Hey guys, back for episode 3 of The Apprentice
season 1, episode called Respect. In this episode,
Donald Trump is going to ask the two teams to
go head -to -head in the challenge of who can
negotiate the highest markdown on a set of items.
So you'll have again the men versus the women
and the goal is to... get the highest discount
on a set of items. So as always, we're going
to hear a couple of clips that we will comment.
The first one is a lesson directly from Trump.
So let's go straight into it. The art of the
deal. Negotiation is a very, very delicate art.
Sometimes you have to be tough. Sometimes you
have to be as sweet as pie. You never know. It
depends on who you're dealing with. I've always
said that negotiation is not really learned.
It's almost innate. It's in the genes. A negotiator
is born. All right. So very simply here, we understand
that negotiating is a dynamic process, that the
rules aren't very... It depends on who you're
speaking to. Sometimes killing with kindness
is better. Sometimes being very sweet, very friendly
is the right approach. Sometimes being very tough
is more appropriate. And that's why Trump is
saying that it's not taught. It's innate because
you can't really teach. to someone how to have
the right response or the right attitude towards
negotiation as a rule. It's really an instinct.
And when are you tougher? When are you kinder?
Where do you draw the line is really on a per
situation basis. And that's why it doesn't...
fit the mold of you know cookie cutter textbook
college university description so essentially
for him the art of the deal is innate it is innate
and he's going to ask of his apprentices right
the contestants to to really use that skill and
show him who can negotiate the better deal next
Next clip we're going to see is very interesting.
It's Trump taking the time to go see kind of
the underdog of the competition, the one who
is most badly talked about. And this is going
to echo Trump's mantra that all publicity is
good publicity. And in a way, we see that the
guy who made the most noise, even though it was
not in the most productive way, he did get Trump's
attention. So listen to the next interaction
and you're going to see that Trump goes out of
his way to greet someone you would not otherwise
think he would stop. I hear you're in charge.
I am in charge, Mr. Trump. I am the coach of
this team. How are you doing today? Well, we're
going to see because the men are taking a big
beating. Are you going to turn it around? We've
already turned it around. I never knew you were
so short. Huh? You want to shake my hand? I want
to shake your hand. You really do? Give me a
hint. How's he doing, fellas? All right? He's
taking his charge. You think they maybe made
you the team leader to get rid of him? That is
possible. Well, you know how that doesn't happen?
If you win. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you.
Have a good day. That was one of the biggest
moments of my life, shaking that man's hand.
He is my mentor. All right. So first of all,
we see Trump is extremely respectful and courteous
to go out of his way, shake hands of the, you
know, he's intrigued by the underdog. He does
see he has a fight in him. He does see he's creative.
He can, you know, speak for himself. stands out
from the crowd and he often says it's either
going to be like his great success or his great
downfall but trump is intrigued he is interested
in in other people especially those who are trying
so so i guess uh what we can learn from him is
that by putting yourself out there and doing
the effort you do catch some positive attention
and here There's another lesson. And Trump basically
is telling him, right, he understands that he,
that Sam has been picked as team leader so that
if his team fails, he is one of the three candidates
potentially to be ousted. And at this point,
after three losses, it's most likely, you know,
it's going to fall on him. And Trump gives him
a very sage advice. And this advice is echoed
in other business literature, say from Jeffrey
Pfeffer in, seven laws of power essentially it's
seventh law basically that that success justifies
you know the in in a way that if the outcome
is positive then it excuses the eccentricities
of the person he tells him you know how that
doesn't happen how he doesn't get kicked out
of the show and still has a chance to be the
apprentice is if his team wins and and in a way
uh you know success is the ultimate revenge right
it's it's often said and and we can clearly see
how how it makes sense that ultimately um ultimately
the The outcome will, you know, the story is
told by the winners, right? So if he manages
to pull the first one for the team, then he can
completely reverse how the script is. And same
story for Trump. in the way that he reshaped
the Republican Party. He was an outsider to the
Republican Party and he came with his own vision,
truly his own vision. He understood what the
Republican electorate, he really reached out
to him and also to other, you know, center and
other members of the American public and he made
all his support coalesce around his vision and
winning, the fact that he won, overwhelmingly
in 2016 and in 2024 um it it's the outcome gives
him proves that he was right in a way so it it
proves all of his critics wrong and it uh it
validates all the people who believed in him
and and it kind of the doubters the people who
doubted him are you know to not go too much on
that topic of course they're they're a bit you
know they they have to to to go or revisit their
assumptions to say the least and this is a very
satisfactory feeling for trump we'll see in some
of his books he's going to make references to
to how revenge in certain ways, like via success,
it is a very wholesome feeling. And so this is
some of the mentorship he gives to Sam ahead
of the challenge. So we're going to pursue and
go a little further. So I'll sum up the episode.
