb chosen, if anyone has any ideas based on this.

It does somewhat diminish clarity slightly, forcing an interviewer to process this a little more than perhaps they'd like, as the phrasing has been made clunkier for the sake of brevity, but I think making progress on cutting this down further will probably need to go along some such lines.

Edit: Perhaps 'captained a victory' might make this even clearer, but it still isn't shorter in terms of word count.

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I captained the winners of ABC XYZ competition.

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Prevail

  • My team Prevailed in ABC XYZ competition

Note, the definition itself doesn't exactly meet the letter of your question yet it might meet the spirit rhetorically

 [Definition of prevail][1] at Websters
intransitive verb

 1: to gain ascendancy through strength or superiority : TRIUMPH

 2: to be or become effective or effectual

 3: to use persuasion successfully
    prevailed on him to sing

 4: to be frequent : PREDOMINATE
   the west winds that prevail in the mountains
 
 5: to be or continue in use or fashion : PERSIST
   a custom that still prevails

Prevail is dramatic and brings with it a suggestion of an arduous challenge with each definition getting some color from the other I "feel" (subjective here)

I take it that you hope to be asked about details of what you list and have a story of perseverance and more you hope to be asked about? This word might trigger that ... ... yet be ready for a pshaw or eye roll if what you led was rather routine and unremarkable!

a few more thoughts - while 'prevail' does not itself suggest leadership it brings a sort of "moral strength" flavor - not only were you good but you faced challenge and adversity with poise and steadyness - different that say "finished first" or "outshone" or "captain of winning team" (which says nothing of the nature of your contribution or suggests you even broke a sweat ?)

Also as you mention specifically that you had to encourage or prod group members some of the "persuasion" definition 3 fits nicely alongside 1 - and that your team wone had something to do with the "continuing at it" aspects of 4 and 5

Leader or not? "my" alone doesn't necessarily claim "leadership" but, it softly suggests a good bit more than merely being 'on' the team - enough so that it might be cheeky to say 'my' team if you were sitting on the bench or an also ran - I'd say it implies you were at least a leader on it?

Best!

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  • Thank you @Tom22 for your thoughtful insights. I am hopeful for a more action oriented phrasing. So I'll pass on this one.
    – utkarshk5
    Commented Apr 8, 2021 at 7:48
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Triumph

verb - achieving a victory; being responsible for it.

A proper noun before 'Triumphed' would convey that the said person/thing is responsible for the said victory, e.g. "Napoleon Triumphed at the battle of Austerlitz."

I want to convey "led my team to victory in ABC XYZ competition."

*insert person or thing led my team to victory triumphed in ABC XYZ competition.

"I triumphed in ABC XYZ competition."

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    Uh, the verb won is six characters shorter than triumphed, and you don't need a preposition: My team won the ABC XYZ competition. In any case, I believe the OP's point was not that the team won but rather that he/she played a leadership role in effecting that win.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Apr 4, 2021 at 0:53

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