In the fifteenth and final two-hour episode of Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice, only 2 candidates remained. Bill Rancik the cigar store entrepreneur versus Kwame Jackson the Goldman Sachs banker with a Harvard MBA. For 15 weeks, whether you are an employee, a retiree, a Human Resource professional or captain of industry, Donald Trump earned us a bachelor’s degree in Trump-Onomics. At the end Kwame Jackson got the Trump-A-Dump. His low-key manner, while calming, allowed his team to go astray. Bill’s high-energy perfectionism, while occasionally unnerving, won the day in Trumpville. While neither of the final two candidates lacked confidence or competence, Bill’s entrepreneurial fire tipped the Trump-Ometer in his favor. Donald Trump’s 15-week job interview conducted by NBC TV is finally over.
Show Recap
The final episode pitted Bill and Kwame against each other as dueling event managers. Bill was put in charge of the Chrysler Trump Invitational Golf Tournament at Trump’s Briarcliff Manor golf club. Kwame took on the job of running a rock concert by pop star Jessica Simpson at Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Bill used his loyal hand-picked team of returning cast members Amy, Nick and Katrina as an extension of his nervous management style, endlessly checking and double-checking details. Kwame also went for loyalty by picking his pal Troy, but inexplicably picked the wicked Omarosa, and the damaged Heidi. Kwame’s team-picking and internal communications mistakes started to sink him right away. Omarosa was caught on tape lying to her boss about why she lost her rock-star at the airport. And finally, Omarosa sunk Kwame’s ship when she started playing dress-up with Jessica Simpson’s wardrobe team instead of having the star available to meet Donald Trump when he arrived. In the Board room, Trump questioned why Kwame picked Omarosa and then had not fired Omarosa for lying to him. By contrast, Bill’s performance as a golf tournament director showed his knack for details and talent at mobilizing his team.
While the Kwame-Bill battle was mesmerizing, the Board-room fisticuffs between Trump’s two hench-people, George and Caroline, were the best of the night. George supported Kwame for the job, saying that his laid-back demeanor was a sign that, in Kwame’s case, still waters run deep. Caroline vigorously disagreed. She adored Bill’s detail orientation and energetic style. Caroline proved the better in-fighter when Trump sided with her pick and said the most coveted words of the 15 week series, “You’ve been through hell, Bill, you’re hired.” Bill was the choice as a Trump Company President to either manage the 400-acre Trump National golf course in Los Angeles or manage the construction of the $700 million Trump International Tower in his home town of Chicago. Bill picked the building project since he is from the Windy City.
Lesson One.
Advice: It’s ok to let ’em see you sweat a little, just as long as you’re sweating over the customer. Bill made sure that his customers, the sponsors and Donald Trump, were taken care of. Behind the scenes, he was a perpetual motion machine, a ferret on a double cappuccino. His customer focus was felt by his team. Kwame was so concerned about his staff’s performance that he forgot the needs of his customers: Taj Mahal Management, Jessica Simpson and Donald Trump.
Lesson Two.
Advice: Over-communication is better than bad communication. Bill’s style of barking orders, checking on follow-through, and re-checking endlessly, won him the contest. Kwame’s overly trusting and under-communicative manner got him the Trump-A-Dump, especially because his team featured Omarosa, the world-class liar, and Heidi, her arch enemy. In war, combatants shed lots of blood to cut off the enemy communications lines. But Kwame severed his own by picking a dysfunctional team and failing to micro-manage them to the finish.
Lesson Three.
Advice: In business, there is no substitute for face time. Make your customer feel the love. Bill took advantage of his close proximity to his main customer in running the golf tournament, which Trump won, by being everywhere and with everybody. In Kwame’s case, Trump only saw the end result, which was a bird’s nest of confusion and missed connections.
With the blockbuster success of The Apprentice, we can get ready for another series, which will involve assignments at Fortune 500 companies. TrumpOnomics will return next week for a wrap-up of all the lessons learned and we will start all over again in the Fall with the next round of Trump-employee wannabees. Stay tuned.
Listen to Jay Whitehead every Tuesday 5pm to 6pm when he hosts Won on Won with Whitehead on BusinessAmericaRadio (www.businessamericaradio.com) when he will offer advice and career tips and interview leaders in the business world. Join Jay Whitehead’s mailing list by writing to jayradioshow@aol.com.
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