The new season of The Apprentice has a twist: celebrities
are competing for contributions to their favorite
charities. There are lessons to be gained by watching The
Apprentice through a leadership lens. This season is no
exception. The Celebrity Apprentice can teach you about
power, big egos, winning and losing, business strategy,
leadership skills, how emotions affect performance and the
ups and downs of human interaction.

How can you make the most of The Celebrity Apprentice to
grow your leadership skills? A few suggestions follow: view
The Celebrity Apprentice as a business case study, use the
show to assess your own performance at work and learn all
you can about leadership from the show.

Viewing The Celebrity Apprentice As A Business Case Study

Viewing The Celebrity Apprentice as a case study is a way
you can deepen your learning of the leadership lessons from
the show. Case studies are used in schools and
organizations to analyze business performance. There are a
variety of formats for case studies. Generally, a case
study profiles a business, a particular business situation,
the challenges the business faced, the solution found, the
results, and the benefits gained. With a group, or on your
own, you can develop a format for a case study of The
Celebrity Apprentice. Here are three ways to view The
Celebrity Apprentice as a case study. I am sure you can
have fun with this and come up with your own ways as well.
For each of these case study formats you can download forms
from my web site.

Following Team Performance Case Study

This format is episode-based and follows the performance of
each team on the assigned task. This case study allows you
to analyze performance the way Donald does--by team
performance.

Following One Candidate Case Study

For this case study, follow one candidate until they are
fired or chosen as the Celebrity Apprentice. This case
study gives you the opportunity to look in depth at a
candidate's leadership potential.

You Choose Case Study

Using your criteria determine the best performer, the worst
performer, noteworthy performances, poor performances and
who should be fired.

Use the Show to Assess Your Own Performance at Work

The show gives you an opportunity to employ the power of
observation. Observation of workplace dynamics lets you
look through an unbiased lens at what works and what
doesn't. This season, on The Celebrity Apprentice, you have
candidates who have achieved success and been around the
block a few times. There's a lot to observe about
leadership, working in teams and approaches to tasks.

As you watch the show, jot down notes regarding what you
see. In your opinion, what works, what doesn't work, what
annoys you, what inspires you, what causes failure, what
creates success? Look carefully at human interaction within
teams, among teams, with clients and with the Trumps -
which interactions are effective and which are not.

Use your observations as a benchmark for your own
performance at work. Take each observation and relate it to
your performance. For example, if you observe that a
candidate on the show alienates their teammates, ask
yourself if any of your behaviors could alienate coworkers.
Put winning strategies and approaches to work for you.

Learn All You Can About Leadership from the Show

After the first season of the show, I wrote a book,
Leadership on Trial: Lessons from The Apprentice,in which I
identified seven leadership lessons from the show: take
risks, be yourself, know the game, maintain balance, have a
strategy, think outside the box, and know when to join and
when to lead. Use The Celebrity Apprentice as a primer on
leadership. The show is a resource for the perplexed and
the successful. With a no-nonsense approach, it provides a
primer for successfully navigating today's business world.
Mine The Celebrity Apprentice for the leadership lessons it
offers. By doing this you'll be a winner too!

Opportunities abound for learning and improving your
leadership skills. The Celebrity Apprentice is one of them.
Have fun and become the very best you can be.

About the Author:

Ann Vanino is a personal coach, trainer and writer who
specializes in helping people find fulfillment in their
work lives. Ann's book, "Leadership on Trial: Lessons from
The Apprentice," and her new e-book, "Power Stories,"
include stories of personal power at work. You can learn
more about Ann and her work at http://www.MovingForward.net
. E-mail: Ann@MovingForward.net or call: 661-944-6329.