While my wife and I don’t watch a whole lot of TV (unless it is sports), we regular watchers of Donald Trump’s reality show The Apprentice. Most of the time, I enjoy the show because the job candidates are involved in unique and interesting business challenges. I can’t stand it when they try and add too much drama or too much advertising, but all in all, I like the show.
After watching the series for a few years, I’m really surprised with some of the decisions that the candidates are making! Don’t get me wrong — I’m not claiming that I would do well on the show; but if I was on the show, here are a few of the things that I would do to try and make it to the final round:
- Through the first couple of rounds, I would keep quiet and execute. To me, almost all of the candidates that get fired in the first couple of rounds are the ones are trying really hard to impress everyone. They want to get into the spotlight from the beginning and end up being spotlighted in a way that they weren’t expecting — getting fired! I would let everyone else fight and claw in the beginning while I was getting my job done in the background — my time to shine would come.
- It seems to me that the key to doing well on each project would be to focus on marketing. Who are the customers that you are trying to please? How can you create a product/service that will make the customers happy? Many of the candidates try too hard to shine by coming up with crazy and unique ideas and trying to push those ideas on the customers. When the ideas aren’t getting the results that they want, they all start to panic and the show ends up being more of a drama than a business competition.
- Don’t be fake. Many of the candidates try so hard to be everyone’s friend, that they end up being totally fake. In the end, the others see right through the insincerity and it ends up backfiring. I think that the best approach is to be your best self. People appreciate when you are being sincere and that will result in support and backing from others.
- If you are the project manager and have to choose 2 others to go to the board room, use the odds to your advantage. Time and time again the project manager chooses 2 people that they don’t like and want to see get fired. What ends up happening is that the other 2 candidates team up and the project manager gets fired! (For the life of me, I can’t figure this out) If the project manager took 1 person who they thought deserved to be fired and one other person that they knew was on his/her side, then the chances of being fired would be very slim.
- Have fun. I love people that are fun to be around. Life is too serious as it is…so we might as well have fun in the process. If people like you and you execute, you will do well.
