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Business and Leadership Lessons From The Apprentice 2011: Episode 7
Well it was episode 7 of The Apprentice UK last night. This week the teams were tasked with creating a new magazine.
With the decline in the print market and more and more free publications, the challenge was to come up with something that was going to be of interest to those spending on advertising.
This week a very positive development was that both teams took the time to determine the niche or target audience they were going to serve.
They also went out and did some market research through some focus groups.
On the flip side as we have seen so often the views of the focus groups seemed to be completely ignored. Now obviously it is just a perspective from a selection of people but valuable time and effort was spent to collect views that just seemed to be ignored.
As always we saw some good and bad points from both team leaders and team members.
Positives
Jim was accused of never taking a decision on his own. Now that might be the case but on the other hand that could be seen as good team working.
People were offering their opinions and views and saying when they really were uncomfortable with things.
Decisions were taken by the team leaders.
Learning Points
Aggressive or hostile behaviour undermines some of the good behaviours adopted on the task. Jim’s analysis of people in the boardroom being a classic example.
People will stop giving their opinions if you simply say I have decided without explaining your rationale.
Don’t ask for opinions if you are not at all interested in hearing them or acting on them.
Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people realise their true potential. You can sign up for his free audio course here
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.