The Apprentice 3: Why Tana Lost

In the final live Boardroom, I’ve already mentioned how Tana was acting. Even the answers she gave when she wasn’t shouting or whooping it up were certainly not the best ever. Meanwhile, Kendra gave polished answers that clearly and concisely conveyed the proper information and showed that she could function in a true business environment. I have to tell you, if I saw somebody behaving the way Tana was in a work meeting, I’d have left and wondered, “What the hell was that all about and who is she?” Kendra, however, would have given me no such pause.

The sixth rule says to focus on the long-term. Tana had been doing okay at this throughout most of the competition, but forgot all about it at the end. She was so focused on the task that she ignored one of the main components that she should have known Trump would be studying – how she behaved and managed. We’ve already dealt with those two topics, but I just want to reiterate here that these were failures on multiple levels. The final challenge is not so much a competition to see who “wins” by doing it better, it’s a test to see how you work. Even though the NYC 2012 event went off fine, Tana still failed that test.

Throughout her time on the show, George noted that Tana had tremendous ideas and creativity – in other words, she followed the seventh rule of thinking outside the box. The final challenge did not really give her much opportunity to be creative, since all the events and attendees were set up ahead of time. Her earlier performance could have helped Trump decide at the end if things had been more even, but, well, they weren’t.

Eighth is to not be one-dimensional. I think Carolyn said it best in the finale when she pointed out that Tana is a great salesperson. Carolyn chooses her words wisely, and she meant exactly what she said – that is one area where Tana did a great job. But as the rule specifically notes, “Trump is not looking for a salesperson.” As mentioned above, George pointed out that Tana had great ideas. The rule also notes, “[Trump] isn’t looking for an idea person.”

Trump is looking for somebody who is multitalented, and one of those talents must be leadership, as we referred to earlier.

Finally, we arrive at the rule that says contestants should use common sense. For many of the reasons outlined above, Tana blew it here as well:

• It defies common sense to ask if she can trade team members after they have been given to her.
• It defies common sense to call your team members “The Three Stooges” to one of the judges (Carolyn).
• It defies common sense to talk about your team members negatively to other people around you, especially when one of those team members is nearby.
• It defies common sense to be on a show where cameras follow you everywhere and make repeated disparaging remarks about the people who worked with you when those remarks and their reaction to them will play into the decision of whether or not you win.

Somewhere along the line, Tana forgot where she was and what her goal should have been. She became so focused on the fact that she had been saddled with three difficult personalities that she lost sight of the prize.

Tana started out well but her stock dropped precipitously in the final weeks. Kendra started off slow but ended with a grand flourish. Tana needed a solid performance in the final challenge to win. It didn’t need to be great – she had been great for most of the season. She just needed to be solid. But she wasn’t. She was unprofessional (both in dealing with her employees and in her behavior on the live show) and, more importantly, she was a horrible leader. That is why Tana lost.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our Apprentice 3 finale recap:

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

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