Home : Face Your Accusers! A Lesson from the Apprentice Finale

Face Your Accusers! A Lesson from the Apprentice Finale

Posted by Paul C. Quintal on 4/23/2007 at 11:07 AM
Posted in Apprentice, Leadership

It was a great Apprentice season. I kept learning important lessons, right up to the finale last night from The Hollywood Bowl.

In my post this morning, I’d like to analyze the videos that Stefani and James screened last night for Mr. Trump - the ones that were supposed to prove they were the strongest contenders to become his next Apprentice.

James produced a pretty strong video to argue his case to win. It pointed up the fact that he came to America as an immigrant from South Korea and that he was living the American dream of success. His video also showed him with his lovely wife and two adorable daughters - one of whom he had taught to imitate Donald J. Trump by saying, “You’re fired!” Very heartwarming stuff. James is obviously a great guy.

But Stefani’s video did a much better job of taking her across the finish line. It confronted directly the criticisms she had heard throughout the season: That she never completely stepped up into a leadership position, that she took a supporting role in too many tasks, that she was not assertive. To lay those questions to rest, Stefani created a self-promotional video that showed her being a forceful attorney. It depicted her interacting assertively with workers at a construction site and even showed her wearing her black belt as she mixed it up with her karate instructor. (Okay, I admit that segment looked kind of staged, but it got its message across anyway.)

So the bottom line is, Stefani confronted her perceived weaknesses. In fact, she brought them out into the open, projected them onto a screen and then blasted them to bits. James didn’t do that. He didn’t confront the widely-shared perception that he sometimes lost focus and failed to support his team.

There’s a lesson in that for all of us, isn’t there? You can’t hide from your critics - you have to fight them head-on, or they will dog you through your entire career.

It has been a pleasure to write my Apprentice blog posts this season. Thank you for stopping by. Let’s keep thinking about the career lessons we have learned this season.

Paul C. Quintal is Vice President of Trump University.

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18 Comments

Posted by member1445898 on 04/23/2007 1:59 PM

The Apprentice of Donald Trump is over, and now we've got in our mind and memory the actions and experiences of each one of the participants.
Stefani and James were the strongest and dynamics participants of the group. The showed determination and courage in each one of their presentation. But there was just a winner, and that winner was Stefani.
In the world of the business isn't enough getting enthuthiasm or desire of triumph. It's necessary strategy and a plan of action too.
Stefani's video was original and perfect for this event. She showed her rol during all the Apprentice rol, her strength and weakness. She showed her leadership when she recognized the value and importance of the opinion of all the participants which she worked. In the business world, one of the more important achievement of the leaders is to know to hear the opinion and creativity of the co-workers. All of them are important in the goal of each business. Stefani showed a video, where she mentioned the attributes of a good leader: good listener, leadership,original,strength, and to able of recognizing weakness and failures.
We live in a world where to build our dreams is easier tha before. The future isn't written. But in the creation of the wealth and richness, we need to learn the basic principles in the building of our dreams. In such adventure is necessary : Vision, faith, determination, courage, imagination and strategy. If we've got vision, then we can get courage for building the best strategy of success.
The Apprentice show has finished for now. We can get the most important lesson for our lives, and with it, the ability of preparing a strategy of work and action which will lead us to sucess.
Miguel Sedamano.

Posted by member1445898 on 04/23/2007 1:59 PM

Posted by member1531883 on 04/23/2007 2:18 PM

Dear Paul:

Part of what happened last night, goes back to the question you raised last week: Who grew the most during the season? James and Frank.

Stefani was very good throughout, great, in fact, but it seems like she's "always" been this good, and "always" will be, but maybe not better.

In the end, it came down to the old dilemma: does one take the better person of today, or the (possibly) better person of one to two years from now? In some ways it was like the Sean-Lee decision of Season Five but much closer; Lee would have taken ten years, not one or two to catch up to Sean.

Choosing Stefani over one of the other two is not the decision I would have made. But I'm sure Mr. Trump made the right decision for The Trump Organization, given its time frames, staffing needs, etc.

Sincerely yours,

Tom Au

Posted by member1575833 on 04/23/2007 2:28 PM

Hi Mr. Trump,

I absolutely love watching your show. It's very interesting to see a bunch of individuals duking it out to become the next apprentice. Not only do I like the drama but at the end of show there are lessons learn. Your show and your books are extremely informative. I am a 25 year old with a B.S degree in Economics from St John's University. I just started my career and I have used the information from your books, shows and your website and applied it to my career. It has been helping me tremendously. I would like to become successful like you and one day I can work for you.

I frequently go to your casinos in Atlantic City. It's a great place to go. I would like to meet you one day.

