As I was flipping through the TV channels last night, I landed on the show ‘The Apprentice’. Although I have watch The Apprentice in the past, I have not seen any of this season’s episodes. When I arrived, the last two contestants were bragging about why they should be the one chosen to go to work for Mr. Trump. The contestants, Randal and Rebecca, seem to be very sharp, well educated, successful and have a good track record so far in their chosen fields of business.

I continued to watch as Mr. Trump complemented both contestants on their strengths and how well they had done on the show. Then as you may know, Mr. Trump chose to hire Randal over Rebecca saying something like, “Rebecca, you are excellent, but Randal you are hired.” It seemed to me that Mr. Trump would have been happy and content to have either person on his team.

After some celebration, Mr. Trump called Randal and Rebecca back to the table and posed the question of the evening to Randal, “Should I hire Rebecca as well”? In a very competitive moment Randal gives her no room or consideration. “This is ‘The Apprentice’, not ‘The Apprentices”. Mr. Trump takes Randal’s advice and chooses not to hire Rebecca.

Again, I only watched 10 minutes of the final show, but where is the harm in offering her an olive branch? What’s the big deal in letting her be hired as well? Randal could have said, “If you so choose Mr. Trump, Rebecca would be a fine addition to your team. I would welcome her and I believe we could accomplish great things together.” Instead, he selfishly choose to hoard everything for himself. It is all about ‘me’.

It seems weird that Mr. Trump would describe Randal as someone who worked well with others but in the end, he would not allow others to be considered.

After you win you do not have gloat that you are the winner. The record will state the winner. The books will show that Randal won. We can be gracious to others in our triumphs. Randal got the job and everything that goes with it. I believe he would have had a much stronger start in his new job if he had given Rebecca his strong confident vote. In his first decision as a Trump employee, I think he hurt Mr. Trump, the Trump corporation and himself.