Author View (Sean Yazbeck)

“I am the benevolent dictator... does everyone understand that?” said the ever-entertaining and charismatic Gene Simmons. It sounded like a Gordon Gecko quote straight out of the film Wall Street. And I loved it. Gene’s style of leadership is your old-school Gordon Gecko-esque, thick-skinned alpha male. And it’s all completely natural. He’s confident in everything he does, believes he is capable of achieving anything and has the consistent mental posture for success. These are all the winning qualities of a true leader. So why was he fired? Ego. Ego is the number reason why so many quality candidates on The Apprentice are more...

Apprentice Blogs and Websites this week have been saying that Tim’s flirtation with Nicole was the real reason he got fired last Sunday night. That is probably true. Tim was on the Arrow team. Nicole was on the opposing team, Kinetic. That caused his own team members to doubt his loyalty. It’s worth noting that before this week’s task had even been assigned, Tim’s team members had put an ‘X’ over his head and had already planned to fire him if they lost. Office romance will put you in that kind of danger. It is a hazardous game. Yet you might recall that on more...

To win in sales, you need to be passionate about what you’re selling. You’ve got to believe that your organization is the best, that your product is the best and - most importantly - that you are the best.  Passion is the fulcrum point of selling.  It’s pivotal.  It’s absolutely fundamental to selling success.  That reality was made very apparent on last night’s Apprentice in the images we saw of Heidi and Nicole not fighting for the sales that Arrow was apparently “stealing” from them. Their complete failure to rise to that challenge showed us that if you’re not passionate about what you more...

Talented individuals are the driving force behind a good company. They’re the difference between high performance and mediocrity.  As a manager, you need to surround yourself with the best people. But you have to do something else too . . . You have to let them shine I liked the fact that James was confident enough in himself to do just that with his team this week. It was clear that Tim and Nicole knew just how to handle production and post-production. So James let them run with it - and he then wasn’t afraid to pay them kudos where it was due.  Managers, especially new more...

After you’ve launched your business, the day will come when it is time to start knocking on doors and selling. When that day comes, your first inclination will probably be to dash out to buy every book you can find about selling. If you can absorb all the powerful advice they contain from their powerful-looking authors, you will be moving your product quickly, right? Well maybe yes. But probably not.  You see, attempting to identify the traits of the perfect salesperson is a waste of time. All you need is to understand your own strengths and perfect them. I’ve been the top more...

Reflections on The Apprentice Episode Six Something incredible happened in last night’s episode. After Aimee and her team lost their task, she got together with Jenn, another member of her team - and revealed her plan to attack Jenn in the boardroom the next day! And then Jenn, who was probably trying to be honorable, said, “Well if you say that bad thing about me, then I am going to say this about you.” And she laid out her entire strategy. During that conversation, they both gave away any competitive advantage that they might have enjoyed in the boardroom firing session. And more...

With this blog post, Trump University welcomes Sean Yazbeck, winner of The Apprentice Season Five, as a new member of the Trump University faculty. Let’s hear Sean’s views on last night’s episode. The leaders of both teams faced a deceptively simple task last night. What could be more straightforward than putting honey in bottles and selling it? Yet both Aaron and Aimee, leaders of the Arrow and Kinetic teams, proved too weak to lead their teams to achieve optimal results. Here are the lessons that you and I can take away and apply in our own careers. Great leaders exert firm control more...