Celebrity Apprentice is finally over and we have a winner. The Donald promises that the next Apprentice show will again feature regular people instead of celebrities. I think that’s a good thing. Yes, I know it ended a week ago, but I wanted to let the idea for this post marinate before I wrote it. I wanted to ensure I captured the communication styles.
One of the interesting things that caused me to watch the show this season is the mixed generation of the teams. Unlike previous versions of the show, this season the communication demonstrated (for me) a vivid disconnect between the generations.
Here are a few of my observations:
4/18/10
I’m getting a kick out of the generational disconnect Cyndi Lauper and Maria Kanellis is having during their communication. “I watched you and I listened to you ‘when I was growing up’ and you hurt my feelings” Maria says. The interesting thing is they are talking AT each other and processing what each hears through their own generational filter. This is a difficult situation for both of them.
At one point during the project a young artist is made up for the photo shoot and the makeup artist tells Lauper; “I air brushed her”
Cyndi Lauper “YOU AIRBRUSHED HER?!” You spray pained this kid? She’s 25, you don’t spray paint a kid. You spray the old buzzards, not the kids.”
Maria says “Cyndi thinks she’s right and everybody else is stupid.
Sharon Osborne says “This is how Cyndi and I make our living. This is what we do professionally and we’ve both done extremely well out of it. So yes, she’s going to ask me my opinion over all the girls. It’s just the way it is. It’s not about you, you, it’s about the task.”
Cyndi wants her to have a look like Bridgette Bardot. More generational disconnect. (As I observe I wonder if Maria even knows who Bridgette Bardot is).
They don’t feel any respect from Cyndi. They feel like she treats them like two turnips who just fell of the truck.
Maria ‘”Think about what you can say” – for the media training portion of the challenge.
The guys are also having communication disconnects. They find it incredulous that Rod Blagojevich can’t even turn on the computer. “this is a man who was Governor of the State of Illinois” one of them mutters. Yes, some boomers who are not computer savvy but this is ridiculous!
Maria whines and pouts all through the photo shoot task about how she’s been a model, etc. etc. BUT this is a missed opportunity for her. She could have used the time to learn from an experienced pro. Thirty years of experience for crying out loud. Instead she’s jealous and whining. She could have learned a lot from Cyndi. Instead, she tunes Cyndi out.
IN THE BOARDROOM
Maria: ” The vision of my childhood idol is being ruined”
Cyndi: “I’ll send you a picture and you can throw darts at it.”
Maria: “Cyndi treated me like a child. So I got defensive. She’s gone from Girls Just Want To Have Fun to girls just want to be mean.”
Donald: “Do you think she was mean?”
Maria: “She was mean.”
In the end the Women won. So Cyndi must have done something right! Vindication! Yes!
May 2nd show
Cyndi Lauper is still caught in the generational communication disconnect with two of her female teammates. The project manager Summer talks down to her and Lauper walks out muttering “I’m not in high school anymore.”
Then while she is working on her task the project manager comes in and crosses out what she wrote and her tone is not a friendly one.
Later on as I watch them “working” in a room to create their 30 second jingle, I notice that Cyndi Lauper has shut down. She is following instructions and being quiet. The unfortunate result is that only two of the four team members are working on the task. This is due to the fact that they have also alienated the male member of the team. He too has shut down.
Soon Cyndi remarks “I’m on the girls don’t have any fun” team.
Truth is Cyndi is creative and they are more corporate. This is another communication style disconnect as part of the team is very serious while the other wants to have fun with the creative process.
Watching the team dynamics of both Tenacity and Rock Solid is truly a lesson in the creative process, communication styles and generational differences.
After Maria grabs a piece of Curtis’ pizza for Bret Michaels, Curtis is angry and pouting. This sparks a remark from Sharon Osborne “A 33 year old young guy thinks he’s so HOT! That’s a put off for me and it’s like “God bless you kid, but I’ve got nothing to say to you.” Later she tells Trump he’s too smug for her and she doesn’t like him.
In the van on the way to the presentation Holly Robinson Peete had the nerve to tell CYNDI LAUPER “it’s all about live performing” – she didn’t want Cyndi to sing the jingle.
Cyndi’s response “You know, I can do live performances because I do it for a living.”
These young people are amazingly disrespectful to Cyndi Lauper. It’s truly appalling the way they speak down to her. I realize this is the Celebrity Apprentice and Trump encourages them to do awful things in order to win, but people’s personalities revel themselves in times of stress.
They asked Cyndi NOT to sing live because she might miss her cue.
Team member, Curtis, couldn’t believe it and said “You’ve got to use a Cyndi Lauper voice it’s unique.” He thinks it’s a mistake not to use her.
In the end, the executives favorite part of the commercial is Cyndi singing.
Bottom line, the team lost so the project manager was fired. I wonder if the result would have been different had the project manager communicated better with Cyndi and Curtis (who are both still there). She essentially shut down the creativity of two of her people and ultimately paid the price.
Communication skills are key if one is to succeed both personally and professionally.
The Winner
Ultimately, the Celebrity Apprentice winner, was Brett Michaels. This was a surprise as his communication style was out there. First of all he is a Gen X, second of all, his creative style is closer to Cyndi Lauper’s which is talkative and fun, third he thinks outside of the box. Both are nonconformists with a non-corporate style of communicating. Turn them loose and ask them to be creative and you will be pleasantly surprised.
Lesson Learned
When emotional outbursts and communication disconnects happen with your team, don’t assume it’s any one thing. It could be a combination of personalities, generations, management styles, listening styles, or communication styles.
This season of Celebrity Apprentice had an interesting mix of generations, communication styles, management styles (creative vs. corporate) and reactions to stress.
Donald Trump was the puppet master whose leadership style leaves a lot to be desired. He seems to revel in the stress he places on the actors, but I wonder how he would behave if that level of stress were placed on him. I have a feeling, it wouldn’t be pretty.