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I was reading an article about the Apprentice and some of
the rules that Donald Trump and his apprentice assistants had come up with
about business. While reading a lot of them I saw a huge relation to how these
same rules also apply to dating as crazy as it might sound.
Donald Trump is a famous Billionaire who has endured ups and downs for a number
of decades. It appears a large portion of his wealth has been made in Real
Estate. Recently he has had a popular reality series NBC has been showing known
as the Apprentice. The Reality Show isn't all frivolous as a lot of the other
reality shows around. At the center of every episode are real gems on how to
climb a corporate ladder, how to lead, how to stand out from the crowd and even
how to fail and avoid getting the boot.
The Apprentice centers on a competition for a job working for the Billionaire
Donald Trump. Every episode features some sort of business task or some sort of
competition. At the end of each episode some of the competitors are fired which
means they leave the show and miss out on the opportunity to work for My Trump.
This takes place in the Boardroom where members are encouraged to evaluate
their teammates performance, abilities, work ethics. The guy who makes the
biggest errors tends to be the one "fired". Beyond winning the competition,
each individual team member must act in a manner that earns him or her respect
as a project manager or team member.
Some of the gems of the show for thought.
1. Think Like A Winner
Donald Trump's most profound comment (and first commandment) is, "Winning is
everything." He explained that while there is no better feeling... the ability to
think like a winner is the key to being one. Those who take their eyes off the
prize wind up hearing two little words: you're fired.
This relates to dating as somebody who feels confident can be confident. A
person who feels he has already won a battle has a huge edge over somebody who
feels he has a lot of obstacles to overcome. A person who feels he is a winner
is a winner as your beliefs are what shape you. The person you wish to win over
will be heavily more attracted to somebody who believes in themselves than
somebody who doesn't.
2. Polish Your Interview Skills
The importance of exceptional interview skills became crucial as the field
narrowed to the final four contestants in episode 14. Kelly, Jennifer M, Kevin
and Stacy underwent a grueling series of job interviews with four of the top
business leaders in the world. The two candidates left standing after this
process -- Kelly and Jennifer M -- demonstrated superior ability to think on
their feet. Some of the spontaneous answers lobbed by Kevin and Sandy, made
viewers cringe. It quickly became clear who had the 'right stuff' to survive
the hot seat.
This second rule can be applied to having good communication skills. Somebody
who can think of their feet and express their thoughts easily can communicate
their feelings much more easily. Somebody who is also good at interviews will
know what to say that can open somebody up to a whole new level. They will
allow a great sense of rapport to be built quickly and be very deep.
3. Lead Strong or Play Along
Getting their team of 'alphas' to follow without question was a challenge for
each project manager. Some ruled with an iron fist, others used manipulation
and guilt. Some didn't handle it at all. In episode 11, Wes took the lead in a
task to create an ad campaign for Levi's Jeans. Maria, one of his teammates,
thought she had this task together and angrily told Wes to back off, while she
seized control. Maria was so busy throwing her weight around, she missed the
primary focus of jeans advertising... the 'butt shots'. This single oversight
cost the team dearly. Later, in The Boardroom, Wes was fired for failing to
control Maria,,, and she was fired for posing as a know-it-all. Two for the
price of one turned out to be all in a day's work for Mr. Donald Trump.
On this and dating. One of the things we teach our students in workshops is to
lead and never hesitate. When a student sees strong indications of interest it
is his responsibility to act on them and follow up. If a student fails to lead
than the interest level will soon drop to a very low level quickly. Learning to
Play along can also be taken as a way to see the signals and be aware of them.
When somebody is showing interest it's best to play along and let them be
interested than giving them something else.
4. Step Up; Take Responsibility
Finger-pointing was rampant among teams on the Apprentice. If you were really
slick about it, laying blame off on one of your teammates could help you
survive another day. If you weren't... oh well.
This is a common thing I see with some students when I hear about what they have
done before working with Fidentia in a workshop. They fail to take
responsibility for their own actions. This is done in so many ways its crazy.
First if they have a bad date they blame the date a lot, where they went, what
they did, others around --yet they never look at themselves and wonder if they
could have done anything different to improve the situation. The only way to
learn from mistakes is to first realize you made a mistake in the first place.
Another example is guys who use different systems for dating. There are many
programs out there. I can make ALL of them work. When a student can not make
something work. They tend to first want to blame the system instead of
themselves. So they are on a constant search of dating systems never realizing
that each system has had some students have success. They can not learn if they
do not take responsibility for their own actions.
5. Resist the Impulse to Be Impulsive
The game provides that the winning project manager receive an exemption from
firing should his or her team lose the following week -- an Apprentice "Get Out
of Jail Free" card.
Bradford won week one... but lost in week two. He had clearly been the hardest
working and most productive on his team and Mr. Trump seemed to especially
favor him. Moreover, he had the exemption and could not be fired. All he had to
do was sit back and make insightful comments about his teammates.
