Lessons Learned

• The Good:

  • Integrity. Lee, 22, is an early standout. He displayed integrity when he refused to conspire with the rest of his team to throw Summer under the bus. He also didn't shrink when threatened by Tarek about siding with him in the boardroom. Though he made himself an easy target, I applaud him telling his team he was "uncomfortable" speaking negatively about Summer behind her back. An apprentice candidate willing to take a stand for doing the right thing is a good example.
     

  • Raise team spirit: Allie got off to the right start with her new team by telling them she was "pumped about this team." She began by acknowledging their talents, a behavior that typically motivates teams into higher performance.
     

  • Get them in the door: Allie wisely directed her team to choose a marketing strategy to "get as many people as possible" in the door. Despite Brent's crazy ideas to accomplish this (including using a karaoke machine), the team chose a sensible tactic of offering free massages and manicures to lure people into Sam's Club. Watch for Brent to be this season's wild card.
     

• The Bad:

  • Giving up. Summer was given a simple task to call restaurant owners and ask them to attend the special event at Sam's Club. She gave up after one call, claiming it was stupid to call restaurant owners in the middle of the dinner rush without a hook. While there may have been some logic in her thought, the bottom line was that she hit a minor wall and gave up.
    
    Trump isn't going to hire a quitter. Hurdles are a fundamental, undeniable and consistent fact of business (and life). Successful business people find ways to work through hurdles. They go over them, around them, through them or blow them up -- they don't just throw up their hands and give up. Are we to believe there wasn't another opportunity for Summer to make marketing phone calls? Don't cell phones work from blimps? Couldn't she come up with her own hook? Are you prepared to answer, "What did you contribute to this team?" I remain a huge fan of Carolyn and admire how she gets to the heart of the matter. She asked Summer this question three times and never did get a good answer.  If you find yourself on the blimp and not fulfilling a role worthy of your talents and skills on a high performing team, challenge yourself by asking: "What can I do to better my position, prove my worth and offer more value?"
     

  • Tie sales promotions to a desired behavior: Tarek's two errors in sales promotion were: (a) having a low-value premium offer; and (b) not tying the premium offer to signing up for a membership. Tarek's team gave away empty duffel bags to scores of customers who entered Sam's Club, without even requiring them to read the membership application.
    
    On any major college campus, one will often find providers of cellular phone service, credit card companies and other marketers of products and services. They always have premiums that are relevant to and desired by the college audience. Most of the time, they don't give away the premiums unless the product or service is actually purchased. In contrast, Tarek's premium offer had questionable relevance to prospective customers. Moreover, Tarek and his team gave away the premium without getting membership applications in return.
    
    The bottom line: Most often, sales promotions are designed to stimulate action. If the marketer does not connect the sales promotion to the desired action, the impact of the promotion is lost.
     

  • It's not all about IQ: At the start of the episode, Trump asked each candidate to say a few words of introduction. Tarek introduced himself as a Mensa member who was in the top 2 percent of the population in terms of intelligence. As a result, Trump, who mentioned that he had a lot of respect for smart people, selected Tarek to be a project manager. In the boardroom, after Tarek's team lost, Trump questioned Tarek's leadership skills and wondered aloud if Tarek, though intelligent, was lacking in common sense.
    
    People who brag about how smart they are usually put themselves at risk in work groups. Other people who are on the receiving end of this braggadocio, whether they admit it or not, often can't wait to pounce on the braggart as soon as he/she fails. Usually, the telltale tag line is something like, "Well, obviously, intelligence isn't everything." There's nothing wrong with being proud of one's intellect, but it's better to be complimented by others for that intellect instead of waving it like a flag.
    
    The bottom line: This episode highlights the importance of weighing a balance of skills and talent when hiring or selecting team members. Managers should be careful not to be overly swayed by credentialing hype (e.g., a Mensa membership). While intellect is one attribute required for success in business, it is only one of many required for success. Leadership, emotional intelligence, integrity, commitment and creativity are equally important. These elements foster performance, appreciation, respect and trust between a leader and his or her team.
     

• The Ugly: 

  • Common Sense: Tarek made a critical error electing to bring in two additional team members to face potential firing by Trump -- neither of whom had done anything wrong. Luckily for Tarek, Summer made an even more egregious error by repeatedly interrupting Trump while he was trying to fire Tarek. Trump lost his temper and fired her instead, stating, "Why should you interrupt me when I am knocking the hell out of him?"  While Tarek may have a super-high IQ, he seems to lack an equally important virtue -- common sense. Also, if Tarek and Summer are examples of this season's "best and the brightest," we're in for an entertaining season.
     

  • Know when to keep quiet: This lesson has appeared before, but it bears repeating. Trump was very close to firing Tarek when Summer interrupted him in order to make a point. This clearly unnerved Trump, who turned on Summer and fired her.
    
    The bottom line: Sometimes, it's just best to let things unfold instead of injecting an unnecessary comment. It's important to be sensitive enough to the dynamics of a group in order to judge if there is anything to be gained by making a statement. Silence can indeed be golden.

Endangered species list

The following people are on this week's endangered species list, based upon the likelihood that they will incur Trump's wrath in the near future:

Tarek (Gold Rush): He came within an eyelash of being fired, only to be saved, in Trump's words, by Summer's stupidity.

Brent (Synergy): Brent thinks by talking. He hasn't really done anything wrong, but his nonstop chatter has already alienated his teammates.

Lenny (Gold Rush): Like Brent, he hasn't made any crucial mistakes. It's unfair, but he's an easy target because he's a Russian immigrant with a thick accent who seemingly has little in common with most of his teammates on a personal level.

Gold Stars:

There are no gold stars for this week's episode.

Commentary

It appears that unlike the last few seasons, the winning project manager will not be safe from being fired in the following episode. Thus, there is no opportunity for anyone to relax after bearing the stress of being a project manager. Also, there is less incentive for candidates to volunteer to be project managers, especially early in the season. Finally, unlike recent seasons, losing project managers will be able to bring up to three additional people with them to the firing session. This should add some spice to the firing session and also make it easier for Trump to exercise his option to fire more than one candidate.