Comments on Celebrity Apprentice, Episode Ten

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 got even worse this week, which is saying quite a bit after her acting up in earlier weeks. She complained that Brande and Annie were like the popular girls she knew in high school who treated her badly. Then instead of calmly telling Annie and Brande that they were not listening to her, she went ballistic. And when she was fired, Melissa stormed off the set and refused to say one word to anyone. Thereby, she burned her bridges to everyone involved in the show. So if that is not a worsening of performance, I do not know what is.

CANDIDATES WHO IMPROVED THEIR POSITIONS THIS WEEK

Clint really made strides this week. In earlier episodes, he made bad decisions and shut his teammates out of planning activities. This week, he tried his hardest to listen to Jesse and Joan. As a result, he dramatically increased his odds of winning. It goes to show that when you listen to negative feedback and improve, you build your success.

Brande improved her standing dramatically. In previous weeks, she seemed content to stand in the shadow of her colleagues. This week, she defended herself strongly when she came under attack from Jim Cramer in the boardroom. Her aggressive self-defense - centered on the fact that she is the second-highest fundraiser this season - positioned her very strategically for big wins in the weeks to come.

CANDIDATES WHO STAYED ABOUT THE SAME

Annie sometimes seems to be an aggressive candidate who tries to shoulder her way past her teammates. But despite such flaws, Annie is a very strong contender who understands her strengths and builds on them. When Joan Rivers started accusing her of awful things, Annie was able to look back calmly and let the criticisms bounce off her. That proved that people who refuse to engage in petty infighting usually come away looking stronger.  

Joan also stayed consistent this week. You might wonder how I can say that, in light of her final temper tantrum and flight from Trump Tower after her daughter Melissa got fired. Yet if you remember the entire episode, you will recall that Joan was actually doing a good job for her team while Clint planned the magazine layout. The fact that she then went haywire after her daughter got fired was therefore all the more stark and puzzling.

In summary . . .

As we build our careers from day to day, we have essentially two options: 1) We can do everything we can to improve every day, even in small ways; or 2) We can go easy on ourselves and let our performance slip.

Obviously, continuous improvement is the way to go. If you try to get better every day in ways both small and large, that is a simple recipe for success.

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