What You Can Learn from Last Night's Apprentice

by Sean Yazbeck

With this blog post, Trump University welcomes Sean Yazbeck, winner of The Apprentice Season Five, as a new member of the Trump University faculty. Let’s hear Sean’s views on last night’s episode.

The leaders of both teams faced a deceptively simple task last night. What could be more straightforward than putting honey in bottles and selling it? Yet both Aaron and Aimee, leaders of the Arrow and Kinetic teams, proved too weak to lead their teams to achieve optimal results.

Here are the lessons that you and I can take away and apply in our own careers.

Great leaders exert firm control ... but flexibly

Aaron was just not strong or flexible enough to control the members of his team, each of whom needed something entirely different from him. Surya was overcomplicating things terribly. That’s Surya! That is just what he does, but Aaron was unable to rein him in and make him keep it simple. James, with his alpha-male sales personality, needed something quite different ... a set of simple instructions from Aaron that told him what he needed to do first, second and third. The rest of the team, with their gregarious, outgoing personalities, also needed to be given roles that maximized their abilities. All of that, Aaron was unable to do. Of course, Aaron had a real challenge, because all the Apprentice candidates are extremely strong ... in effect, the future business leaders of America. But he didn’t rise to the challenge and he did a very weak job.

Don’t overcomplicate things

When Surya was laying out his marketing strategies, he made the task far too complicated. He was nervous. He wanted to show off his vocabulary and his knowledge. But as I mentioned earlier, the task was really only about putting honey in bottles and selling it! Again, it was Aaron who failed to focus Surya’s talents on the task at hand. But in your life and your career, strive to keep things simple. Focus your knowledge and skills closely on the task at hand. That’s a success secret that is sometimes forgotten by very smart people especially.

Stop to cultivate interpersonal relationships

As I mentioned above, Aaron was weak and unfocused in his leadership. But did you notice that his team supported him anyway, simply because he is a nice guy? They really hesitated to set him up as the scapegoat for their loss, because they liked him.

That s a very important lesson on The Apprentice, and in life too. The most important determinant of success is often not whether you win or lose, but whether people will stand by you because they like you.

When you look at Lee last season, you see that he actually lost more tasks than anyone else, but that he made it through to the final selection anyway. One reason was that he was a very capable and strong candidate. But another was that he got on so well with other people. Fair or unfair in business, if your company is laying people off, they will usually fire the people first who have not invested the effort to get along with other people. So remember, you can never lose sight of the personal side of building your success.

Say something!

I sat with Aaron in the boardroom firing in the previous episode and I don’t’ think he said one word. That was a mistake. He had been given the opportunity to shine in front of Mr. Trump and to say in so many words, “Hey, Mr. Trump, hire me. I’m worth it because I can vocalize my thoughts and my strategy and you need me.”

I see this problem in business quite a lot. I go into a meeting and there is one person there who doesn’t say a thing. I always start to wonder, “Is this person an intern here? Why doesn’t he or she say something?”

Don’t be that person. There will be times in business meetings when things are going way over your head and you have no idea what is going on. But say something anyway! Get something in there, even if you just agree with someone. If you remain silent for a long period of time, you end up looking like an idiot.

And one more thought . . .

Aimee may be in a lot of trouble next week. She waffled terribly as a leader last night and had the good luck to win anyway. But now her team is fed up and is gunning for her. She has done little to build supportive interpersonal ties to the other members of her team.

Like Aaron, she could fall quickly from the winner’s seat in the boardroom and get fired in only seven days. It could happen. And next Sunday, we will know!

To learn more about putting a fine edge on your entrepreneurial skills, enroll in The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program from Trump University. Classes are now forming.

Sean Yazbeck is newly appointed professor of entrepreneurship and leadership at Trump University. He is familiar to audiences worldwide as the winner of The Apprentice's fifth-season competition, in which he outdistanced 17 other candidates and beame the only one to hear the words, "You're hired!" from Donald J. Trump.

Sean was born and raised in London, England, and moved to the US in 1999. He resides in Miami, where he is a director of business development for a recruitment consultancy registered on the London Stock Exchange. Sean has brokered multimillion dollar deals wtih Fortune 500 companies in more than 20 global locations.

Posted on February 12 2007 at 1:36 PM
Categories: Apprentice, Entrepreneurship, Leadership
 
16 Comments Post a comment

Posted by lightwayvez on 02/12/2007 4:47 PM
I look forward to attending your University, however first I must earn it. I really enjoyed the format you used to write this article. You found the word I had been missing in all my discussions thus far. 'Flexibility' it fast tracked to the point of my written material.

In so far as making friends to get ahead, it is true you need followers to be a leader, I had mentioned the formation of ducks when they fly there is only ever one that leads the flock.

Inversely there are so many definitions of success that not everyone's definition of success would include followers.

Take Tara Conners for example. In the moment her definition of success is to recover her personality inspite of a past that hurt her youth.

So far very few friends have come forward in her defense, that I have come forward in her defense made her a success in that moment.

