The Trump Blog

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?

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! 

“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.

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.

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.

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.