A Mercy Firing for Elizabeth
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

In last week’s Donald Trump NBC reality show, “The Apprentice,” it was down to 11 players. And we saw the Donald do something we have never seen in two seasons: he said “You’re Fired!” without the need for a two or three person high-drama return to the boardroom.
Some might even term Trump’s boardroom-free first as a mercy firing. Apex team leader Elizabeth was so incredibly bad that Mr. Trump sent her from the suite to the street without even giving her a chance to defend herself.
In episode eight, the contest was creative. Both teams were asked to conceive, develop, and execute an advertising campaign for both print and television. The client was the New York City Police Department and the purpose was recruitment. The advertising judge and jury would be Donny Deutsch, head of the famous Deutsch Advertising shop and the demonstrative host of a cable talk show on CNBC. The team whose advertising campaign won Mr. Deutsch’s approval would emerge victorious.
Episode Update
The team challenge of this episode was to develop a compelling ad appeal to attract new NYPD recruits. Mr. Deutsch said he wanted ads that would pull at the heart and hit the gut. He wanted the campaigns to focus on the emotion of serving and protecting the city.
Mosaic had the youngest of this year’s Apprentices, Andy, as its team leader. And Apex had Elizabeth, who acknowledged that this task was for her “do or die,” since she had previously led a losing team.
Andy took control of his Mosaic team immediately. He pitched a simple campaign that asked the question “When was the last time you saved a life?” And, although he was challenged by Maria, who wanted more sex appeal, Andy suggested this would shine through in the excitement of the heroics portrayed on the screen. Andy continued to show grace under pressure when rain threatened to shorten their filming session.
He kept rolling despite the weather, and got all the shots on his list. In the presentation, Andy had Kelly, a former member of the military, present to Mr. Deutsch.
As their reward, the winners were taken by limo to see their campaign played on the big video screen in Times Square.
Elizabeth’s Apex team, by contrast, was a study in complete creative chaos. Elizabeth’s constant rambling without focus or purpose resulted in a waste of valuable time and failure to rally her team. To have something rather than nothing, Raj steered the group toward a “front lines of battle” theme.
In the editing room, the waffling continued. Elizabeth and Kevin, unhappy with the battlefield idea, changed the theme to “Not excited going to work doing the same old thing?”
But the rest of the team hated it, and again Elizabeth changed course. For the first time on “The Apprentice,” there was talk of firing the team leader. But Apex didn’t need a mutiny to dump Elizabeth. Sensing her overwhelming incompetence, Mr. Trump gladly tossed her overboard quickly and decisively.
Lessons Learned
Just like Mr. Trump eliminated the final boardroom showdown in episode eight, I have eliminated the need for a lesson three in this column. This was such an obvious, albeit important, episode into Trump-Training that only two glaring lessons need to highlighted and examined.
LESSON ONE When you declare that a project is “do or die” it doesn’t leave room for “win.” Elizabeth’s self-fulfilling prophecy created a self-induced panic that collapsed her confidence and focus.
Instead of thinking ahead, she was haunted by her own demons from her previous loss as a project leader. When she declared her mission “do or die” in the opening scenes of this episode, she was walking right into her own ghostly shadow. To succeed, you must be confident and victorious from beginning to end.
LESSON TWO In real estate it is all about location, but in client service it is all about listening. The contest judge, Mr. Deutsch, made his desires clear. He wanted the campaigns to pull at the heartstrings of eligible young men and women so they would feel emotionally motivated to join “New York’s Finest,” the NYPD.
Elizabeth’s team ignored those wishes, while Andy’s team continued to return to that message as their campaign grew from concept to reality. Listening is essential to fulfill the needs of your client and satisfy their goals. Andy understood this, which is why Mr. Deutsch declared the Mosaic victory to be a “landslide.”
In the next show, episode nine of the second season of “The Apprentice,” expect more boardroom action, unlike the early ejection that broke ground in episode eight. Viewers should also anticipate a much more difficult firing decision, as Mr. Trump continues to thin the herd.
Stay tuned.
Mr. Whitehead can be reached at trumponomics@aol.com