The Apprentice: Martha Stewart

I love watching TV series especially those that provides us lessons to follow in real life. Recently, I discovered that there’s actually an Apprentice show for Martha Stewart. Since I’m a huge fan of Martha Stewart, I immediately took some time to binge-watch all the episodes of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

 I have tons of Martha Stewarts products at home. The items that I have are mostly craft-related. I just love how beautifully designed and well-thought of those products are. So I’m really curious what type of people Martha Stewart hires in her company. The Apprentice: Martha Stewart aims to hire one from the thirteen contestants by putting them in multiple challenges. Each week, one will be sent home. The last remaining contestant will get the job and luckily be Martha Stewart’s Apprentice.

There are lots of lessons I got from the show, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. I somehow reflected on my own leadership skills and intend to adjust so that I can be a better leader.

• You need to connect with your audience in order to successfully launch a good product. No matter how good your material is, if the product is not fit for the target market, it won’t fly.
• No matter how difficult circumstances are, you should toughen up and get over the difficulties. Quitting should NEVER be an option.
• “Fake it till you Make It?“? That should never ever be anyone’s mantra in any situation and in any profession.
• We should always strive to be a functional team member. Success of the team is of utmost importance. When we fail, we should never make excuses.
• A leader should always be in control of his/her team. Fearing a team member is not becoming of a leader.
• When applying for a position, ensure that you have the right skills and experience for it.
• You will never have a successful project if you don’t have a strategy, a plan and a workable idea. It will be chaotic and a disaster if that is so.
• Work requires real passion.
• You have to genuinely believe in your product in order to sell it successfully.
• You should be developing a trend, NOT following a trend.
• If you believe that the current idea for a task is not working and you have a better idea, then you have to push to get your ideas across.
• Investigate, listen to your audience then implement.

After I finished watching the show, I searched the internet for news about the show and the contestants. I’m very surprised that the show got mostly negative reviews. I actually connected with the show and felt that it was very effective. I would have wanted Bethenny Frankel to win but I guess her poor people management skills cost her the win. Nevertheless, she went on to gain success in new endeavors after the show.

The winner, Dawna Stone, worked for Martha Stewart only for a year.  In my opinion, if Martha is really looking for an apprentice, the person should have stayed longer.  I guess the contract is only for one year.  This makes me think that this is all made for show. In the end, this won’t fly for long. However, I still appreciate all the leadership tips Martha taught us throughout the show as well as letting us peak into her corporate life.

I’ll see if I want to check out Donald Trump’s version of the Apprentice. I’m not really a fan of Donald Trump so maybe the Martha Stewart version of the show is sufficient for me.