The women, of course, I mean, they were more
successful at negotiations because they went
for items that had a bigger margin. So if the
woman, for example, went to a golf store, I'm
going to play a short clip of that, and they
negotiated a good amount off of the club, whereas
the men want to try to negotiate. gold and gold
is really set at market prices and they were
much less successful in getting a discount. We'll
just hear a clip of one of the women closing
a discount on a golf club. So how about cost
plus 10 %? You're making money. Yeah, plus 10
% to your ideal. For 300 bucks, you got yourself
a deal. Okay, there we go. We got a deal. And
here we just witnessed getting a $120 discount
on golf clubs. One that should be $419, one for
$300. And that's because the woman knew that
this was a high margin item. And they proposed
a solution that was win -win in that the club
owner was making a profit. And they were kind
of... asking him to make this concession for
the sake of the competition. And he kind of felt
sympathy towards them, but he was still winning.
He was not at a loss, whereas the men, when they
were trying to negotiate percentage points off
of gold, they were literally trying to get gold
at lower than the market price. And it was a
very tough... They weren't able to pull it off.
So ultimately, the women win again and Trump
is going to congratulate them. And notice you're
going to encounter something very interesting.
Remind you, this is 2004. So this is really one
of the first times you see an equal... board
women and men we talk a lot about equality in
the work workplace and have you know having you
know elevating the role of woman executive and
you're going to see this is trump is surrounded
on his right he has a male advisor on his left
he has a female advisor and he has the two teams
fight off each other. And the team of women is
exceptionally competent. Trump is admirative
of that. And I'll let you listen and add some
comments. I'm starting to think that I may never
hire a man again. I'm very disappointed in you.
All right, look, the men lost, the women won.
That's that. To celebrate, here's what you're
going to do tonight. You're going to have dinner
at the world famous 21 Club. Now, my father was
a builder in Brooklyn and Queens. His biggest
treat ever was the ability to go to the 21 Club
on occasion with his friends and have dinner
there. And he had one table that he loved. That's
my father, Fred Trump. And you're going to have
dinner tonight at the Fred Trump table at the
21 Club. So you're going to enjoy it. All right.
So Trump treats. the winning team to a table
where his dad want to celebrate business deals.
So he, it shows, you know, a generous personality
that despite his status, he is open to share
some of the most intimate and, you know, prized,
sentimental, you know, places, things that we
saw in the first episode. He, he did give a tour
of his. private apartment. Now he's treating
the women to a dinner among themselves at his
dad's favorite restaurant at his habitual spot.
And we'll see how the women react to that. They're
very grateful, of course. And of course, they
are going to repeat the fact that he said, you
know, what he said about the fact that he feels
that women in this case were more competent.
And this just dispels some of the myth about
Trump and, you know, some of the false characterizations.
We see that he is indeed very much pro -competence.
And when he recognizes, when he sees it, he recognizes
it. egos for the more competent uh person regardless
of gender in this case absolutely uh it was a
woman so here we're gonna hear their initial
uh reactions this is where donald trump ate when
he was little how many deals have been made how
about mr trump's comment about never hiring another
All right. They noticed that. And that was 2004.
So it's just, if you watch the show, you're going
to see, you know, how he was good at spotting
talent and at recognizing talent, where it comes
from. Now, we're going to segue into probably
the final clip for today. And this is kind of
the assessment done with the man. after the women
are gone for for fun the men have to face an
elimination and in the elimination round uh basically
it's kind of the time to examine what went wrong
what went wrong and uh i'll let the clip play
it's gonna be self -explanatory for for most
of it and we may comment you know as a man i'm
so I'm disappointed with you guys. I don't know
what's happening. George, what happened this
time? I mean, this is just nuts. Sam, you were
the team leader. Yes, I was. Well, I think we
had a successful plan, and everybody understood
the plan. And at the end of the day, although
everyone did try, the plan was not implemented.
Is it Sam's fault, do you think, fellas? Kwame.
Yeah, I think it is Sam's fault. If you look
at how the overall procedure broke down, we knew
that the golf club had a large spread and we
can negotiate. We also knew that the leg wax
had a large spread. And that's where we got beat
on those two items. $119 on the golf club and
$50 or so on the leg wax. So what did Sam do
to mess you up? So we were on our way to get
the leg wax. We immediately got a call around
1130 or so saying, you must go to buy the gold
now before noon. Gold is not going to change
based on whether you buy it before noon or not.
And also there's not a lot of margin in it. And
we said that. We still got, look, you know, we
did our research. You've got to leave Chinatown
now and go get the gold. The problem with the
golf clubs is we were furnished two numbers.
The second number we called, the store didn't
even carry golf clubs. Right. So we're sitting
here looking at each other. What kind of backup?
But you went to a golf store. Wait a minute.
And we were kind of, that's when we were kind
of perplexed. Like, this is the number, this
is the address you gave us to go buy the golf
club. I called the store and they said, we're
sorry, we don't even carry golf clubs, sir. Nick,
you think Sam's a leader? I think he displayed
leadership qualities during the task. Whether
or not I would have made the same decisions,
I'm not quite sure. Do you guys think Sam's a
leader? No. And here's why Sam's not a leader.
When we have to all, the rest of the team, tell
Sam, calm down. Stay calm, Sam. Stay calm. That's
not showing Shana's a good leader. What about
you, Kwame? I think he's already shown some success,
but in your role, no, I don't think he'd be capable.
