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Crazy about Celebrity Apprentice? Visit Our Celebrity Apprentice Blog!

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If you love Celebrity Apprentice, be sure to visit Trump University's Celebrity Apprentice Blog today - and every day - for the latest news about your favorite show.

We've already posted some very useful lessons we learned from the show  last night - practical lessons that can get your career on the right track. Plus on Monday, we'll be posting a special commentary by Andrea Lake about last night's episode. You remember Andrea. She was the stylish-but-tough contender who fought her way into the topmost ranks of Apprentice candidates two seasons ago.

So click here and get in on the action. It's a great season. Why not be part of it?

Barry Lenson is Executive Editor at Trump University.

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A Negotiating Lesson from Tonight's Celebrity Apprentice

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Be sure to watch Celebrity Apprentice tonight. There are some terrific lessons to be learned. One of my favorites reveals the power of taking your time when negotiating. I can’t reveal the details until after the show airs, but I can say that during a negotiating session, two of the male celebrities are trying to pressure two of the women to make a snap decision. The women stall, and that allows them to get exactly what they want out of the deal.

That reveals one of the fundamental principles of powerful negotiating that Donald J. Trump often writes about . . .

When you control the pace of negotiations, you stand a much better chance of winning.

But that’s only one of the fundamental principles of strong, Trump-style negotiating. Here are a dozen more to think about:

  1. Be patient. Sometimes you have to wait weeks, months or even years to get the agreement you want. So take the long view.

  2. Remember, you can’t overpower the other side by talking loud or fast. Every negotiation requires a different approach. If you are in doubt about how to behave, listen well and show respect.

  3. Aim for win/win outcomes, like all the books on negotiating say. But don’t forget that you sometimes get to win more than the other side.

  4. Only negotiate with people who have the power to come to an agreement with you on behalf of their  organizations.

  5. Learn something new every day. You never know when a piece of information will transfer into a powerful advantage when you are negotiating.

  6. Be willing to walk out. It will often move you towards your goals more quickly than agreeing to the wrong terms.

  7. Put a dollar value on your objective - the most you will pay, or the least you will accept. Your opponent will sense when negotiations are nearing that line and will back off.

  8. Understand what the other side really wants. (If you don’t know that that is, ask.) If you can’t offer it, negotiations are going to be harder - but not necessarily impossible. At least you will know what you are up against.

  9. Identify bargaining chips that you will be willing to give away. Example: You might be willing put a new roof on a property that you are trying to sell.  But guard your chips closely and don’t offer them unless you have to.

  10. Know the most important thing you want to gain from negotiations, but don’t reveal it too early. Once all the other issues are on the table, you will have a better chance of getting it.

  11. When negotiations stall, ask “What would it take for us to come to an agreement about this today?” If you cannot offer what the other side asks for, call off negotiations temporarily to give the other side time to rethink its position.

  12. Don’t hold grudges or badmouth the other side if you are unable to come to agreement. Today’s opponents can be tomorrow’s allies.

Again, be sure to watch tonight, because it is one terrific episode that features what I consider to be the most unusual firing in Apprentice history. Hope to see you there! 

Barry Lenson is Executive Editor at Trump University.

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Sean Yazbeck Comments on Celebrity Apprentice Episode Three

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“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 fired too early.

My good friend Omarosa pointed out that, “Gene Simmons had no idea about the product. In fact he didn’t even know the name of the product.” Gene sending two people instead of six to the client meeting was understandable. When your company wins a new a client, it doesn’t send the entire company along for the meeting, however, it does send the person who is responsible for the delivering the service. In this case, Gene. Gene’s ego, however, prevented him from attending the meeting and having any idea of what the client wanted.

Gene’s an amazingly successful businessman, entertainer and marketer. And to his credit, he does embody all the attributes of a good leader:

  • Integrity: People with integrity tell the truth and they keep their word. This is amongst Mr. Trump’s primary values.

  • Intelligence: You need to have an intellectual curiosity and breadth of knowledge to work with or lead other smart people.

  • Maturity: You need the ability to handle stress and setbacks, and enjoy success with equal parts of joy and humility.

  • Energy: Embrace action, relish change and energize others. Energy is infectious.

  • Courage: The courage to make tough yes-or-no decisions.

  • Execution: The ability to get the job done.

However, on The Apprentice you have to remember that you’re surrounded by equally successful and intelligent business people. In business you should manage your subordinates with the same care that you manage your boss. I’m not sure Gene has ever had a boss but nonetheless, losing the ego and interacting in a more respectful way shows integrity and would have been looked upon more favorably by his teammates.

Making such an effort to adapt to his teammates would have meant that they would’ve all nominated Nely to be fired. But then would an egoless Gene have been as entertaining? Probably not.

As winner of The Apprentice (2006), Sean Yazbeck, was selected by Donald Trump to oversee construction of the 5 star hotel condominium, Trump SoHo, in New York City. Yazbeck's role included overseeing negotiations on all acquisitions and purchases for this $500 million project.

