02/03/15
Nice People Do Finish First: Celebrity Apprentice Leadership Lessons
You Win!
Recently, the Celebrity Apprentice reality television show had an unusual finalist match. Geraldo Rivera was up against Leeza Gibbons. Geraldo is an experienced investigative reporter who is a smidge into sensationalism. He is bright, manipulative and, in my unprofessional opinion, the poster boy for narcissism.
Leeza Gibbons is a talk show host and entertainment reporter.
During the weeks before the finals, the mostly B-list celebrities took on business projects to see who would win money for their respective charities. The celebs fought. They threw each other under the bus. They made trouble. There was conniving, scheming, plotting, backstabbing and loads of attitude. I guess you do whatever it takes when you’re trying to pump up your career. I don’t enjoy the juvenile behavior, but reality television doesn’t survive on bland.
Outrageous drama aside, the show illustrates communication breakdowns, dysfunctional teams and good and bad decision-making. I watch because I learn about leadership styles – what works and what doesn’t.
Leeza Gibbons has the most unusual leadership style I’ve seen during the show’s many seasons. Leeza is self-contained and confident. She expresses herself calmly and without an “um” or hesitation. She was nice, really nice, throughout the season. She serenely stayed in the eye of the storm that swirled around her. She was able to observe the agitation without comment. The drama never touched her. Since she never got involved in the catfights, she was never the target.
Leeza stayed under the radar, but not like one of the other contestants, Olympic gymnast, Shawn Johnson. Shawn’s strategy was to avoid any challenge. Thus, she couldn’t fail. She couldn’t succeed either. Shawn kept using the excuse that she was young and not a businessperson. Note to Shawn: Bill Gates was 20 when he started Microsoft. Leeza never made excuses. She remained calm, collaborative and respectful. She asked open-ended questions and heard people out. She didn’t trip over her ego.
All the while, Leeza was just Leeza. She kept her eye on the prize. She never embarrassed herself. She never embarrassed others. She just did Leeza. And she won. Even host Donald Trump was surprised Leeza won. He figured she was so nice that the rest of the competitors would trample her. Didn’t happen. They respected her too much.
Nice people do finish first!
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