Celebrity Apprentice: Lessons Learned from Episode Ten

Episode Summary:

Donald Trump called it, “The biggest slaughter in the history of The Apprentice!” And numbers don’t lie. He was right.

The teams faced artistic challenge this week. They each had to pick one artist represented by the Moti Hasson Gallery in New York. The team that made the most money selling works by their artist would win - and they only had one evening to sell.

Omarosa, who got fired because of her performance in a similar project during her previous Apprentice season, claimed the job of project manager at Empresario. She said she had “something to prove.” At Hydra, Piers took the leadership post for a personal reason too - he wanted to destroy Omarosa.

Both teams met with the owner of the Moti Hasson Gallery to select their artists. Hydra picked artist Shirley Shor for a strategic business reason: she was the only artist whose works were available in limited editions. That meant that Hydra could sell multiple copies of her works and have a large inventory to sell, despite the limited wall space in the gallery. Meanwhile, Empresario decided to sell works on paper by David Kramer. 

With their artists chosen, both teams started to call their high-profile friends, inviting them to buy artworks. Piers called the British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and other high-rollers, who agreed to come buy art.

As the teams set up their display rooms, Lennox realized that his team would be displaying their works in the back rooms of the gallery, behind Empresario’s display area. It was a big disadvantage. Before buyers could even see Hydra’s wares, they would have to pass through Empresario’s selling area.

As the buyers arrived at the gallery, Omarosa stood at the front door and shuttled people toward her team’s display. When Lennox saw what she was up to, he positioned himself next to her and directed traffic back to his team’s rooms.

A few of Stephen’s contacts showed up - but a lot more of Piers’ did too, and they bought heavily. Things were not going well for Empresario. One of Stephen’s contacts even blew right by him and bought something from Carol on the other team!

When it was time to tally the sales, everyone could sense that Hydra had outsold Empresario by a wide margin. Omarosa looked ashen. Empresario had, in fact, sold only three out of their available 16 paintings, earning only $7,000. In contrast, Hydra sold 14 out of their 20 works, earning a stunning $164,000.

Mr. Trump quickly dubbed the defeat, “The biggest slaughter in the history of the Apprentice.”

Piers gloated about his “personal” defeat of Omarosa. Rhapsodizing over his win, he suggested that Mr. Trump fire two people on the Empresario team because of their staggering defeat.

When the Hydra team left the boardroom, Omarosa immediately began to play the blame game, saying “I am only as good as my sales team.” But Ivanka and Mr. Trump were not buying it. In a last-ditch effort to save her neck, Omarosa then started to attack Piers, saying, “I know some things about him.” When Mr. Trump asked her what those “things” were, she made incredible statements that Piers was gay (“I think he’s in the closet”). As proof, she pointed out that Piers had asked both Trace and Stephen to take their shirts off in previous tasks this season. Mr. Trump then invited Piers back into the room to defend himself. Piers took him up on the offer by dashing into the room, kissing Trace on the cheek, then dashing out again. Piers’ ploy worked well and made Omarosa’s attack on his sexuality seem doubly absurd.

In the wake of the biggest rout ever on the show, Mr. Trump had hardly any choice. He fired Omarosa, the project manager.

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This week’s episode taught important lessons about networking, selling - and more. Let’s take a closer look.

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When Carol urged Hydra to pick the artist whose work they could sell in multiples, she showed terrific business wisdom.

Success Lesson

Never forget the law of supply and demand. You will always have a greater profit potential with a bigger inventory, period. Marketing counts - but you still need to have something to sell.

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When Omarosa said that she “knew some things” about Piers, she wasengaging in classic character assassination by implying that she had some “dirt” that she did not wish to reveal. Then when Mr. Trump called her bluff, she fabricated absurd, un-businesslike accusations against Piers - and her political house of cards collapsed around her.

Success Lesson

Sooner or later, lying always gets exposed. When Mr. Trump is in control, it gets exposed even faster. If you don’t play fair, you will eventually get trapped by your own lies.

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When Omarosa accused Piers of being gay, she stepped completely outside norms of acceptable business behavior.

Success Lesson

In business today, you cannot discriminate against people on the basis of their race, religion or sexual preference. Let’s get real here! But Piers was no shining knight this week either. He threatened to hit Stephen! Threatening violence against a colleague will get you fired from any job - maybe even locked up.  

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When Omarosa pulled Stephen away from making high-value networking calls and forced him to do Internet research instead, she was showing terrible management skills. (Or was she trying to set him up to be fired?) Stephen had many more moneyed contacts to call than Omarosa did - yet she took him away from an activity that could have generated sales for her team.

Success Lesson

Use your resources strategically if you are the leader. Know what your team members bring to the table and deploy their strengths strategically.

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What will happen next week? With only five contestants left, the competitive heat has been turned all the way up to broil. Carol, Lennox and Trace, who were quiet players early in the game, now look as strong as anyone ever has on the show. What will happen? It’s anybody’s guess. See you there!