I recognized the tender issue of her youth not the value of her accomplishments. In this moment Tara Conners is a success, and will be a success in my future.
Posted by member1499085 on 02/12/2007 5:23 PM
As this season progresses, it seems like we see less of the teams in a setting where they are able to strategize and brain storm their ideas. I do agree that Aaron should have been the person to get fired. If he didn't like Surya's book smart ways of marketing, he should have said so. A saying in the military that stands out to me is KISS (keep it simple stupid). If I were Surya, I would be upset with his team because most of them wanted to throw him under the bus and send him packing. I'm a little concerned when a team wins because it allows the project manager to remain his/her team's project manager and allows that individual to go into the board room. Aimee struggled as Kinetic's project manager, but her teammates shined and came out victorious with this task. FYI: It was stated prior to Kinetic receiving their reward the Lakers have the most NBA championships (14). This is not true because the Boston Celtics have won 16.....rickyl
Posted by user89187 on 02/12/2007 6:36 PM
My, my you have come a long way from sex and romance in the work place. Not to mention making all those babies.

Keep going!

Posted by member1447082 on 02/12/2007 8:55 PM
How wonderful to see Sean on the show!!! What a wonderful, wonderful opportunity. I love what you have to say. Now that's a good thing, Mr. Trump.

Posted by member1445505 on 02/12/2007 9:08 PM
Truthfully Sean I don't care for the candidates. I'm looking for honesty, integrity, loyalty, character. Someone who actually wants to go places. I've been looking for real team players and yet still are looking to grab the Gold. The Gold being The Apprentice position and not Donald Trump. There seems to be a great deal lack of respect for each other and Mr. Trump. I noticed it for you as well. Now lack of respect for each other is one thing. But they are looking to work for Donald Trump. Wouldn't you think they would show him more respect? For him as well as his goal, his purpose, his objective. If I were a candidate I would definitly go after what Mr. Trump was looking for. Not my own agenda. It seems the candidates have their own agendas. Who are they to do so? What background do they possess? What experience/experiences have they come in with? Some are still babies. What can they bring to the table? Granted, living in the backyard can't be easy. But look at your surroundings and see how they can be improved. Change your mindset as much as possible. Get up early look at the sunrise. Check out the stars at night. Imagine what it wouold be like to go planet hopping. Yes, I said planet hopping.
As far as living in the lower mansion, don't consider yourself to be so fortunate. You could easily be in the wrong place at the wrong tiime, doing the wrong thing and miss the greatest opportunity of your life. Your entire existance. Comfort at times is not success. Did I hear something about Heidi allowed to sleep in the upper mansion as a reward? Or was I mistaken? If so, GET HER OUT! She doesn't belong. She doesn't fit!
One thing, AAron had to go and Aimee isn't much better. I'm hoping she gets axed as well. Along with Heidi as soon as possible. She's a little to much of a control freak and really doesn;t have enough years behind her to make a difference. A bit of a liability not an asset. I'm looking at someone a bit older, more mature, focused on the real issue. Not jail bait. Someone who's background can actually enhance Trump Organization. Not someone who wants to simply stroke Donald. Believe me if he needs stroking he'll get it. But he's wisdom. He's not cheap. So let's see what happens next. I'm really tired of baby****. Times a wasting. There are things that need to be said and done. No time for foolishness. A series of events that need to take place. There's a spiritual presence around this show and guidelines must be followed. This is not JUST another show. Mr. Trump is not JUST another man.
Thank you Sean for allowing me this space.

Jerilynn

Posted by marysrose on 02/13/2007 7:01 AM
Welcome to Trump University! Look forward learning more of your insights on business. Agree with your points on this week's show. Think that Surya had better take Trump's warning to heart and learn to speak plainly and simply so that anyone can understand. Think that both project managers this week deserved to go- but- you have to lose to get to the boardroom. Also observed that Arrow fell apart at the end of the last task. One of the great things about Arrow is that win or lose- they stay together and have fun. But at the supermarket, after a great start, the demonstration table was left vacant- that time might have been the difference between winning and losing. Kinetic more than made up for their poor leadership- when something needed to be done- someone on the team stepped up to the plate and took over! That's a winning combination. Hope that Arrow works hard on team-building in the tents this week- because I love the Arrow team- they have so much more life and vigor than Kinetic and in the end- I hope that will help the major players go far. Your commentary had several good points that I will keep on my to-do-list. Thanks for your insights!

Posted by member1349490 on 02/13/2007 1:24 PM
At this point of the show I think it's probably the weakest season of The Apprentice to date.

For all the book smarts and business knowledge these individuals claim to have, they all seem extremely weak in even the most mundane tasks.

Posted by member1410030 on 02/13/2007 2:23 PM
2 things stood out in Episode 5. The task was bottle and sell honey. Surya made it too complicated. A sales rule K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Salesman! Aaron failed as a leader : he did not delegate and he could not even not define a simple task - make the most money selling honey. And worst of all he said he was a salesman and he hated selling. He could have sold plenty of honey because he is likeable and people buy from people they like. Even if he did not lead he could have pushed his team over the top by simply selling honey. i-sell-homes@msn.com
nancychambers@weichert.com

Posted by Business 2000 Foundation on 02/13/2007 8:10 PM
It is great to see Sean. Wish more of the winners of Mr. Trump's show would post or write in the blog.