Cynthia Amrit-Valley Stream,NY

Posted by member1575833 on 04/23/2007 2:44 PM

Hi Mr. Trump,

I think James should've won the apprentice. I think James is very charming, smart and a hard worker he has all the attributes that you need. I am not related to James in anyway but these are the observations that I came up with while watching the show.

He has proven all these attributes in all of the projects that were completed. Stephanie was under the radar. James delegated responsibilities and Stephanie did them well. James has done consistently time and time again. He is an entrepreneur and is very savvy. She never ran a business and James is coming in with experience. Why take a risk with Stephanie who was under the radar when you saw James executed projects well?

Stephanie is a great candidate as well I guess while she works for you she has to prove herself. You make excellent decisions and I know in the end all your task s will be done with excellence. You are a very smart businessman. But these were my observations that I came up with.

Good luck to you! I will continue to watch, read your books and website you are very informative.

Cynthia Amrit-Valley Stream

Posted by member1561175 on 04/23/2007 4:50 PM

I think Stephanie is a good choice. In her new role as Mr. Trump's apprentice, she must be able to keep her cool if someone tries to walk all over her. Maybe that's what kept her under the radar. She waned to get along with everyone. She didn't want to make enemies. I admire that in a person. She keeps her cool.

This is the first time I sat down to watch The Apprentice and I found it encouraging This show says to me, follow your dreams, do what you have to do, go for it, take chances. You won't know what you can do until you do it.

Mr. Donald Trump is an inspiration to us all. He is a billionaire who wants to see people succeed. He's not hording the secret of getting rich and keeping it to himself.

He is living the true American Dream and helping others do it too.

Posted by member1539196 on 04/23/2007 6:33 PM

A SURPRISE WIN
Based on all the previous episodes before last night's finale, I would never expect Stephanie to be the Apprentice. True, she had portrayed herself as polished and professional, and it was only in the Finale that we viewers finally learnt more about her professional expertise, skillset, and snippets of what she does at work -- and now I can understand why Mr Trump chose her as the Apprentice.

There was also a difference between Stephanie's promotional video and that of James. For the purpose of a job interview, James should have used the video as a marketing tool to sell his strengths and skills in relation to his work and shown how those assets would benefit the Trump organization.

Regardless, in assessing the final two candidates based on the latest information revealed only last night, it is clear that Stephane's skills, personality and professional background would be a better fit with the job description.

It is also interesting to note that there were no previews for the next season of the Apprentice. Does this mean that the run for the Apprentice series has ended?

Andrew Wee
AAE Immigration
http://www.aaeimmigration.com/business_immigration.htm
http://www.aaeimmigration.com/our_services.htm

Posted by member1576172 on 04/23/2007 8:13 PM

The Apprentice is the only reality television show the I watch and I believe it is because there is an educational aspect to this program. I work in a position in which I have the opportunity to make an difference in the lives of young people who are conditioned due to generational or situational poverty. My goal as an educator is to provide a paradigm switch to the lives of these young people that I have in my midst. The lessons that I learn from your television program provides insights that I can blend into my fiscal literacy curriculum. I want to commend Donald Jr. for the comment, however brief, that he made in regards to the advertisement movie short that included the abuse of the "homeless" individual. It was an insult and I'm proud of Don for including this in his critique. To the Trump family, keep up the great work. I love the show.

Posted by member1576267 on 04/23/2007 10:52 PM

I agree with your assessment of the promotional videos. I thought James was a likeable and dynamic candidate but he did not promote himself as a leader in the business world. I thought Stefani really showed herself as a strong, determined leader. Based on the videos alone i would have chosen Stefani...even though i know you probably wanted to choose James there was no doubt that Stefani was the one who would not be so nice if she had to... and knowledgeable. On the other hand i felt James would have been a great motivator with less knowledge to put one over the winning edge. Great show! I learned alot!

Posted by member1554929 on 04/24/2007 10:38 AM

I enjoyed the final episode immensely. I was already a believer that Donald Trump was in command, but watching the show reinforced the opinion I have always had of him. I did not know that his son and daughter were so utterly competent as well. In fact, it appeared to me that either one could have very easily arrived at the same conclusion as he did. Not being much of a "big t.v." watcher myself, it was refreshing to see three REAL family members all together on the same stage, without sitcom scripts to "spoon-feed", or as I sometimes say, 'brainwash' me!
I gave the show a perfect score. Excellent judgment used by all participants. Wholesome entertainment. Glen

Posted by member1543015 on 04/24/2007 1:02 PM

I was not at all surprised that Stephani won the Apprentice finale. I found her to be extremely sharp, dedicated-passionate in every project that she was involved with. I always felt that although her strong leadership was never revealed, she performed as a leader with her professionalism and ability to get along with all those whom she was involved with. Although she was not a "leader" in the group she was involved with, she stood out from the others reflected by her confidence, intelligence and interaction with not only other members of the group but also with individuals outside of her group.
I commend Mr. Trump's decision on selecting Stephani as the newest apprentice and am sure that she will definately become an asset to the Trump corporation!

