Donald Trump, Piers Morgan, Omarosa, Trace Adkins, Gene Simmons, Nely Galán, Vera Wang and The Apprentice
Well, what a group of names that is and what does it have to do with Investing? Quite a bit actually, and for those of you that do watch TV, you would undoubtedly recognize this cast of characters from “Celebrity Apprentice”.
As you may know by my previous story, The Apprentice, Gene Simmons & Kodak
my favorite of the bunch Gene Simmons got knocked out early because he chose to stick to his ethics rather than agreeing with some execs of Kodak and not acquiescing with Donald Trump’s not so subtle hints about bringing back in Nely Galán with him so Donald could fire her.
Well, he got his chance last night and fired her rather than Omarosa who while she may make for good TV, epitomizes just about everything you want to watch out for in Executives of a company or Organization that you are thinking about investing in. Old Nely was the scapegoat for both Omarosa and Trump.
Omarosa previously served as Deputy Associate Director of Presidential Personnel at the White House for then President Bill Clinton which could explain a lot. 
Besides being manipulative and not all that bright, Omarosa is the type of executive that poisons an organization from the top down and will be a sycophant to those above here as long as it serves to secure her position. She was also a loser in another Apprentice.
Often times Execs like here are hard to spot at first as they are experts at finding scapegoats in individuals and situations for their repeated failure as leaders and for their own lack of talent.
Piers Morgan, on the other hand with the rest of the guys that are left on the team, (Baldwin does not count) actually in their own way have learned to work as an effective team. They pulled out positive results that were actually pretty darn impressive from the standpoint of originality and resourcefulness.
The theme was about putting together new Ad Campaign for the designer Vera Wang’s (she does wedding dresses) new release of a mattress line with Serta. Which in and of itself is a bit of a strange segue of design. But hey, whatever works.
Won’t bore you with what went on other than with a woman’s team that included actresses, a super-model, a television producer and women in general whom you would think would get the wants of a designer, they got smoked by a group of guys including a Country Western Singer, Two Prize Fighters, and a Writer. The unlikely group of four actually came together as a team and did good and got “it”.
The came up with a new theme that used Cleopatra and Antony. It actually was the brainchild of Trace Adkins. But then again, he is a talented individual that not only knows his way around entertaining and selling, but knows his way around an oil rig as well. So, I guess we should not have been surprised.
There are some valuable lessons here for those of you who’s holdings include their own businesses. The team dynamics on this show are insightful and you can learn quite a bit from watching it.
Unlike in the Kodak misadventure, the client got “it” and the best idea did win.
