Have a pizza Alexa's mind

Apprentice star Alexa Tilley reveals what she learnt from the show

Capgemini management consultant Alexa Tilley recently starred as an eager young contestant on the second series of hit BBC2 reality show The Apprentice.

Sadly, the Cambridge graduate is no longer on the telly, having unkindly been fired by Sir Alan Sugar at the end of the fourth episode. So what did Alexa learn from her experience?

Find out, in her own words, in the exclusive article below...

A business takeaway

So, my Apprentice rollercoaster ride has now come to an end - and what a ride it has been!

My business lessons learnt are:

No, seriously - I now plan to do some business talks about the real business insights I can take from my Apprentice experience and I thought I would share a few of these in this article.

Thinking inside the box

I think it's first important to acknowledge that 'business tasks' for a TV audience are always going to be business tasks with a twist, as the pressure of the elimination aspect of the game mounts up and candidates must vie for position.

�Successful business is about fostering long-term relationships�

So, although the Apprentice is all about the success of the team, when it comes to the boardroom, it is every man for himself. This manifests itself in encouraging certain, less than optimal, team member behaviour when working as a team (as people have to think about keeping themselves out of the firing line).

For me, successful business is about fostering long term relationships based on trust. That means working cooperatively and focusing on the overall team objective, rather than on the performance of specific individuals

Alexa's top tips

With the above in mind, I have eight top business tips for any successful project manager to remember.

	��Get the latest advice with our free newsletters.

Being an Apprentice and getting hired is one thing, but being an Apprentice and getting fired has taught me the most fundamental of all business lessons: if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

I would therefore say that the successful entrepreneurs and business leaders are those people who move on rapidly from any business failure, learn from it, and come back with a stronger idea and an improved approach next time round - with lots of renewed enthusiasm to make it work better than the last time!

What next?