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Business Rule #8:
Be Prepared to Hold a Grudge
October 30, 2004
“You let your team change your mind for you? As a leader, if you believe you’re right, you have to stand by your decision no matter what.”
Amen.
Those words spoken by Donald Trump completely and utterly explain Elizabeth Jarosz’s demise and Andy Litinsky’s success. I’ve written the same thing here before, just in different words. Never, ever equivocate. Andy followed that advice and went with a simply beautiful campaign that inspired and moved people. Andy followed the directions given and was a huge success.
What’s the premise of The Apprentice? It boils down to one thing: may the best and most sincere candidate win. We get to see the Darwinian process of “survival of the fittest” firsthand. Only the fittest individual survives. Only one candidate is selected to win. This winnowing of the field is based upon who most skillfully executes a series of tasks that require teamwork, intellect, leadership, motivation, creativity, and hard work. Yes, hard work! What’s required to land the titular job is a marathon of dedication to rise to the top and beat out a whole field of competitors, each of whom are all more incredibly talented and capable than the next. Some may well wonder if there are any surefire criteria that are needed for becoming The Apprentice. I’ll tell you what it takes, not only on the show but also in the real business world. It’s not manual skills but leadership skills. Not physical dexterity but interpersonal dexterity. Not brawn but brains. Here at The LaVelle Organization, what I look for in a new hire is someone with the chops to become a future executive.
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As project managers, both Andy and Elizabeth took on the responsibility of motivating, inspiring and pushing their teams to carry out their plans successfully according to their vision and ideals. Andy did an immaculate job. Why? Because he was ready, willing, and able to absorb the tough lessons that his fellow candidates had to learn the hard way. Andy made sure that he never made the same mistakes that they did. Not only that, he listened to their harsh criticisms and channeled their negativity into inner strength. Drawing upon that reservoir, he overcame their criticisms and proved them wrong. Andy really pulled through and, in his success, created immunity for himself with Donald Trump and maybe even his teammates. Andy has the fire that I like.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as determined. She completely lost the fight. The woman never set the standard. You should never expect your employees to do your job for you, and she laid almost everything at Kevin’s feet. It was amazing. As far as I can tell, the only thing she stopped short of saying was, “Please Kevin, do this so that I can win and we can move on.” Or maybe she did, and they edited it out. Her fundamental inability to make a clear and firm decision on anything had her whole staff up in arms. She wasn’t the source of inspiration; she was the source of aggravation—and that’s not good.
Elizabeth complained that her ad campaign was so fraught with problems that she couldn’t achieve a dedicated vision. Well, let me tell you something, Elizabeth: winners see problems as just another way to prove themselves. Problems are never hardships to us. By the way, if you don’t have problems, then you must not have a business to run or even a project to complete.
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Winners see problems as just another way to prove themselves.
