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Business Rule #1:
Step Up and Make a Decision
September 9, 2004
...Contrary to popular belief, success is not a group effort. You have to trust yourself and step up to the task at hand. If you have a brilliant idea, go for it! Rob neglected this rule and sat back when criticized by his fellow teammates...
From the get-go, it’s apparent that the eighteen new players vying for the job as "The Apprentice" watched the first season: not only do they come out swinging, they are thinking differently, strategizing earlier, and taking the offense.
Two standouts, right off the bat: Raj Bhakta, a real estate developer from Philadelphia who affects such a dandyish sartorial style that a rival likens him and his fire-red pants to Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack; and Pamela Day, a San Francisco-based investment firm partner, whose searing look and hard-edged manner invites a teammate to compare her to dog killer Cruella De Vil. When the two meet, what does the height-impaired Raj say to his towering comrade? “I’m gonna [have] to put on platform shoes like
Joseph Stalin.”
We also have a new certifiable psychopath in Stacy Jones Upchurch who gets all bent out-of-shape and paranoid for no apparent reason.
In tonight’s premiere, teams are divided along gender lines, as in season one, but with a notable switch: one guy must leave the camaraderie of his locker room teammates and head up a team of all women, while one gal has to dominate a team of all men. Showing no fear, Bradford Cohen volunteers to lord it over the strident women, while who else but Pam elects to tough it out with the guys.
With the predominantly male and female teams christening themselves the Mosaic and Apex Corporations respectively, they dive headlong into their first assigned task to design a prototype of a brand new toy. The toys must pass the ultimate test: real kids. The focus group of children plays with the toys as the candidates watch anxiously through a one-way mirror. The winning toy entitles the Apex Corporation to dinner with Trump and his fiancée, Melania. The more unpopular toy though sends its team to the boardroom, where Trump, just like the kids, is in no mood to play around. In the end, Trump cans Rob Flanagan for not stepping up and making himself a more valued member of his team.
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The reason he gets the boot brings me to my dual topics for today: stepping up and making decisions. Let’s tackle "stepping up" first. Contrary to popular belief, success is not a group effort. You have to trust yourself and step up to the task at hand. If you have a brilliant idea, go for it! Rob neglected this rule and sat back when criticized by his fellow teammates. When you have a stellar idea, business idea, or dream, step up, embrace it and run like the wind.
Certainly none of them had ever before designed a toy, so they were all on an equal playing field. If Rob had been assertive, I’m sure he could have made a more praiseworthy contribution. Creative people rarely need to be motivated—they have their own inner drive that refuses to be bored. They refuse to be complacent. They live on the edge, which is precisely what is needed to be successful and remain successful. When I take a look around my offices and take stock of the people working for me, the ones who move up fast are the people who take a situation that’s gone wrong and fix it. Just like Bradford says, they step up to the plate and swing for the fences. I like those people and they like me.
While it’s true that a certain amount of personal ambition is necessary, it’s best not to take it to the point where it undermines the common interest of the company. If you can’t get along with your co-workers and work together as a group, you’ll never accomplish as much as you could have otherwise.
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Contrary to popular belief, success is not a group effort. You have to trust yourself and step up to the task at hand.