But Bradford let his cockiness get in the way of sound business judgment. He
bragged to Mr. Trump that he was so confident of his performance he was willing
to give up his exemption.
Trump accepted Bradford's offer... and then fired him, for making an unwise and
impulsive decision. It was a harsh, but instructive consequence for acting in a
rash manner.
One of the things I can think of with this is somebody who is too impulsive is
not paying attention to others. A relationship is a two way street involving
both parties. When somebody is being impulsive and the other person isn't
respective than this creates a dead end.
6. Instill Confidence in Your Team
Both of the final two contestants, Kelly and Jennifer M, demonstrated how to
respect and inspire their co-workers. Choosing people you trust and with whom
you have mutual respect goes a long way toward success.
In the final episode, eight of the previously fired teammates were brought back
to become the support team for the final task. Jennifer and Kelly were allowed
to take turns choosing their team members. Kelly took a stronger role with his
team, expecting more of each of them, while Jennifer delegated the heavy
lifting to herself.
In the end, both sets of teams did a great job for their PMs, but Kelly's team
proved more loyal and spoke more highly of his leadership abilities. Their
confidence in him had an impact on the final outcome.
This can be taken in installing confidence in who you are attracted to. When you
are interested in them and extremely confident. Others will feel your true
feelings. When they can feel your feelings they will mirror them. Who wants to
be around somebody who takes away their confidence?
7. Watch What You Say
Both talking too much and saying the wrong thing can hurt you in business.
Jennifer C was an example of both errors and their consequences. Every time she
appeared in The Boardroom, Jennifer was admonished by both Mr. Trump and his
property manager, Carolyn, for talking when she should have been listening to
others.
Later, after making a demeaning comment about two women customers in an episode,
she was booted from the show. To add injury to her insult, when the show
finally aired, she was also fired from her real world job for that comment.
This applies to dating with the idea of listening is just as important as
talking. Telling somebody they are pretty when they are trying to make a point
and have something important to say is not what they want to hear. The same
would go for things such a negative hits or being cocky and funny which are
terms used in the seduction community.
A negative hit is a slight insult which is supposed to be insulting but not seem
like you meant it. I do not usually endorse this. It is to try to convey you
are not really interested in your target person to let their guard down.
Somebody who is being very cocky and funny can do so at the wrong time too. When
a person is showing signs of interest they are asking for rapport. Giving them
answers that are cocky and funny will actually break rapport and chase a lot of
people away.
8. Know When to Listen
During another visit to The Boardroom, Trump chastised (National Debate
Champion) Andy for not standing up and arguing in his own behalf. Andy shot
back to Mr. Trump that part of being a debate champ is in knowing when to talk
and when to listen.
A short and sweet argument that paid off.
I think this and how it applies to dating and seduction is very obvious.
Listening is a key part of communication.
9. Keep it Strictly Business
Viewers were told -- over and over -- that The Apprentice contestants were
culled from over a million applicants and were said to be the best of the very
best. This being so, one wouldn't expect the male participants to lose their
composure when attractive women crossed their paths, mid-task. And yet, there
was Raj. In addition to an unending stream of inappropriate comments, Raj
stopped just short of a butt wiggle and a "woooo, whooo " whenever a beautiful
woman was within ten feet.
And while this behavior did not directly lead to his being fired, it did (often)
cause him to lose focus and take his eye off the prize. In fact, Raj was
ultimately fired for letting an important detail slide -- making sure the
toilet was installed in a home he was charged with remodeling.
This is a little bit more difficult to summarize for dating. Somebody who lacks
focus tends to lack drive. When you really have a goal in mind going after 20
different things usually gets somebody nowhere.
10. Avoid Showing Your A**
This one should be a no-brainer, but since it actually happened, maybe not.
Fairly late in the game, in episode 13, Ivana was desperate for a win.
Clutching at straws, she offered to pull down her skirt and flash her underwear
to a strange businessman on the street if he would pay her twenty dollars for a
candy bar worth one dollar. He did... and then she did... So, it was no surprise
that Ivana wound up in The Boardroom, having to explain this gaff to Mr. Trump.
She claimed her action as a 'gimmick.' But this taught us another valuable
lesson -- know when you have done something inappropriate and face it head on.
When she refused to acknowledge that she crossed a line, the shock, dismay and
controversy surrounding her behavior was palpable.
Well this is true but there is a time to show you're a** and a time not to show
your assets. When you first meet somebody common sense says don't take off your
pants as the first things you do when introducing yourself.
To summarize all of this a lot of the rules that help somebody get ahead in
business can also help them get ahead dating others. Take a look at the website
. To learn more about "The Apprentice" go to
http://www.NBC.com
About the Author
Robert Torrey is a dating trainer for Fidentia. A company that does live
workshops in nightclubs teaching men and women how to get just about anybody
they want to pick them up.
http://www.badboycoaching.com/dating_advice.htm for more info.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/