This is story of how Wingman came to be the name of the program we’ve created to help business leaders work on their business in federal contracting. I think it’s pretty straightforward. My original pick for a name was Overwatch, but many of our friends who are former military turned entrepreneurs, cautioned us that name might not resonate with those who had not served in or worked with the military. They offered that Wingman might be a better pick since so many have seen Top Gun and would be familiar with the concept of a wingman. Either name works for me as they are about providing support and protection for a blind spot while a person or group is executing actions. The title, “We Got Your 6!” means as your Wingman, we will help you be aware of potential blind spots, hazards and obstacles that would impede you from succeeding.

 

Today, Wingman, now known as Wingman S.O.A.R.R., represents the outcomes we help our members achieve. The acronym S.O.A.R.R. stands for:

The rest of this story is about how, just last week, we helped one of our members fly high in the S.O.A.R.R. program, during an R&R retreat.

 

REFUEL & REFOCUS or R&R, our current Wingman program, was created as a forum where business leaders REFUEL their strategies and REFOCUS their efforts to grow while supporting the missions of federal agencies. R&R consists of small cohorts, each with up to ten members.

 

Last week we hosted all of our R&R cohorts to include the newest group participating in their first retreat. To say it was glorious would be a massive understatement! These were the most productive retreats we’ve ever facilitated in the eight-year history of the Wingman program. The feedback and activity level, is our proof. Additional confirmation arrived in the form of a post by a member in a cohort discussion forum, early yesterday, Wednesday, June 14th.

 

During last week’s retreats, one of the strategies we assisted a few members with was at the opportunity-level. Specifically, positioning their company and offering when no specific solicitation exists, but the need is more than apparent. In this case, one of our business leaders was speaking with a federal agency customer  and discovered an opportunity to help the agency address a stated priority goal. During the retreat the idea of a pilot program was discussed and vetted, and a plan was devised. That was last Wednesday. By that Friday, they had confirmed a meeting with the senior leader (think agency CIO) for the following Monday. Yesterday (Wednesday) we received a note from this member stating the customer loved their approach, and was instructing their deputy to make a contract happen for the pilot. This is happening because this very driven business owner leveraged the power of R&R resources and took immediate action. They created and executed a plan, and have received a response commensurate with the time, effort and thoughtfulness they committed to the achieving this goal.

 

We’ll update this with more details as soon as the contract is awarded. In the meantime, we’re now accepting applications for our September 2023 cohort and October retreat. 

 

We Got Your 6!

Peace, Health, and Success,

For a PDF of this blog click here.