Yazbeck has since been working with the Trump Institute to set-up WAVSYS, a national technical staffing company providing individuals, project teams and strategic outsourcing services for engagements in IT and telecommunications. As Founder and CEO, WAVSYS leverages Yazbeck's 12-years of unrivaled recruitment expertise, for which he was awarded the EB1 Green Card for "persons of extraordinary ability".

In 2006, in recognition of his multiple achievements the mayor of Miami Dade County, Carlos Alvarez, named June 20th, as "Sean Yazbeck Day" in Miami-Dade County. More recently in 2008 the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, bestowed the honory title of "Kentucky Colonel" on Sean Yazbeck "in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to the nation".

Since winning The Apprentice, Yazbeck has appeared as Boardroom Advisor to Mr. Trump on The Apprentice, hosted his own show, Reality Trailblazers, on the TV Guide Channel and has appeared on numerous shows such as Miss Universe, MTV Video Music Awards, Live with Regis and Kelly, 1 vs. 100, Soap Talk and Identity.

Yazbeck graduated top of his year with a First Class Honors Degree from Southampton Solent University in England. A British national, he is due to gain dual American Citizenship in 2010.

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Trump University's Celebrity Apprentice Blog Is the First Stop for Fans!

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If you love Celebrity Apprentice, we have some great news for you!

Trump University's new Celebrity Apprentice Blog goes live today, with great features about every episode. Make it your first stop the day after every episode airs - and on all the days in between - to make sure you're not missing out on all the information, all the gossip and all the fun.

Wasn't Gene's firing last night a great moment in Apprentice history? It sure was. Get the inside scoop on all things Apprentice by clicking HERE.

Josef Katz is the Vice President of Marketing at Trump University.

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Kelly Perdew Comments on Celebrity Apprentice Episode Two

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First of all, I want to say hats off to Mark Burnett and Donald Trump for coming up with the best concept for The Apprentice yet - an all-celebrity cast where every task is based on raising funds for charity. This season there really are no losers!!!
 
The task was to create the best commercial to sell Pedigree dog food to raise awareness of Pedigree’s Dog Adoption Drive. Gene Simmons and Nely Galán were selected by their respective teams to be the project managers. The teams picked Nely based on her TV expertise, but sometimes, as we’ve seen on many of The Apprentice tasks, the expert should not be the leader, they should just be the expert and let someone else focus on leading. Gene’s dominating presence during Task 1 made him a shoo-in for project manager for the men - but that dominating presence can also backfire!
Lesson:  You don’t have to make the subject matter expert the leader.
 
Nely led the women’s team in a little kumbaya to bolster morale and get the creative juices flowing, while the men’s team argued points until Stephen Baldwin brought up his 20+ years of film experience to capture the role of director for the commercial. Gene and Stephen clearly have a good rapport going. Not the case for Gene and Ivanka. Gene, in an apparent attempt to keep his vision a secret, made the very unfortunate mistake of rebuffing Ivanka when she came in to monitor the team’s progress. Not only did he rebuff her, he was rude about it. I can understand operational security, but it is not a good idea to insult the judge, even less of a good idea when she’s Donald’s daughter. That will come back to haunt him, if not on this task then on a future task.
Lesson:  Don’t insult the judge, especially when she is the boss’s daughter.
 
Marilu Henner was instrumental in writing the script and doing much of the directing on the women’s commercial. However, once again the women forgot to use their star power. They seemed a little disorganized and none of the shots looked compelling.
Lesson:  Learn from your prior mistakes, in this case - use star power.
 
After shooting all the scenes, Gene and Stephen basically booted the other five guys out of the editing booth so they could work in peace. Tito and the rest of the crew decided they didn’t want to leave their fate in Gene and Stephen’s hands. Tito led the group back to the editing booth and voiced his concern about being kicked out, but Gene and Stephen were insistent about being left alone to finish. This was a strong move by Tito, as I also wouldn’t have left it up to Gene and Stephen either. Tito is a competitive mixed martial arts fighter and that competitive spirit is what drives him in the cage and in business. They are all playing to win for their charities and Tito wants to contribute. Now Tito’s got some defense in the boardroom if the men’s team loses; however, he’s now become something of an antagonist to Gene and Stephen - two very strong players.
Lesson:  Sometimes less is more - not all tasks require the whole team.
 
Both teams then presented their commercials to Donald and the Pedigree VP of Marketing. The women’s team wore color-coordinated outfits and for the men, Gene, in a theme of consistency, was completely insolent. From the short pieces that aired, the men’s team clearly delivered the better commercial. Pedigree liked one of the commercials so much they plan to use it at the Westminster Dog Show. In the boardroom, Gene apologized to Ivanka and after watching both commercials in full, the men’s team won handily.  
Lesson:  Admit when you’re wrong and always use star power.
 
