Gina LaGuardia
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Now, with the teams mixed up and the show dwindling down to the season (and interview) finale, we're getting ready to find out once and for all: Can a self-proclaimed brilliant, degreed book smart member (Magna Corp.) outsmart the pavement-pounding, proven professionalism of a street smart go-getter (Net Worth)? And, since so many watch 'The Apprentice' with hopes of learning more about the inner workings of a boardroom, what will the outcome mean for us, America's armchair CEOs?
Both intellect and in-the-trenches talent are extremely important characteristics for being a balanced leader, believes Wayne McVicker, an architect, writer and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the design, health care and IT industries. It's no wonder then why the team shuffling translated into an unpredictable alternation of Magna Corp. and Net Worth wins and losses.
Despite the team tallies, however, McVicker believes that Trump cannot live on MBAs alone. When board members of the company McVicker ran during the Internet boom urged him to hire recently graduated MBAs to work on business development, he was skeptical.
"While I found them to be consistently smart, charming and intimidating," he recalls, "those who were hired proved to be of little value and were among the first to go during our mid-2000 belt-tightening."
Smart, charming and intimidating? Sounds a lot like how we initially perceived Book Smart team members Stephanie, Erin and Bren. But as the weeks passed, and Erin of the beauty-queen-crown-but-not-crown-molding mindset and out-on-delivery pizza manager Stephanie were sent off in the taxi, many began to wonder if having roll-up-your-sleeves experience superseded the scholastic spectrum of learning. And Bren, the assistant district attorney general? Well, the cucumber commercial idea for Dove was all his... makes many wonder just what the intellectuals earned A's in during grad school.
Leadership 101
"Street smart people may not have gotten an A+, but they handle others in an A+ manner," says Laurie Puhn, author of 'Instant Persuasion: How to Change Your Words to Change Your Life' (Penguin/Tarcher, 2005). "They can take an average idea, but once they gain input, support and cooperation from others, that idea becomes extraordinary. People are interested in hearing the idea, and come to respect it."
Though Puhn has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, she believes this season's ultimate 'Apprentice' victory -- and any victorious hiring in real life -- will come to those who can lead not only with passion, but with the ability to convince others of his/her follow-me factor. "You don't have to be smarter, richer or luckier to get what you want. You just need to be persuasive."
Alexandra Levit, author of 'They Don't Teach Corporate in College' (Career Press), would agree. Levit's story is similar to that of many book-smart types, both on TV and off. When the now-27-year-old graduated from college as a straight-A student intent on shooting straight to the top of the corporate ladder a la Trump, she was actually having delusions of Omarosa proportions. You remember what happened to her, right?
What Levit has come to realize is how critical it is to build effective relationships, a business boost from which both book smart and street smart types can benefit, she says. "Creating and sustaining a strong corporate persona is more important than anything else you can do on the job," she explains.
Thus far, for most of those on the receiving end of Trump's infamous mantra "You're fired!," the persona lacking is leadership, says Steve Carney, founder of Power of We Consulting and author of 'The Teamwork Chronicles' (Greenleaf Book Corp.). "There are all different schools, theories, and methods of managing people. Leadership and management are not the same thing."
Case in point: The energy draining Kristin; Danny, the guitar-strumming marketing exec eccentric with no creative ideas; and 22-year-old Audrey, pretty to look at, but not easy to follow.
The Diploma on the Wall
Personality traits aside, if you don't have a proper feel for management, says Carney, you're going to be at a disadvantage. And, since many of the original street smart members lacked formal business training, he puts them on the billionaire's chopping block.
"Many of these professionals tend to manage based on their personality rather than an objective set of principles and guidelines," he explains. "Most are authoritarian and don't collaborate very often. And although many of them can develop valuable skills based on the real world, they miss things like inspiration, motivation, being a team player and being accountable for their own actions." To prove his theory: Street Smart candidate John, on the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation fundraiser task was let go for, among other things, letting his ego and chauvinistic attitude get in the way of important negotiating skills.
"Those with book smarts can offer learning and growth," says Carney. "They understand the importance of a business plan, marketing and sales skills, branding, organizational development, and laws for areas like hiring and human resource management." Without these book smarts, he adds, companies -- especially ones as large and in the limelight as the Trump organization -- can get into real trouble.
Street Savvy
But what is also troubling, points out Steve Waterhouse, a corporate trainer and consultant, is the pride that often gets in the way of those with higher education, which often blurs their brainstorming abilities. He gives this season's street smart team the edge because, he says, they stop to ask questions to figure out what they don't know. It's a trait well illustrated this season by Tana, the Mary Kay Cosmetics sales superstar who has a knack for connecting with whomever she's working -- from rap stars to pizza customers.
"The closer you get to your formal training, the less you think you need to explore alternate solutions," says Waterhouse. "The only time to get good ideas is before one has been formed -- that's what's missing." Take those ridiculous Dove commercials, for instance. "Had someone done a brainstorming exercise, they would have figured this one out," he says. "They skipped those steps, jumped into a conclusion, and no one voiced opposition strong enough to overcome it."
Common Sense and Classroom Sense Required
That's essentially part of the reason why Dr. Ted Sun, executive coach, professor at the University of Phoenix, and author of 'Secrets of Biz Success,' believes choosing between book smarts or street smarts is not so cut and dried. To become a better leader, one must exude a combination of both groups' strongest attributes.
"Knowing theories gives you a foundation to operate from," Dr. Sun explains. Yet he also emphasizes the importance of trial and error. "Street smart professionals know how to test things and learn from experience, and can apply this knowledge in a fast-paced setting such as the boardroom."
Rolf Gruen, general manager of the Seattle office of Lee Hecht Harrison, a national leadership consulting firm, agrees that developing into a good leader is a mixed bag, a concept that seems to be reinforced each Thursday evening as the season gets closer to its culmination.
"Having the foundation of education is good. It helps with traits that you need for leadership -- agility, and being able to self-promote without selling your soul," says Gruen. Flexibility and adaptability, however, are qualities that cannot be taught, he adds, evidenced in Net Worth's leadoff chain of victories.
"Street smart members have the agility to risk more easily and with more confidence than you would find with book Smarts." And he's not making a generalization based on the top-rated show, but rather on the professionals whom he counsels. "Those who tend to be more entrepreneurial are often not the ones with master's degrees," he says.
That's what Bonnie Russell, who never graduated college, exhibits day in and day out as founder of the legal publicity firm 1st-Pick.com. Her firm matches consumers with doctors, lawyers and real estate brokers. Her advice? Don't get too wrapped up in being set upon one or the other -- book smart or street smart -- as better. "Both are important, but book smarts ought to get practical street experience, and street smarts ought to take a class. It shouldn't be black or white. It should be a kaleidoscope of options."
No matter which side you're rooting for, the reality of the reality TV situation we've seen week after week is this: "Society is structured in such a way that the business world places supreme importance on the value of a higher education," says Levit. With whoever is left standing in the boardroom, the fact remains that Trump and many like him at the helm of the nation's largest and most successful companies, are college graduates with advanced degrees.
Does that mean if a book smart player wins this season, and is chosen to run one of The Donald's many companies, the real-life boardroom will be unattainable without an academic decree? According to Carney, there is hope long after the watercooler debates from this season's 'Apprentice' simmer down -- for both sides, so long as there is a longing to boost one's on-the-job IQ. "You need the drive to learn more, to have a dynamic approach to learning. Be passionate and excited about it."
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