I got caught up watching this week’s launch episode of Celebrity Apprentice — the first Aussie version of the series made famous by Donald Trump and which Mark Bouris of Yellow Brick Road hosts in Australia. Like the original The Apprentice, in Celebrity Apprentice participants (celebrities) take part in business challenges, mostly in teams, and someone from the losing team is fired each week. The cast is a hodgepodge of athletes, business people and other ‘celebrities’. This season has athlete Wendell Sailor, reality ‘star’ Polly Porter, politician Pauline Hanson, ‘dance guru’ Jason Coleman, comedienne Julia Morris, beauty queen Jesinta Campbell, model Didier Cohen, footy ‘legend’ Warwick Capper, AFL’s Shane Crawford, Olympian Lisa Curry, Businessman Max Markson, and entertainer Deni Hines as the contestants.
After an entertaining first episode where teams ran a charity car wash (the team who raised the most money won) the men’s team lost and someone was fired by Bouris last night. The show, while created for ratings (of course) and obviously heavily edited for viewer value, shows enough about a character to have the viewer decide if they like the contest or not. As a business owner, I watched the show from the point of view of whom I would want on my business team and who would I definitely not want. Would it be the savvy, well connected Max Markson, the funny and entertaining Julia Morris or the soft but powerful Lisa Curry? And what about the guys?
The footy players impressed me. Well, two of them. Wendell Sailer and Shane Crawford both behaved like team players. They were willing to take leadership, they worked (really) hard in the roles they were assigned and they were willing to work hard towards the team goal. One black sheep, or is it blonde sheep, Warwick Capper was as useful as (enter your own bit here) – i.e. not very! (I realise the show is edited but based on what was shown on the show, he’d be first to be fired if he was on my team.) In many of the contestants I could see the qualities that I value in team members, qualities that I admire regardless if it’s a team I’m leading or whether someone else is leading.
- Clarity in communication – Jesinta who lead the women’s team was strong but a little harsh in her communication. Her team mates seemed to forgive her for it and to encourage her bravery and leadership.
- Willingness – Most of the guys jumped in and did whatever it took. Capper stood out as the one not willing to take direction or to participate til the end of the challenge.
- Courage – While she’s not someone whose politics I’ve been a fan of, Pauline Hanson stole the show for me when she stripped down to some AussieBum gear to wash a car for a $50,000 bounty which all went towards charity
- Calling it as you see it – Model Didler Cohen not only looked great (he is a model after all) but was willing to call a spade a spade and to put those older than him who disregarded him as just a pretty face, in their place. I hope he shows more of that in coming episodes.
- Drive – While he comes across as arrogant I had to admire Max Markson’s clarity that he had one job to do – to help the team win and (again, despite not agreeing with his leadership style) he pulled out all stops to raise the money they thought would win them the challenge. He was very focused on the prize and the goal. Unfortunately his treatment of his team wasn’t ideal.
Lessons that I drew from the show:
- Leadership matters. Clear direction and participation from the leader is vital.
- Teamwork – No matter what your role, play it and play it to your best ability
- It ain’t over until it’s over – Until the finish bell rings, the game is still on and you can still steal the leading position if you stay focused.
Last night Bouris fired Warwick Capper . I know who I would’ve voted off. Capper! You? Who would you have fired? And, why?
