Apprentice Los Angeles: An Unintentional Lesson

On the surface, last night's Apprentice was all about leadership. But I believe it was all about luck. Both teams hated their project leaders. Team Kinetic recognized that Aime (pronounced "Amy") wasn't fully present. She seemed unaware of her environment (Spanish speaking culure -- hello!) and she delegated to the max. Still, her team came up with a clever concept, dressing up in bright costumes to attract visitors to their booth. And as her team realized they needed to communicate in Spanish, they should have fought for an interprter. Instead, they said nothing. They walked the mall, trying to drum up business but didn't bother to call Aime to clue her in. I don't blame Aime for being angry, as she stormed off to her waiting limo. Consciously or not, her team set her up. In the real world, employees are supposed to make their bosses look good and avoid dumb mistakes. Suriya didn't fare much better. He got emotional. He wandered up to strangers, one at a tim - a very inefficient process. His team made fun of him. Suriya does show some insight. As he pointed out, "We all have jobs to go back to." He does have some marketing savvy. And for some reason, teams begin winning when he joins them. Despite the differences, the teams were only about $40 apart. They were evenly matched as far as creating a team vs. leader conflict. I think the real lesson is something I repeat to myself often, "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."