Cupcake Wars Can Teach You How to Be Stronger at Work

Food Network’s Cupcake Wars can teach us all a lesson about finding wins within our chaotic workplace; yet it also showcases the need to slow down in a chaotic moment to ensure flawlessness. Before you question my manhood for watching Cupcake Wars, I am completely justified because I have a fantastic client who is a three-time Cupcake Wars winner (Sweet Arleen’s); I love cupcakes (probably the cause of 10 percent of my belly); and I was flying back from Las Vegas multi-tasking myself (writing this column, working on a client’s messaging doc, writing my book and watching Cupcake Wars). While shifting between screens, I heard one of the contestants who was just voted off say, “I wish I could have focused better,” as she wiped away the tears, looking deflated and questioning her existence as a cupcake store owner. Why did she feel this way? Pressure. In her Cupcake Wars moment, she was competing against time, against two other bakers and against the prospect of the judge’s criticism. In your work place, it is probably the same. And it becomes very challenging to slow it down and double check the small things all while looking toward the big picture. As the field narrowed down to two competitors, I carefully listened to the way they spoke with their teams, curious to see if style of leadership could lead to victory. One of the bakers said, “I want this bad”; “My cupcakes will win”; and “I have to hurry up.” Those lines concerned me, as they were very individualized and not overly motivating. At the end of the day, a leader who has no followers is just a hiker – walking alone up the challenging hill of business. The other baker said lines like, “We can do this girls”; “Let’s go girls, you guys are doing great work”; and “Let’s be the winning team”. You know where this is going. Clearly, the baker who inspired those around her to be a part of something special was essential to her winning. To produce 1,000 cupcakes by her lonesome, she would have failed. To produce 1,000 cupcakes as a team, she could win. If you want to be a winner in the workplace, watching how winners win Cupcake Wars can provide you a roadmap to success. There are a few key lessons:

• In Cupcake Wars, it’s about being one inch better than your competitors. In business, you must be one inch better than your competitors to remain at the top. In the work world, if you are the best within the group – you probably move-up and make more money. The judges aren’t there to play favorites, they are just there to identify the baker that does it best.
• You don’t have to be perfect to be great. The best cupcake baker wasn’t necessarily perfect, she was simply better than the competition. If you want to stand out, stand out.
• Little mistakes can cloud big wins. If the baker makes one incredible cupcake, but makes an additional two cupcakes that are bad–it won’t matter because the other two will overshadow that best cupcake’s success. Slowing down, checking off the fundamentals (like actually putting the banana cream inside a banana cream cupcake) will be essential to finding success. Dot those I’s and cross those T’s.
• Teamwork trumps everything. A group with one superstar and four average bakers can still win a championship if the superstar gets the best out of the non-superstars. A motivating action can lead to momentum, and momentum can lead to continuous great moments.
• Perfect your wins. Just because you reach the goal of finishing everything before the clock runs out, doesn’t mean you can’t go back and make things even better. Don’t just hit your goal, crush it.

The reality of a reality show like Cupcake Wars is that it is reality. Don’t be left as first–one-out or runner-up –find a way to outperform your competition with great vision, mission, values and leadership. Crush it on the little details, and the bigger picture will guide itself.