A miss opportunity: If you had an Olympic Gold Medal winner on your team would you have done a better marketing job? They did to a point. What a miss opportunity. Think simple: The consumers would have ate up an autograph copy of the honey.

Watching for new ideas.

www.business2000foundation.com
Posted by member1512794 on 02/13/2007 9:51 PM
Sean- I would appreciate if you could relay this message to your boss. I normally enjoy the Apprentice episodes, being a business woman myself. However, I have become quite disappointed with Mr. Trump, especially after this most recent episode. He said the word "ass" so many times I lost count. "Fire your ass" "Almost got your ass fired last week".... Please let him know that it is his hard work that has made him a success, not his macho talk. He does no compliment to himself, his organization or his show by swearing. It does not make him cool, in fact- it demeans him. There is no need in business for swearing. He has always gotten his point across in the past with his logic and reasoning. I suggest he return to that methodology and leave the swearing to the construction crew.

Posted by member1366890 on 02/14/2007 5:46 AM
Interesting! Last time Mr. Aaron sit beside Mr. Trump with lot's of fear in his eyes, although he won with his team. But, he lost himself. Sometimes, in life, you loose in others eyes, and win in your own. That's the most important thing in my -head:-). Now, Mr. Aaron lost, but I see that he might , win. And You, Mr. Sean, like Yourself, and that's , great.

Ina Matijevic***

Posted by member1501057 on 02/14/2007 12:43 PM
A board room requires a strategy. Not only what is best for your team and you, but what can deplete the other team, both as a team and individuals. Aaron, in his boardroom, did not have that stategy, neither did Aimee. Aaron and Aimee should have worked to take out the strongest opponent. That is basic marketing. Increase market share by taking out your opponent, the basis of mergers and acquisitions. Aaron should have aimed at Heidi. Aimee sided with Surya, clearly a strong opponent. These people show a lot of affection for each other. They are opponents. They should be trying to get each other fired. Stefani has shown strong abilities in up-front marketing, they could take lessons from her.

Posted by member1445505 on 02/14/2007 7:09 PM
I saw this headline. It seems to fit. Had to add it

"New York City Prepares For The Big Storm"

Jerilynn

Posted by member1469735 on 02/17/2007 3:08 PM
Dear Mr. Trump:

You always prove yourself to be the true master mind of the show by your unique ways of being fair and direct. I can't say so much for the losing team last week. They did not honestly appreciate of the young man that left a winning team to help them. They weren't willing to welcome and give him a fair chance to become accepted to the team. I believe that they would have continued to boost him up as long as they would have continued to win. One thing that was direct about their actions was to ambush Surya when things didn't go well. He was treated as an outsider of the happy-go-lucky team. They must have assumed that they were going to win just because he was on the team or because they were on a winning streak or something. They seem to be very out of touch with reality and the importance of implementing, "Elbow Grease" to any extinct it may take to acheive at a task. This has been apparent from the start. I received a feeling as though the team was a bit jealous of Surya being somewhat in the shinning spot-light.

It seems like they don't take task seriously. There was alot of playing and not enough work being done. Yes, it's good to have fun when possible but there's a time and place for everything. The individual's who were doing most of the joking and playing around, were the main one's trying to put the blame elsewhere. If there was less time playing, joking and socializing, there would have been more time to concentrate and/or perform with progressive results.

I consider this show to be a job preparation kind of show and not a gameshow. There's no money to win but it would mean more for me to receive Mr. Trump,his team's approval and the experience that could lead into a job. That team needs to get their true priorities together and focus more on the reason why they're suppose to be on the show. I would think it is to win and to prove how progressive they can be in any situation.

Maybe if Aaron was acting more like a stand-up kind of person during the preparation period and/or not enjoying the fun; they may have had a better chance of winning. There was a lot of time wasted and more of an interests in them being friends instead of business partners with
Mr. Trump in mind. Thank you for your time and I'll be watching Sunday for sure! I love the show and maybe I'll be a contestant one day. MGN

Posted by member1279957 on 02/18/2007 8:33 PM
Mr. Trump, this is of little consequence to the Apprentive TV show but the Celtics have won 16 World Championships. The Lakers have only won 14 as you stated correctly on your show. They are horrible now but I always stand behind my team and wanted to politely tell you of your error of the Lakers winning more championships than any other team.

Sam Hensley
samhensley@hotmail.com

Posted by member1426549 on 02/18/2007 11:54 PM
Sean.
Yup, you are certainly gorgeous, smart, cute, sexy and very most probably, very wealthy....*sigh*
I am gonna listen to ANYTHING you have to say because you have BEEN there before, and won The Apprentice!
I think you sat next to Mr Trump, last week as if you'd been sitting next to him in the boardroom your whole life.
You were honest, on the mark, confident and as usual, drop dead bloody gorgeous!
You were BORN for this job with The Donald...and it shows....
I think you should seriously step in and sit exactly where Carolyn Kepcher USED to sit!
The ratings for this show would go through the roof if you were to be in the boardroom every week with the Boss and his daughter.