The Apprentice 2: Why Kelly Won

The fifth rule says to be loyal, and Kelly seems to understand what it means. When he worked with people, he didn’t want to then pick them apart based on personal issues. Furthermore, he did well with the corollary, which was the surround himself with the best people – as he did when he tossed Jen off his team.

The sixth rule is to not show your hand. This didn’t have much impact, but that may be specifically because Kelly didn’t go around gossiping (despite what Jen claimed) and making all sorts of drama by plotting out how he would go after somebody in the Boardroom.

Despite the fact that many of Kelly’s fellow contestants did not particularly like him, it was not because of any particular violation of the seventh rule, playing well with others. Indeed, if anything it was because he took the second part, about staying professional, a bit more seriously than they did. Kelly was accused of being “wooden” or “robotic.” There was something to that. But at least he didn’t go around pissing people off like Jen did. Although the other contestants – his co-workers – might not have wanted to go out for a beer with Kelly, most of them agreed that he was the better choice for the job.

The eighth rule is to focus on the long-term. Again, Kelly did a good job at this. He was not willing to compromise himself (as, for example, Ivana did) just to try to win a single challenge. Perhaps as a former soldier, he knew there were times when you might lose a battle but still win the war.

Kelly did not excel at the ninth rule, thinking outside the box. However, when he needed to, he did well at creative efforts. For example, his team created the innovative Pepsi Edge bottle with the hole in the center. Certainly, he was better than Jen, who didn’t even know she was in the box.

Finally, Kelly consistently used common sense. When Carolyn said that he had done some things wrong in the final task, he agreed and said he would learn from it. Compare this to Jen when George gave her some criticism. She became defensive and argumentative, and even raised her voice at George, treating him not like an interviewer but like a fellow player she could shout down in the Boardroom. Her behavior defied common sense – you just don’t do that in a job interview! Kelly, however, showed a willingness to learn – after all, isn’t that what being an apprentice is all about?

Jen was really never any competition for Kelly, and the overwhelming tide of opinion in Kelly’s favor was solid evidence of that. Every time somebody was asked why Kelly should win, they said it was because of his leadership. Kelly used the same reasoning, explaining that he “stepped up and delivered.” His overall record was ten wins and four losses, compared to Jen’s below-.500 record of six wins and eight losses. He did indeed step up and deliver. Truly, there was probably nobody in the Final Four who could have beaten him.

Kelly did not just talk about getting the job done, he did it. He did not just talk about drive or ambition, as Jen did, he showed that he could back up his words with action. Kelly worked well with people even if they didn’t particularly like his personality. He could think on his feet and not get flustered. Most importantly, Kelly showed himself to be a good leader. That is why Kelly won.

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

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