I think it actually comes down to respect. If
I had had respect, true respect. Did they not
respect you, Sam? Not everyone. Who did not respect
you? Kwame and Bowie. Do you respect Kwame? I
respect everyone at this table. I have not earned
the full respect of everyone at the table. I
wouldn't say that's it. That's probably the most
true statement that you've made. And I can't
lead until I have that respect. They can't make
it. You have to get the respect. I do. You have
to earn it. And if you don't earn it, you have
to demand it. Right. And you know what? Yesterday
I could have demanded it better. And that's what
I'm learning. But I am a leader. But they don't
respect you, Sam. So look, Sam. All right. So
respect is the name of the episode. And we see
this is kind of the theme in this feedback. Sam
is complaining that he doesn't have the respect
of his teammates. Trump is telling him it's true
that he doesn't seem to be respected. Carolyn
is advising that he should. demand respect but
of course we hear in the feedback from the colleagues
that there are many points of improvement for
sam the first one kwame is saying how they were
giving him feedback on they were close to negotiating
a discount i think in chinatown or downtown but
he was rushing them to go more to midtown for
The goal negotiations, right? And he made it
a point for it to be right before noon. He didn't
listen. So this is the first point. He did not
listen to what was the reality on the ground.
So if you're leading a team, before you set the
direct, of course, you have a direction. You
know where to go based on your own management.
But listen to your teammates, listen to people
underground. They have more insight into the
reality than you or your own managers do. So
the fact that he didn't listen, right, that was
minus one on the mutual respect. for sending
them to the wrong golf address, to a golf store
that doesn't carry golf clubs. The item list
was clear. They had to negotiate a golf club.
If he sends them to a golf store that doesn't
carry golf clubs, it's a lack of preparation.
And here, people trust your leadership. People
trust your command. They believe you've done
the research. You are sending them physically
to an address. They believe at minimum you have
made the call or you know what's waiting for
them there instead of just sending them to the
first address that popped up. And once they realized
that that was the case, right, that there was
no proper preparation, no proper care, you know,
again, a minus one on the mutual respect there.
So first we mentioned. The lack of listening
now is the lack of preparation or lack of care.
And finally, Bowie mentions that Sam is not a
leader when his emotional intelligence has to
be put in check, right? He needs his subordinates
or his teammates to calm him, right? So the role
of a leader... On the opposite, it's to lead
on the emotional intelligence front as well.
It's to be there for his coach's sports team.
You want the coach to have more emotional intelligence
than the players to help them navigate their
emotions and the ups and downs, not the other
way around. And here, it's the other way around.
So another minus one on the respect front. To
summarize on the respect. Just if we focus in
on why the man lost again and the specific team
dynamics here that actually got Sam fired, despite
the potential that Trump saw in him, it's that
he did not truly listen to his teammates. He
didn't make them feel heard. actually listened
so he didn't really know what they meant and
why they meant it he was not prepared right he
he has a flaw of overconfidence and kind of like
just wailing things into existence it's a it's
a good quality but it can also also backfire
so we can draw a quick example here from steve
jobs who's of course known on the management
front to be He wills the deadline he has in mind,
and somehow his subordinates make it happen in
time. It's impossible, and things worked at Apple
that way. But when he was faced with his pancreatic
cancer diagnosis, he kind of thought that he
could just wish it away instead of following
his doctor's advice to have surgery. And I believe
that was one of his regrets. that he did not
listen to... He was not open to input. That's
what it meant. He has his vision, but if he's
not willing to adjust it based on real -life
reality's input, then there may be a mistake.
Second one, of course, was that... a lack of
preparation. Lack of preparation is a bit disrespectful.
It's kind of like arriving late at a meeting
without proper communications ahead of time.
It shows the other side that there's a lack of
care. And here, the fact that he sent them to
an address not fully having vetted it, either
it shows incompetence or it shows a lack of...
A lack of respect, a lack of care for people
who trust you is a lack of respect. So preparation
equals caring equals respect in this regard.
And finally, as a leader, Sam is expected, or
you in your position of leadership are expected
to... to keep your head cool a bit longer than
the others and to stay level -headed and to kind
of see the bigger picture and help calm others
if there's a momentary turbulence, not the other
way around. And a sign of a good leader or a
good manager is one that can stay cool and help
his teammates. If you're the one who needs the
help, you're more draining resources rather than
adding resources. And so that's good takeaways
on the leadership front that we can take from
this episode. And on the negotiation fronts,
as we said at the beginning, every situation,
every person is a bit different, right? So you
have to adapt the style. And that's what Trump
believes the negotiation skills are. are are
innate they're not taught it really goes down
to the instincts are you tougher are you kinder
what works better depending on the circumstances
it could be surprising what does work at the
end but basically there's a whole range depending
on who you're dealing with and what what's at
stake and we saw a great move from the women's
team is that you negotiate on items that have
a high margin. So it's easier for the other side
to meet you, let's say, halfway and still feel
like it's a win -win. If you go try to negotiate
something that has no margin, you want to eat
at the profits or make them lose even on their
quality basis, it's not a winning... It's not
a winning strategy, as we saw here. Anyways,
I hope you like this episode and stay tuned for
more. Thank you for listening.