Lessons Learned

• Someone has to lead.

  •  As project managers, neither Aaron nor Aimee demonstrated effective leadership in this task. Aimee lucked out that her team came up with a plan in spite of her -- but certainly not because of her. Aaron seemed uninterested. He didn't delegate, decide or provide clear roles or expectations. Notice, however, that on both teams, leaders emerged in the void. Stefani got team Arrow selling and focused, while Derek and Muna took charge of getting the honey on store shelves when Aimee failed to lead. Leadership doesn't always come from the designated leader.

• Commit.
  •  Aaron was really fired before he started the second task. Trump didn't like that he was silent as his boardroom adviser in the previous episode. Aaron said he didn't want to "stick his neck out," but this only proved to Trump that he wasn't confident or a risk taker. He further shot himself in the foot when Stefani asked him to help with sales (knowing his profession was sales). He said he "hated sales" and less than half-heartedly tried to sell, despite sales being the difference between winning and losing on this task.
• Camaraderie helps relieve stress.

  • When Arrow's honey production line was failing, many people might have responded by getting upset. Not this team. And what's the point of getting upset? It only makes the situation worse. Frank, in particular, has a very jovial style that is effective in a time of crisis.

• Whose job is it, anyway?

  • In the boardroom, Aaron tried to pin marketing on Surya, but because he never made it clear to Surya during the task that he was in charge of marketing, his boardroom tactic didn't work. This is a common workplace problem when leaders fail to make clear to team members what their roles are and set clear expectations. Aaron failed to do this. 

• Roll up your sleeves.
  • Credit goes to Stefani for facing her fear of bees and going in with her team to harvest the honey. Being a team player sometimes means doing tasks that you don't enjoy or that make you uncomfortable. She proved to her team she is willing to do what it takes to help on the front lines.
• Avoid overusing business jargon.
  • Surya spouted off business jargon and theory that left his teammates perplexed and rolling their eyes. The funniest exchange of the episode: James tries to simplify Surya's jargon, telling them all they have to do is make honey and sell it. "Revenue maximization," Surya explains. James looks incredulous, responding with, "Making money?" James got it right by getting right to the point.
• Move on.
  • Recognize your own mistakes fast, and abandon them as quickly as possible. It makes you look stronger, not weaker. When Tim and Nicole left the store to try to make volume sales, the idea fizzled fast. But instead of returning to the store at once to sell alongside the rest of their team, they lingered too long trying to make their unsuccessful idea work
• Desperate times called for desperate actions.
  • When your current strategies are not working, substitute something different. This concept was demonstrated by Kinetic during the task: although Kinetic initially looked like it would go down in flames, it overcame its leader's weakness with creative marketing initiative. Derek donned a bee suit and the team set up an impromptu promotion using its Olympic gold medalist to endorse the product. Their quick action generated profits - fast. .
• No respect.

  • Donald Trump provided future business leaders with an amazing lesson of how not to be professional. He was consistently demeaning to the candidates with his trash talk. Trump used the word "ass" in reference to just about everyone in the room. You can judge a person's character by how they treat other people. To earn respect as a leader, you must demonstrate respect. Lack of respect for your people does not increase performance, trust or loyalty.