The Apprentice 5: Why Sean Won

However, the second part of this rule says to stay professional. Trump repeatedly suggested in the finale that perhaps Sean had gone too far in professing his love for Tammy. And maybe he did. No doubt, Sean let his heart get a bit in the way during the final challenge, as Tarek noted that Sean chose to go to a meeting with Tammy rather than a potentially more important meeting with Pontiac. But Sean quickly recognized – and rectified – this problem. So in the end, I don’t think it was really a big deal at all.

Sixth is to focus on the long-term. Sean did this in several ways. First, he worked hard at all the tasks. He never tried to sabotage anybody or lay around and let them lose. He wanted to show that he was there to work. Sure, he might make fun of somebody later, but it didn’t interfere with getting the job done.

Also, as we’ve already discussed, Sean refused to play The Apprentice as a game. While Allie and Roxanne were scheming to get to the end, Sean was just trying to be a straight-ahead stand-up guy. While Lee was hemming and hawing in the Boardroom and being “a politician,” Sean said what he thought. By doing so, he allowed Trump to see that he was a good, hard-working guy who deserved to win. That is long-term thinking.

The seventh rule advises applicants to understand the challenge. While Lee stumbled a bit here in the final task, Sean did a good job overall. He had one slip-up in not having any Pontiac signage at the pre-party, and he needed a couple hints from the Pontiac representative to understand that they didn’t want a panda in the car with Donald Trump, but otherwise he knew what he had to do.

Sean personally met the band; Lee had Lenny or some random employee meet the stars. Sean personally met Donald Trump as soon as he arrived; Lee let Trump wander around a bit before greeting him. These may seem like small issues, but they showed that Sean really did understand who had to be made happy for the success of the fundraiser – not just this one, but any future potential similar activities as well.

The eighth rule says to be creative but not insane. I’m not sure Sean is as creative a person as Lee – even Carolyn noted as much. However, as we move into the ninth rule, what he might have lacked in creativity, he more than made up for in terms of leadership. That ninth rule, after all, says not to be one-dimensional. The rule notes that Trump “is looking for a leader who can provide creative thoughts.” Without a doubt, Sean succeeded in that regard.

Finally, we arrive at the rule that tells players to use common sense. Usually, this is a catch-all for all the stupid stuff that fired applicants do. I can’t think of any real problems that Sean had with it – which indeed helps to explain why he wasn’t fired.

Sean was only the project manager twice, but he won both times. More importantly, he exuded a type of leadership quality that made people want to work with him, listen to him, and follow him. Lee repeatedly said that his youth made him a good apprentice, by the very definition of the word. But Trump’s Apprentice is a bit different. He wants somebody who will learn and help the organization, but he also wants somebody who already has the ability to lead others and contribute creative thoughts to the projects on which they work. Sean showed that he had these abilities, more so than any other player this season (and, indeed, maybe in a couple other seasons as well). That is why Sean won.

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

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