The Apprentice V開播
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Episode Summary: The season opened with 18 new Apprentice candidates. After greeting them aboard his jet, Mr. Trump selected Tarek as one project manager because of his membership in Mensa, an association for people with high IQ’s. Mr. Trump then selected Allie to head the other team because of her degree from Harvard Business School. Tarek’s team took the name Gold Rush; Allie’s group called itself Synergy.
This week’s project was to sign up new members for Sam’s Club or get current members to upgrade their memberships to a higher level. Each team was given a Goodyear blimp to attract visitors to the store. The team that sold the largest number of new or upgraded memberships would win.
On promotion day with their blimps circling overhead, the teams spread out through their stores. Allie’s team, which offered massages and manicures at booths inside the store entrance, sold 43 memberships. Tarek’s team, which distributed free tote bags, attracted only 40 and lost the competition.
Back in the conference room, Mr. Trump fired Summer because of her failure to execute the task that Tarek had given her: to call restaurants and get their owners to visit the store the following day. She had made only one call.
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This season premiere taught great lessons about maximizing team performance. Let’s take a closer look.
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When Mr. Trump chose Tarek to lead a team because of his high IQ and Allie to lead the other team because of her Harvard degree, he was seeking intelligent leaders who could give their teams a strong start this season. Tarek, however, failed to define a strong promotional idea for his team members to execute, and then bickered with them prior to the firing.
Success Lesson
Don’t coast on credentials. They might get you a job, but then you have to lead and get results.
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When Tarek invited women to join his new team by calling them sexist names (”the lovely lady in brown” and ”that beautiful girl”), he violated a fundamental rule of doing business today.
Success Lesson
Strip your business talk of even the smallest allusion to physical appearance. Doing otherwise makes people resist you and marks you as someone who is unfit to lead.
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When Brian pitched his idea for the team’s name too aggressively (”Killer Instinct,” a name that everyone hated), he got angry when the team picked ”Synergy” instead. Then he got even more defensive when his team overrode his idea for putting a karaoke machine outside of Sam’s Club on promotion day. He quickly alienated himself from his team.
Success Lesson
Get your ego out of the process. On a team, cooperation outweighs your ego needs. Let your group’s decision become your decision, even if you thought you had a better idea.
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Both teams ultimately created similar in-store promotions, but Synergy won by intercepting Sam’s Club customers as they entered the store and selling to them assertively.
Success Lesson
Don’t always seek perfection. An imperfect idea, implemented aggressively, often wins.
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When Summer made only one call to a restaurant to invite its owner to visit Sam’s Club and then gave up, she committed a firing offense, and was forced to make a quick exit from this season’s competition as a result. She could have told her project that the task he had given her wasn’t working. She could have come up with a better task and done it. Instead she just sat there, and that cost her a job.
Success Lesson
Squawk. If you have an assignment that is stupid or simply not working, don’t just sit there. Let your teammates know. Raise a ruckus and get something done or be prepared to take the blame.
(Presented by Trump University)
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第一集心得如下：
1、智商高不等于智慧高。
High IQ doesn’t mean to be wise anyway.A Mensa member doesn’t mean that he will become a good leader.
在現實生活中，很多人都認爲自己是能幹精明之人，經常標榜個人如何優秀，業績如何出彩。不可否認，這些人都有其個人之處，往往智商高於常人。最近，很認同一句話“沒有優秀的個人，只有優秀的團體”。也遇見過個人能力很強，可是領導能力幾乎低下的案例。領導者，德比才重要，好的領導，則必須才德兼備。所謂德，則為智慧，而非智商。小聰明，人皆有之，而大智慧者，除慧根深種外，則須經萬千磨練與修行而得之。人貴在有自知之明，若無大智慧者，千萬不要逞強強當領導之位；若為領導，則要以德服人，勿以小聰明而貽笑大方。
2、 發言的時機比内容重要。
To know when to speak is much more important than know what to speak.
越是到緊要關頭，往往越控制不住的就是那張嘴巴。每到厲害關頭，人們往往都本能地保護自己，不斷地為自己找藉口、辯解、推諉、混亂、最後敗陣。其實，越是重要時刻，越需要冷靜、聆聽、分析情況、尋找突破口。知道什麽時候應該開口，什麽時候應該保持沉默。當然，達到這些境界，亦須磨練並不斷提升自身的涵養與素質。
3、不要放過任何成功的機會。
The man who has made up his mind to win will never say ”Impossible” (Napoleon)
世事萬千，沒人一出生就懂得所有的事情。對未知的事情及未來有所畏懼，似乎是人類的本能。要成功，就必須有嘗試的勇氣。很多看似常理的事情，我們在未親身經歷前，也不能百分百認同，決不能人云亦云，即便是一些經驗結論，我們也不能一成不變地應用，一定要根據實際情況而進行二次判斷。“就算是一直都這麽做的事情也並不代表一定是正確的”，這是一位前輩告訴我的。同樣，我們也不能對未接觸過的事情斷然說“不可能”，或說什麽根據經驗判斷。勤於總結，善於分析，勇於嘗試，無懼失敗，這樣，才能增加獲得成功的幾率。
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