The Apprentice - Chronicle Herald, Sat March 5, 2004

The lesson to be learned from "Net Worth’s" loss this week on The Apprentice is do not take things personally. Angie, who was this week’s losing Project Manager (PM), lobbied her team of "Street Smarts" to be the PM because she felt slighted at the last board room when she was called "the weak link."

She did not seek feedback to clarify why she was perceived to be "the weak link", but she personalized the comment and became emotionally defensive and over-sensitive. The emotionally charged interaction on the suite balcony at the beginning of the episode created a shaky foundation of emotional egg shells for the entire task.

Once Angie became PM through emotionally blackmailing her teammates, she failed to earn her teams respect as she was overly driven and controlled by personal feelings in her communications.

Throughout the mini-golf task a grudge match was ongoing between Angie and John. John fell equally to emotional mud slinging when he refused to follow Angie’s direction because of his personal dislike of her, and was exemplified in his derisive sling in the Board Room when he called her a "22 year-old girl".

Leaders need to harness their emotions and use emotion as a positive tool to achieve a common goal. If emotions are not harnessed in this way, they become destructive and lead to petty feuds and mudslinging.