Lessons Learned

FIT

• Maximizing team collaboration and potential. Dawna proved that she could lead a team effectively. She delegated appropriately, aligned team members' talents and skills with their roles and key tasks and provided a high level of clear expectations, organization and structure to her team. As a result, her team rose to the challenge of creating and executing a large event with tight time constraints.
   
• It's all in the details. Managing a huge event requires tremendous organization, structure and attention to the smallest detail. This goes under "fit" because Dawna wisely created a sizeable checklist of required tasks to track event details. Yet there was one arena where she could have done better. Beyond checklists, effective project managers create a critical path item plan outlining and detailing priorities and deadlines. There was really no excuse for the poor program produced by Dawna's team. This could have been avoided by requiring the sponsors to have edits/changes to them by a deadline (leaving them enough time to be printed!) and they should have had the creative layout (with the sponsor's logo) already done. Instead, this team waited until the last minute to print the entire piece without leaving enough time for the creative work required to produce a professional brochure.
   
• Remain calm under pressure. Dawna demonstrated that she can self-sooth and remain unflappable under high stress, as opposed to Bethenny, who admitted she was "manic" and "chaotic." The ability to remain calm under pressure is critical to effective leadership -- despite how easily we can be emotionally hijacked as human beings. Managing emotional impulses requires focus and special effort. Anxiety is contagious and no one spreads it more quickly on a team than the leader. As followers, we expect our leaders to be the ones holding it together when things get chaotic. Leaders set the stage for the emotions of the team.

UNFIT

• Trust doesn't come automatically to a leader. Bethenny dealt with her team's lack of trust in her ability by simply asserting that they should trust her because she was their leader. Trust is not assigned by a title; trust is earned. Authority can be mandated by position, but not trust. Trust isn't given just because a leader demands it. Leaders can earn trust by addressing some of the following:

  • Model what you ask for -- trust them.

  • Protect your people.

  • Provide clear expectations, order and structure.

  • Do what you say you will do.

  • Be transparent in your decision making.

  • Listen well and be open to influence.

  • Maintain calm during a storm.

  • Be fair.
     

• Praise and acknowledge. This is one of the major lessons we can glean from this series. (Think of Dawna as your example and Bethenny as the non-example.) Dawna began and ended with her team on the right foot: heartfelt acknowledgement for an "awesome job." Bethenny, in contrast, began and ended with her team on the wrong foot -- bolting afterward without so much as a handshake to her team. She failed to recognize, acknowledge or show proper appreciation for their considerable hard work and effort on her behalf, something that was not lost on Stewart. It's simple -- you have to care about your people. The need for approval and recognition is a primary human drive. Most people rate having a caring boss higher than they value fringe benefits or money. People need to be acknowledged, understood and appreciated. Recognize contributions, praise generously and encourage the heart in your people.
   

• It pays to be calm: Koppelman noted that in his opinion, Bethenny could be difficult to work with, in spite of her high energy. One gets the impression that at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a calm demeanor in the face of chaos goes a long way, and that perhaps Bethenny was a bit too frenetic to "fit in."
  
  The bottom line? There's a difference between being an entrepreneurial independent contractor and working in a large company with a lot of people. Organizations take on the character of the leadership, and Stewart never seemed to get ruffled during the 13 weeks of the show. It's likely that the organization would be better suited to someone with Dawna's calm countenance than Bethenny's more excitable persona.

Commentary: A Letter to Martha

Martha Stewart always sent a letter to the fired candidate every week. Since this is the last episode – ever - of the Martha Stewart version of "The Apprentice," having gone "one and done," it's time for someone to write a letter to Ms. Stewart. That person might as well be me.

Dear Martha:

Let me say at the outset that I have enormous respect for anyone who has the moxie, the focus and the determination to start a business and grow it into a company that is known throughout the world, as you have done. In addition, it's one thing to start a company, but it's quite another to become a personification of the company. Martha, you are a brand, just as Donald Trump is a brand. And, you have stuck with your company through thick and thin. Even though I've never (to my knowledge) used any of your recipes, decorating ideas or tips on entertaining, I admit to some bias in that I really admire you and what you have accomplished.

"The Apprentice with Martha Stewart" is one piece of your effort aimed at rebuilding your brand after you suffered significant personal and professional trauma over the last couple of years. Your show will not continue for a second season, but your weekly appearances on prime-time TV have sent a message that "Martha Stewart is back!" And, you have gotten a solid performer, Dawna, to add to your company's publishing unit.

Several months ago, a reporter asked me how I thought your new show would go. At the time, I told the reporter that I felt you and the producers had a tough job. Having watched "The Apprentice" from the beginning, I have developed the opinion that the majority of the people who watch the show are most interested in the boardroom scenes. They want to see Donald Trump relentlessly interrogate the candidates and then dismiss someone with the crowning words, "You're fired." As I told the reporter, I didn't think that it was in your best interest or in the best interest of your brand for you to be overly aggressive or mean on the show, which is at odds with the reason why most people watch "The Apprentice" in the first place.

What we have learned is that people don't want a "kinder, gentler version" of "The Apprentice," which is what you gave them. Even though you had an interesting group of candidates - people such as Jim, Chuck and Dawn come to mind - the conference room scenes in your show just didn't have the passion or drama that would hold today's television audience. I am sure that Charles Koppelman and your daughter Alexis are great people and contribute a lot to your organization, but they never seemed to find a comfort zone in front of the camera.

So, we are done. I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors and I look forward to many new and exciting things from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Best regards. - David Urban