The Apprentice 5: Why Lee Lost

Also, playing the role of “the politician” somewhat helped Lee in this area. If we look at people like Roxanne and Allie, we see that they clawed their way into the final four, but did so by stabbing their former allies in the back. This caused all sorts of ill will and if they had made it to the final two, you have to wonder which candidates they would have picked for their teams. Lee didn’t have that issue, as he knew his goal was to win. Part of getting to that point meant leaving Boardroom sessions without worrying that people would hate him afterwards.

As we reach the seventh rule, we come to the part that gave Lee the most trouble at the end: understanding the challenge. We’ve discussed a bit already about the problems Lee had dealing with the charity. The issue is that the charity was their customer, and Lee needed to make sure they were totally happy and comfortable. He had similar issues with the companies sponsoring the event, such as when he had trouble explaining his thoughts to the Pontiac execs.

Then, to make matters worse, he didn’t really take care of the celebrities in the manner that they perhaps expected. He left Lenny in charge and Lenny wandered around, not really doing what was necessary. And to make matters worse, Lee didn’t even meet Trump at the door!

While none of these flaws was fatal to this event, we need to look back to thinking long-term for a moment. Sure, Lee wanted this particular event to succeed. But he also needed to be thinking about the long-term good of the charity. If the celebs are treated poorly one year, will they be as eager to come back next time? And if the major sponsors don’t feel comfortable, will they be as likely to put up the money when the following year’s request comes in? Trump has to consider all of these issues, not just whether the particular event was a success.

The eighth rule tells contestants to be creative and, indeed, Lee was complimented on his “thinking outside the box” by none other than Carolyn during the finale. But that creativity didn’t really show up during the final challenge. He did get Pontiac to let them auction off the two cars, but failed to capitalize on the possibility of Pontiac also matching the auction price with another donation of their own. And he had a bunch of silent auctions that, from what we saw, went pretty much nowhere. There was nothing in his final task that screamed “creative.”

Ninth is the advice that says candidates cannot be one-dimensional. I think it’s fair to say that Lee had a number of good qualities, some of which have already been described here. He’s eager, creative, and energetic, among other things.

And the tenth rule doesn’t add much to our discussion. It says to use common sense. We could note that it is common sense to meet Trump at the door, or to pick the best team possible, but we’ve already addressed those issues, so there is no need to repeat.

In the end, Lee’s age was a factor, but not in the way it has been for fresh-out-of-college applicants in previous seasons. His age was not harped on through the show, but it did have an effect in the way Lee acted. He did not have the experience to know how to be the best leader, nor did he have the experience to fully understand the final challenge. Lee did well, and he deserved to be in the final two. But he needs more work on his leadership skills and general understanding of people in the business world. That is why Lee lost.

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

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