The Apprentice 2: Why Jen Lost

The fifth rule says to be loyal. Jen had loyalty issues, such as when Andy told her that he was going to go after Sandy in the Boardroom, and then Jen revealed the discussion! Jen would work fine with somebody during a task, and then turn on them completely in the Boardroom if necessary.

The sixth rule, not showing your hand, didn’t really apply here since it was down to the Final Two. So let’s move on.

The seventh says to play well with others. Oy. Where do we start? Jen was definitely not the most well-liked person by her fellow contestants. Many of them didn’t particularly like Kelly, either, but they respected him. I don’t think the same could be honestly said about Jen. Even George, who seemed to favor Jen, said twice that she was abrasive.

Another thing we can’t say about Jen is that she focused on the long term, as the eighth rule says to do. Jen was all about beating whomever was her competition at the time. And she really didn’t seem to care how. If she had to scream at that person in the Boardroom to get ahead, so be it. If she had to act like she had done the work when somebody else had, too bad for them.

But one feature about The Apprentice makes all of that problematic – Donald Trump (and, indeed, the world) see it all before he makes his choice. This is not Survivor where you can be nice in front of people and nasty behind their backs and still get the prize. Trump got to see all of Jen’s antics before he decided.

Even without that issue, we go back to the screaming matches in the Boardroom. Those might have gotten her past the people she out-yelled, but I simply cannot see it impressing Trump. And she never learned. When it came time for her absolute final arguments, she went on the attack against Kelly’s personality again, claiming he was dishonest and questioning his integrity. She was going for the throat and didn’t care what she said, as long as it meant she might win. Kelly, on the other hand, talked about how their records compared. Frankly, her behavior was disgusting as she tried to tear down Kelly to make herself look better. Instead, it just made her look even worse.

The ninth rule says to think outside the box. Sometimes it seemed that Jen didn’t even realize she was in a box – such as in the Levi’s task where she simply could not wrap her mind around the fit wheel idea until she held it in her hands. She may have done well at school, she might be brilliant in some matters, but when it came to creativity and grasping complex issues, she sometimes just didn’t get it.

Finally, we reach the rule that says to use common sense. Jen failed here in many of the things that we’ve already discussed. She failed to personally invite Trump to the VIP party after the basketball game. She failed to understand that screaming at people is not the way to impress the boss. More importantly, she failed to understand that getting defensive upon receiving criticism is not the way to go – such as when she argued with George over what he said, while Kelly accepted Carolyn’s criticism and said he would learn from it.

Jen was a good arguer. I wouldn’t want to face her as opposing counsel in a court of law. However, at some point in the real world – and in Trump’s world – she needed to show that she could do more than yell at people. Jen didn’t.

Jen had many problems along the way, and I honestly don’t think should not have even been in the Final Two. She had a record of six wins and eight losses. She was only the Project Manager once and did not truly step up to lead when she didn’t have the title. She was unpopular with coworkers and those she was supposed to be working for alike. She valued ambition more than skill. All of these things added up as the weeks went on, and they were topped by the fact that Jen was a poor leader while she was facing an opponent who had shown himself to be just the opposite. That is why Jen lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other Apprentice 2 Finale articles:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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