Author View (Sean Yazbeck)

In the days since the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice, Blogs and articles have been buzzing about whether Annie Duke or Joan Rivers really deserved to win. There is much to be said about that question, to be sure. But I would like to make some observations about something else entirely today, by analyzing why some of the strongest candidates did not win. Case Study One: Brande Roderick Brande was a terrific candidate at the start of the season. In the very first task, she parked her team’s truck right in front of Playboy’s New York headquarters so that her colleagues there could more...

Annie vs. Joan in the Final Battle If you believe that that only one kind of person can be successful in business, you haven’t been watching Celebrity Apprentice this season. Because Annie Duke and Joan Rivers are the finalists, and two people couldn’t be more different. Let’s take a closer look at each of them to see what we can learn, starting with Joan. Joan Rivers When Mr. Trump asked Joan whether she had enough energy to carry on through the final week, Joan pointed to her long history as a survivor and said that if she had to, she would push the final task more...

Some candidates were getting stronger this week, others were getting weaker - and a few were essentially holding steady. Let’s take a look to see what we can learn. CANDIDATES WHO LOST GROUND THIS WEEK Jesse, possibly the strongest contender in earlier episodes, behaved so badly this week that he did himself a great deal of harm. He stopped contributing to his team. He swore at Clint. And there seemed to be no reason for him to behave erratically, beyond the fact that he had left one team for another. That was hardly a reason to throw away his chances of success. Melissa’s performance more...

At the end of Episode Nine last week, only seven contenders remained. Instead of commenting on the tasks we saw last week, I’d like to take my commentary this week in a different direction, by offering each of the remaining contestants a few suggestions on how to improve their positions in the weeks ahead - and perhaps even come out as the ultimate winner. Let’s talk about them in alphabetical order: Annie - Annie, you are a poker champion. That means you can accurately assess your current situation (the cards you are holding), weigh risks (what can go wrong) and then make and more...

When people start their careers, they don’t have many assets working for them, apart from their appearance, attitude and possibly their education. After they start to work, they begin to build their greatest asset. You might think that I am referring to experience, but I am not. Because the greatest asset of all is your reputation. It sees you through hard times and saves you when blame is flying around. It is also your most important asset if you are looking for a job. Your experience counts then, true, but not as much as your reputation does. When many people are saying more...

I have rarely seen so much erratic behavior in just one episode of the Apprentice. Clint, who seemed like a great colleague in earlier weeks, became a despotic leader the minute he was put in charge of his team. He shut people down and ignored their ideas. He made decisions that resulted in a very poor viral video - decisions that reflected badly on the members of his team and which could easily have ended any one of their careers. Predictably, mutiny followed. Joan Rivers came out screaming at Clint - her own team leader - in the boardroom firing before Mr more...

In the first season of Celebrity Apprentice last year, I was impressed that so many of the contestants were able to set aside their celebrity egos, roll up their sleeves, and really work hard. In this week’s episode, some of the celebrities were able to do that. Joan Rivers and Brian McKnight, for example, rose to the challenge of dealing with all kinds of unreasonable demands from their hotel guests. So did other celebrities, including Annie, Brande, Tionne, Brian, Jesse and Herschel. I have been around a lot of celebrities and I can tell you, not many of them would relish the notion more...

I was taking notes on my laptop during this entire episode. And as it was drawing to a close, I looked at my screen and saw that every note I had taken had to do with leadership. Here are the leadership lessons I learned this week. A Great Leader Needs Creativity and Strength Tom is creative, and his unusual mind could have brought a lot of added value to his team in the weeks ahead. But at the same time, it was obvious that he was simply not strong enough to lead.   To be specific, he made one very common leadership mistake: he more...

It was only Episode Two, yet the candidates were already doing what Apprentice contenders always do. Some were stepping up, while others were acting up. Some were supporting their teammates, while others were trying to shoot them down. Let me share some of my opinions about Episode Two. You Need to Balance Structure and Creativity Scott and Tom were on the two opposite sides of that mental spectrum. To win a task on The Apprentice, you need really need to utilize both.   Scott was organized and structured - but lacked creativity. Tom, on the other hand, had an abundance of creativity - and maybe more...

“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...