FreshNetworks Blog

I was delighted to see Lee win The Apprentice last night. I’m sure he’s not as capable as Claire, but on a personal level he seemed like a great guy who really needed an opportunity like this.

I find that The Apprentice is a bit of a marmite show. In our office, people either shout about how great it is or complain that “this is just another trashy reality show” and “I’d never hire any of those idiots”. I understand the criticisms, but I think there’s something beyond the pure entertainment that makes it an important show and it’s why I love it so much. Here are three great things about The Apprentice:

• It hails the salesman as king - I have always been upset by the prejudice graduates have against a job in sales, yet I think it is perhaps the best possible place for most grads to start. It is so rare to see such an importance placed on selling as a skill. In some ways the show over-exaggerates sales, but for me this is a polemic worth airing.
• It celebrates entrepreneurial drive - both by acknowledging Sir Alan Sugar’s achievements as an entrepreneur (whatever you think of him, he’s done very well) and also in rewarding the team whose business nous wins the task each week.
• It’s meritocratic - OK, so there is a bias from Sir Alan, but in general it puts a wide variety of people with different backgrounds and experiences on an equal footing in an open contest. I can’t think of any employer who’d see such a range of candidates for the same job. Lee was perhaps the least well educated person this time round, yet his drive, ambition and interpersonal skills helped him win through. A great message for the thousands who, like him, never got a degree.

What does it teach us about online communications with your customers? Nothing. But a little light relief never hurt anyone. Well done Lee.