Table of Contents
Foreword by Donald Trump
The Apprentice continues to be great fun for me, and a good investment of my time. As a business leader, I am tremendously gratified by the record ratings and high interest in my nationally televised job search. The whole world, it seems, wants to know what it takes to be an executive at The Trump Organizationand I love showing them. During Season 2 I didnt let up on the pressure for a minute. Business doesnt let up, so neither do I.
On the whole, I was very impressed with the caliber of candidates who vied to become my next Apprentice. I took note of Kelly early, and as the show continued I had to admire his progress. He attained record results, volunteering to take the helm as project manager on four occasions, and led his team to victory on all foura record score card, unbeaten by any of The Apprentice candidates to date.
Kelly is quick to credit his West Point education and experience as an Army officer with giving him everything it takes to face any challengein business and in life. After seeing him in action, Id have to agree. While Kelly is unquestionably a leader, his background has also taught him to follow, a very valuable distinction. The most important attribute I could ask for in any employee is a sense of loyalty and duty, and Kelly has both.
When I selected Kelly as my new Apprentice, I offered him the choice of working on a building project either in Las Vegas or New York. He immediately chose New York and moved to Manhattan, because he wanted to work as closely as possible with me. I have given him a number of important tasks, and his progress has been terrific. He is an excellent employee, but his heart is in start-up ventures, and he has also come up with a great new business for us to do together. Its called Trump Direct Media, and it will be coming soon.
In this book, Kelly elaborates on the ten principles he credits for his success, up to and including winning The Apprentice 2: Duty. Impeccability. Passion. Perseverance. Planning. Teamwork. Loyalty. Flexibility. Selfless Service. Integrity. He also interviews a number of business icons who share both these characteristics and his military background. I can certainly vouch that he possesses all of these attributes, and has brought them to bear on his work at The Trump Organization. I am pleased to have Kelly as my Apprentice, and he has a lot of inspiring words for all of you seeking success in any endeavor.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Introduction
Take it from me: Army Rangers always lead the way. I was cast as the military character on Donald Trumps incredibly popular show The Apprentice 2. After fifteen long weeks it came down to me and a Princeton-educated attorney. In front of millions of viewers Donald Trump chose me as his apprentice. Immediately afterwards, I was bombarded with variations of the same question from almost everyonepeople I had known for years and done business with, strangers who had followed the show and stopped me on the street to talk, and of course, the media. Everyone wanted to know: Do you think your military background helped you win The Apprentice? And even though my four years at West Point and three years of active duty in the Army ended 12 years ago, the answer was and is an unqualified yes. My military background and training were absolutely crucial factorsnot only for winning The Apprentice, but for succeeding in every venture I have undertaken since that very influential time in my life.
At first, I was matter-of-fact about it: Yes, of course, my military training helped a lot. I might mention discipline, attention to detail, showing up on time, and saying Yes Sir! and No Maam! But there is so much more to military leadership training than that. It is a whole process, a mindset, an accumulation of hundreds of lessons. Boiled down they become principles that we learn to apply instinctively.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I learned at West Point and in my subsequent military service centered on ten essential principles for effective leadership. These principles are applicable in the Army, the boardroom, or lifebut I learned them at West Point, applied them in Ranger training, as an intelligence officer, and then (after obtaining my law degree and an M.B.A. at UCLA) in the five companies that I have been a part of, as either a founding partner or entrepreneurial manager. Certainly they helped me win the privilege of working for Donald Trump, and they are the very foundation of how I live my life and run my businesses.
The essential principles to take command in business and in life are:
Duty. Do what youre supposed to do, when youre supposed to do it.
Impeccability. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.
Passion. Be passionate about what you do, and do what youre passionate about.
Perseverance. Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.
Planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Teamwork. There is no I in TEAM.
Loyalty. Remain loyal, up, down, and across your organization.
Flexibility. In all aspects of life, the person with the most varied responses wins.
Selfless Service. Give back.
Integrity. Take the harder right over the easier wrong.
These principles sound simple, but it takes discipline, training, and devotion to keep them front and center in everything you do. But if you can achieve that, you can achieve your goals, whatever they are.
Dont just take my word for it. Since my Apprentice win, I have spoken with a number of outstanding individuals who excelled both in their military careers and in their business lives. You might have heard of them without knowing about their military background:
Roger Staubach
The greatest quarterback Navy ever had, Roger won the Heisman Trophy in his junior year. After graduating from the Naval Academy, he spent four years on active duty, including a tour of Vietnam, before starting his pro football career with the Dallas Cowboys. One of the greatest NFL players of the 1970s, he led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl wins. He retired from pro football in 1979 as the highest rated passer of all time, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He founded The Staubach Company in the late 1970s to represent users of office, industrial, and retail space. Today the Staubach Company has more than 1,300 employees and 50 nationwide locations and encompasses finance, design, construction, and portfolio management. Roger is dedicated to building his company on his core principles of trust and integritywhich he gained in the U.S. Navy.
James V. Kimsey
After graduating from West Point, Jim Kimsey served three combat tours as an Airborne Rangertwo in Vietnam and one in the Dominican Republicand was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame. He transformed Quantum Computer Services into the giant America Online as its founding CEO. AOL is the nations best-known provider of interactive online services. In 1996 he became Chairman Emeritus of AOL and now devotes his efforts to philanthropy through the Kimsey Foundation, whose overarching mission is to help disadvantaged young people succeed through education and technology.
