Originally published in the August 2004 Issue of Link & Learn. 

What explains the shocking popularity of the Donald Trump's reality series The Apprentice? There are a number of possible reasons. It certainly could be our endless curiosity about the lives of the rich and famous. It may also be explained by our current interest in staring into the fishbowl drama watching real life struggles, humiliations and victories. Perhaps it's the chance to witness, from a safe distance, the scary and possibly all-to-familiar horror of being fired from a desirable position. These are reasonable answers however, there seems to be much more to it than this. The wildly successful show, The Apprentice, has hit on something big. It responds to an ongoing and unresolved fascination with the mysterious, complex and universally meaningful phenomena called LEADERSHIP.

A walk through the business section of any major bookstore and you'll count dozens of titles which include the word 'leadership'. A quick internet search of "leadership" turns up over 19 million hits. The classic big name leaders throughout history, Lincoln, Thatcher, King, Welsch, frame a story within which we all play a part, affected each and every one of us. We have each had some kind of deeply personal experience of leadership, positive or negative, either as followers or as leaders ourselves.

Donald Trump can be appreciated for his cunning business savvy and an ability to at various times throughout his career, make it big. By co-creating this reality show with Mark Burnett, not only has he capitalized on the public's desire to fantasize about (and for a precious few, compete for) achieving a high-profile, financially lucrative career as a business mogul, he has also brought to the mainstream audience a heated, emotional and stimulating debate about something that we all seem to have an opinion on: what it takes to be a great leader.

Seven Leadership Lessons Courtesy of THE DONALD: A How Not-To Guide of Great Leadership

LESSON #1
The leader is in complete control, taking charge of everything, and holding the key to success.
According to Donald Trump, leadership is all about control and power. Trump's words, as well as his actions, throughout the series indicate that he lives what we call, "The Great Man theory" of leadership. He interrupts, commands, directs, instills fear, controls, and makes all the decisions. He has "advisors" who play the role and he allows them a brief opportunity to speak, yet rarely do they disagree. We saw this with both of his weekly side-kicks. Self-important is a defining trait. Trump never allows others to interrupt or talk over him. When one contestant said, "let me finish", early on in the series Trump pounced, making it clear that he is boss which means he speaks first, foremost and loudest. Most of his behavior and words ("I'm not going to be happy if you're late") reinforce the notion that everything that everyone does within the organization is about pleasing him. You could see the results of this as contestants focused all of their efforts during each week's task towards guessing what Trump would like and how he would handle a situation.

The Great Man theory has a place: during crisis. In daily organizational life, there are big costs associated with this form of leadership. Innovation and creativity are often stifled. High turnover and retention issues abound. We know that people don't leave jobs, they leave bad bosses; 'bad' meaning dictatorial, demanding, and controlling. When the organization is closely tied with the personality of the guy-on-top, it remains vulnerable if the leader falls, as we've seen for Martha Stewarts' enterprise. We think that Bill has succeeded by winning this year's position, and yet, will he ever stand alone, able to separate himself from association with Trump?

Jim Collins, author of one of the most influential business books, describes leaders of consistently effective, high performing organizations as humble with a fierce, unflinching resolve. These leaders are radically different than Trump. Did we see any apprentices' with these characteristics? Difficult to tell. Kwame recognized the value of surrounding oneself with talent: "you have great people, tell them what to do, then get out of their way". At the same time, he lacked the 'fierce' quality inherent in the best leaders. Nick demonstrated some fierceness, particularly when he got backed into the corner in the boardroom, yet his ego seemed to grow with each episode, negating the importance of humility. And the rest? What do you think? Some were a little more fierce than humble, others were the reverse. Few had both.