Nely decided to bring Nadia and Carol back into the boardroom with her, but there didn’t seem to be much reasoning behind those choices. Nely may be in trouble . . .
 
When they returned to the boardroom, Nely did not do a good job of defending herself. However, Carol dealt the death blow to Nadia when she said that Nadia could not be a leader and Nely reinforced that message. Nadia seemed confused, Carol kept quiet, and Nely described herself as exceptional.  In the end, Donald made the decision to fire Nadia because he thought Nely had more potential and that Nadia hadn’t showed leadership qualities. I would have fired Nely, as she was responsible for the overall delivery and Nadia wasn’t responsible for the loss.
Lesson:  Have a good reason for your choices and defend yourself when the time comes.

After winning season two of The Apprentice, Kelly Perdew spent 2005 as an Executive Vice President in the Trump Organization. Today Kelly is President of ProElite.com, an online social network that provides tools for combat sports enthusiasts.

Kelly is also a Managing Director for Angel Venture Partners, a venture capital fund that collaborates with leading angel groups across the country to invest in early-stage ventures. Kelly has held numerous leadership positions in such companies as CoreObjects Software; MotorPride.com, K12 Productions, and eteamz.com. He earned a BS from the US Military Academy, West Point, a JD from the UCLA School of Law, and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. Kelly writes a Mixed Martial Arts Blog and is author of TAKE COMMAND: 10 Leadership Principles I Learned in the Military and Put to Work for Donald Trump. A percentage of the sales royalties from that book’s sales are donated to the USO.

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Stefanie Schaeffer Comments on Episode One of Celebrity Apprentice

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Stefanie Schaeffer, last season’s Apprentice winner on NBC, offers her take on the first episode of Celebrity Apprentice in this exclusive commentary on today’s Trump Blog.

Overall, I thought week one was entertaining and it's clear there will be fireworks throughout. The only shrinking violet in the group has already been fired. In this game, it's eat or be eaten and Tiffany, though beautiful, just lacked the fire. 

Mr. Trump is all about being bigger than life and wants to be surrounded by people of the same ilk. Omarosa and Carol Alt both defended themselves, Tiff just didn't. Oh well, lesson learned I guess.

The lesson for this week was "If you don't work your network, you just won't work."

Tiff, a playmate, failed to contact Hugh Hefner?  Why?  Beyond that, was Omarosa really serious when she advised her team not to focus on celebrity and to focus instead on pure sales ability????  It's only because Tiff was so quiet that Omarosa is still around. Are you kidding me? It's a hot dog! It sells itself and that wasn't even the point. The whole premise is to raise money for charity and who better to exploit that quest than celebrities?

The women really failed to use their beauty to create a spectacle and didn't work their network. It's been my experience that Mr. Trump is not pleased when people fail to be resourceful.

Hats off to the men! Good job, Gene, for calling in the favors. It goes without saying that he is a shrewd businessman. The men were organized and seemed to be working as a cohesive team while the women were busy bickering. Better luck next time, ladies.

I'm looking forward to next week and to seeing why Ivanka takes Gene's head off.

Stefani Schaeffer, winner of NBC's 2007 The Apprentice, graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a double major in English and psychology and a minor in communications. She then went on to attend the prestigious Scale Program at Southwestern University School Of Law, from which she graduated in just two years, one year ahead of schedule. She began her career as a trial lawyer defending large California real estate developers in construction defect litigation. A standout on The Apprentice, Stefanie showed all the intelligence and toughness to overcome every obstacle and finally hear Mr. Trump say, “Stefanie, you’re hired!” She is currently working for the Trump Organization overseeing construction and development of the Cap Cana project in the Dominican Republic and as the head of sales and marketing for Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas.

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Make The Trump Blog Your First Stop for Celebrity Apprentice Coverage!

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NBC launches Celebrity Apprentice on January 3rd. If you are ready to get the most from every episode, make The Trump Blog your first stop.

Here's just a small sample of the Celebrity Apprentice coverage you'll find here . . . 

Weekly commentaries from Stefani, Sean, Kendra, Kelly, Stacey, Troy, Andrea and lots of other Apprentice stars!  That's right. They'll be here every Monday to comment on every episode.  The Trump Blog is the only place to get these insights from tough contenders who know what life is really like on the inside of your favorite reality show.

Another season of our critically acclaimed Lessons Learned advisories is about to go live. For the fourth season in a row, the business faculty of Trump University will be posting weekly in-depth business advisories for NBC. We'll help you learn more from every episode - lessons you can use about getting ahead in your career and your life. Don't miss them.

And lots of other surprises too!

So if you are as serious about Donald J. Trump and Celebrity Apprentice, bookmark this page, stop by every Monday - and let the season begin!

Celebrity Apprentice airs every Thursday at 9/ 8C. Check your local listings to be sure you don't miss an episode.

Barry Lenson is Executive Editor at Trump University.

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