In episode 6 of season 2 of Donald Trump’s NBC reality TV show The Apprentice, it was down to 13 players, and we finally saw the women of Apex break their 0-for-4 losing streak in brilliant fashion. The men of Mosaic, led by the artistic but passive John, became runway road kill when the Maria-led Apex team beat them handily in the create-an-overnight-fashion line contest. Project Team leader, John, got the Trump-A-Dump for his inability to keep his eye on the ball and for his Board Room choices. The multi-talented but error-prone John heard “You’re Fired!” for his self-induced poor judgment mistakes.
And, we learn of yet another business run by The Donald: Trump Model Management. This, of course, is the Eye Candy crown jewel in his empire (it is worth noting Trump met both ex-wife Ivana and current fianc Malanie on the runway). True Trumpologists know the model agency is only a tiny part of Trumpland financially but his agency best evokes a big Trump theme—sex sells. Unfortunately, it also disrupts as we saw with the testosterone-tormented men of Mosaic. While making a women’s clothing line is fascinating, we have learned that the real corporate action, and ultimate lessons learned, happen in the Board room, which is now the show’s focus.
Episode Six Update
The team challenge was to create a women’s fashion line for the Avon Fall Fashion Show at New York’s upper-upper-class St. Regis Hotel. The winner was the team whose line sold the highest dollar amount to the buyers who came to the show. In classic rag-trade style, each team picked their own designer, fabrics, designs, sewed them into prototypes and slapped them on Trump models who trotted them down the runway.
Both John’s Mosaic team and Maria’s Apex team met with store buyers to gauge their interests. But from the first moments, the fashion-savvy women of Apex had a huge advantage. The men, on the other hand, got marooned on Fashion Island and never found their way back. In the world of fitting, fabrics and fussy fashion buyers, the men were floundering and feckless, and their team leader John paid the ultimate price.
By the time the contest reached the runway, it was all over. The women’s line was more confidently mainstream, less high-fashion than the men’s. The men’s line was overly eccentric, using wild upholstery fabrics and sporting wacky features like a dress leash for keeping your long train from dragging on the ground. As a result, the Trump models that showed the Apex line were more relaxed and self-assured—a factor that clearly played to the buyers’ sense that the Apex clothes would sell better. And at the cash register, Apex’s superiority was vivid. The women out-sold the men 3-to-1. The final tally was Apex $22,060 and Mosaic $7,735. The Apex team was treated to a champagne party with performers from Cirque du Soleil. And in the Board room, John got a one-way elevator ride for delegating pricing to Kevin and Wes, who priced the line too high.
Episode Six: Lessons Learned.
Lesson 1. Sex sells, but beware its power to distract. While the women of Apex used their models appropriately—treating them like living mannequins, the men of Mosaic ogled the models like goofball adolescents. Mosaic allowed the models’ unabashed sex appeal to divert their attention from winning.
Lesson 2. When you have a short deadline, design your team for efficient decision-making. Apex team leader Maria, realized quickly that overly-analytical team member Elizabeth would slow down the all-important designer and pricing decision processes. Therefore, she sent Elizabeth on a wild goose chase while Maria rapidly made all the real decisions herself. Wise move. Apex’s fast decisions made for a swift victory.
Lesson 3. Never delegate the most important decision, or at least, don’t take your own eyes away from it. Mosaic’s leader John left the key component of the task, pricing, in the hands of Kevin and Wes. He didn’t just delegate the task he actually disappeared from it and the unreasonable high price of the clothing was the reason for their dismal failure. If they were cheaper, Mosaic’s quirky products may have rung buyers’ bells but the price took them out of the running creating a total anniliation of the team.
In the next episode of The Apprentice, I predict a major team re-shuffle and Trump to follow the recommendations of his hench people George the Grandfather-From-Hell and Carolyn the Ice Queen. Stay tuned.
Jay Whitehead is America’s most-read, most-watched and most-listened-to expert on workstyles and careers. You can listen to Jay Whitehead on web-radio every Tuesday 5pm to 6pm EST when he hosts Won on Won with Whitehead on www.businessamericaradio.com. This week the guest will be former Season I Apprentice, Troy McClain. Email your questions and comments to Jay Whitehead at trumponomics@aol.com.
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