LESSON #2
Leaders are responsible for it all and, as a result, have the inarguable right to take complete control of all decisions.
Of course the CEO or President of a company has the ultimate responsibility for the organization. Donald Trump takes this to the extreme. He seeks input from his closest advisors, sort of. He makes the decisions and the company is clearly a reflection of his persona. We got this every week when the opening scene was all about Donald espousing himself and his achievements. We also got big doses of this with the contestants as they disclaimed all responsibility to the project managers when the team lost, assuming none of the blame. Kristy was one of the few project managers who openly admitted what she could have improved and welcomed critical feedback from her team. Trump didn't like this so much. The lesson of that week was 'you've got to stand up for yourself'. So what do we know about how this differs with the best leaders?

The best leaders have a different take on carrying the torch. They hold themselves responsible when things go wrong. When things are going well, they turn the spotlight onto the people around them, believing that their talents and efforts are what created the successes. We call this the mirror vs. window. Leaders also develop leaders at every level of the organization. Everyone is accountable within their own sphere of responsibility, and (this is key) each person is provided with the chance to develop their leadership, make mistakes, take risks, learn from them, receive critical feedback and build on their strengths.

LESSON #3
Leaders have respect of others and trust is in abundance in these organizations.
The best leaders treat others with respect.
Donald wouldn't let anyone challenge him, even trusted advisors he would shut off and interrupt. This made it very clear that he is boss and how other people feel about it is irrelevant - do not cross him.

LESSON #4
Leaders take risks - the 'right' kind of risks.
A leader needs to appreciate and take a risk on someone who thinks differently, whether that person challenges status quo, has fresh eyes for 'the way we've always done things', or is innovative in a climate where the leader is attached to being "right", or to their own ego. The leader needs to also appreciate the person that isn't just trying to guess what the boss wants and instead actually taps into their own brilliance.

LESSON #5
"To lead well, you need to be like me."
Right. Sadly, Trump's not alone in his thinking. Many of the big name (big ego) CEO's and Presidents who have the cover of tabloids, magazines, and newspapers are of the same ilk. They seem to think that they represent the ultimate in leadership and that it would behoove the rest of us to emulate their particular personalities and styles. If you've worked for this type of boss before, you know the result. We certainly can learn from others, that's why mentoring can be so powerful. At the same time, we can never be anyone but ourselves and the best leaders want you to be yourself; and to expand your particular strengths and competencies.

We've said this before, but it bears repeating: leaders develop other leaders. They do so by setting up systems and processes within the organization that allow people to become more self aware (360 feedback), build on their own strengths, eliminate any fatal flaws, set clear goals and tenaciously accomplish them, learn to listen, and confront reality. Let's be clear: every contestant on The Apprentice benefited. They did NOT, however, learn how to lead. Perhaps they each garnered some fame and greater opportunities from the exposure. But any other corporation interested in hiring one of these folks must only see the potential they arrived with, not any leadership abilities they developed along the way.

LESSON #6
Tough conversations.
Throughout the show, candidates used the camera as the sounding board, which relieved them of any responsibility for talking to each other. Trump, as the leader, didn't encourage appropriate communication and actually exaggerated the avoidance of this by asking people to talk about each other in the board room.

In the end, there was the most dramatic example of avoiding tough conversations and the disastrous consequences. This is what the final decision was based on. Kwame got fired for not confronting and dealing with Omorosa.

Summary
The Great Man type leader encourages personal responsibility because he sets himself up as having all the answers and all the power. In his case, Trump held the mirror up to take all the credit and held the window up to lay all the blame when things when wrong. The Apprentice creates an artificial lens, to some extent, for viewing leadership. However, one has to wonder, to what extent is this, the real Trump?

In regards to The Apprentice, people must realize that it's not necessarily the best leader that wins. Since the show is more of a reality series drama, the real leadership skill required to make it and excel in today's business world can't be effectively portrayed. Yet, with the next season of The Apprentice quickly approaching, we'll still tune in to see who ends up being the leader of the pack and what characteristics Trump will value in his next leader!

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Kris Laroche, Centre for Exceptional Leadership. For more information or to contact the author, visit: http://www.exceptionalleadership.com.