Posted by member1349613 on 04/24/2007 2:07 PM

What no one has seemed to have enough courage to point out -- during the questioning of Stephani's leadership capabilities in the past two episodes -- was that this season's Apprentice rules didn't allow Stephani to be the project manager at any point in time. As long as Arrow Corp. continued to win with James at the helm, the manager position was his. Stephani did a great job at being his second-in-command; and we saw a number of times when she came forward and kept the group on track or on deadline. But please, let's not blame Stephani for not being a team leader during this long interview process. The very rules of the game precluded her from doing so. And yet: the best candidate won, this time around. Congratulations, Stephani! I'm sure you'll do a great job in the Caribbean.

Posted by member1452082 on 04/24/2007 5:24 PM

Trump had no choice in who to hire.

James is self-employed, Stefani is an employee.

He needs employees, she was the best employee of the bunch.

I would have done the same. They are both very talented and should be proud of their accomplishments.

I have been a self-employeed engineer for 17 years, and I could never work for someone else as an employee ever.

I hope Donald Trump attends BEA (Book Expo America) 2007 in NYC at the Javits Centre on June 1,2,3 2007.

See me in Booth 1802

My new bio is entitled:

WORKING CLASS ENGINEER - FROM MISFIT TO MILLIONAIRE

Took 7 years........2 years in the edit stage.

This book will be a BEST SELLER.

Michael J. Mark, P .Eng., BSc EE

www.m2engineering.com

Posted by member1366890 on 04/25/2007 2:25 AM

When somebody criticizes me, I say that he/she is absolutely right.
When somebody gives me a compliment, I say that he / she is absolutely right...no difference in my mind.
Most of the time, he/she shut up, or stay confused.
And I keep on smiling, waiting for one who loves to joke around and sit in silence.

Ina Matijevic***
http://omom-ina.blogspot.com

Posted by member1499085 on 04/25/2007 6:45 AM

I'm glad to see Stefani as Mr. Trump's new apprentice, but I thought James deserved it more because of his track record as a project manager. Forget about the videos that were shown during the finale. How many times did James win as Arrow's project manager? Remember, Stefani was never one. She did fly under the radar until the last few tasks where she did demonstrate ability but was still behind the scenes. Like Donald said, "the final four members were all winners". James has his own company and probably took tons of valuable information with him during this process. I wish him and his family the best.

Stefani, I wish you the best and continue success as a new member of the Trump organization. I have no doubts that you'll do an awesome job........rickyl......Until next season......peace

Posted by The Haberdasher on 04/25/2007 12:12 PM

Well, Mr. Quintal, you make a good point. While James got to the finish line in the show, Stephanie crossed it with her video and the final interview. I believe James wanted to win as competitor but Stephanie wanted the job working for Trump. It was almost as if James' video was saying I've won the race but here's my concession speech because I don't want your life-I love mine.
I believe Stephanie was the individual most like Trump and those in his organization. Hiring James would have been like hiring an outsider. It is not to say Trump and his employees aren't big thinkers, they obviously are. It is more that James is way outside the box conceptually. I agree with Tom Au who said James is much more likely to continue his growth within the organization and beyond. To me that combined with James' track record would make him the perfect hire but I believe it was obvious to Trump Stephanie wanted it more and he could more easily keep her on the Trump path.
The Trump Organization added the perfect person to help keep things on the same track they are now. With James as one of the creative engineers who knows the possibilities of where that train would have gone.

Jeff Collins
Professional Haberdasher
www.myhaberdasher.com
-- And now --
http://www.zoodango.com/people/profile/z2fsukbk47328j

By the way, what is up with Trump's "Questionable Dialog.. you know what I mean comment?" Because most of us do not know what he means.

Posted by u102584 on 05/10/2007 11:21 AM

Well after going through the comments and confusion I am writing a kids book to show how a family creates an identity for their children not only through name but who really cares. I did not appreciate the accusations and neither did two gentlemen involved. But I will say that I opened myself up to sharks and got caught in a wicked head game. I will say I've learned and will be able to teach my nephew about the real heritage of our family now that I've finished it correctly. But it's the ability to say " I can look myself in the mirror" I was wrong at first. But now I know truth. Safer.

Posted by The Haberdasher on 05/17/2007 2:01 PM

Based on this last comment ^above^ it looks like you guys will post just about anything. Let me guess, you told this person, "We were impressed with what you said--and know that others will too!" Do you check for content or relevance?

www.myhaberdasher.com

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