My favorite part of “The Apprentice”, and one becoming less frequent, is the short business lecture by Donald Trump. The lessons are great. Trump speaks about leadership, quality, and getting the job done. He knows how to get his point across. And it is always worth hearing.
“How to Get Rich” is written just like Trump speaks: terse, pointed, and direct. His succinct words get to the meat of any topic. Having watched “The Apprentice” and read his other books, I can imagine him actually saying the words as they are written; I think he dictated the whole book.
The first chapters of the book offer very solid business lessons. Topics in “The Donald J. Trump School of Business and Management” include “Stay Focused”, “Get a Great Assistant”, and “Think Big and Live Large.”
Business Rule #1: If you don’t tell people about your success, they probably won’t know about it.
–Donald Trump, in “How to Get Rich”
Other major sections include “Your Personal Apprenticeship (Career Advice from The Donald)”, “Money, Money, Money, Money”, “The Secrets of Negotiation”, “The Trump Lifestyle”, and “Inside The Apprentice.”
The chapter on “The Art of the Hair”, while amusing, wasn’t quite necessary. As Trump put it, Random House was paying him “a fortune” and they insisted on it. (Incidentally, it is real, dyed, and yes, he would wear a piece if he had to.)
Everyone has an opinion. In most cases, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.
–Donald Trump, in “How to Get Rich”
I’ve been a fan of Donald Trump for nearly twenty years. So, of course, I liked this book. “How to Get Rich” is the essence of many lessons from “The Apprentice” distilled into a text that I could read in a few hours, with some interesting insights into Trump’s mind.
But this is not a text book. Donald discusses everything from job interviews to handshakes. The chapter titled “A Week In The Life”, for example, offers a walkthrough of The Donald’s schedule, his projects, the guests that pop-in, and his thoughts. This offers much insight into his thought process, but his discussion of buying inexpensive versus higher priced, higher quality suits actually put off a friend who borrowed my copy.
Whether or not you are a fan of “The Donald”, I think you can learn something from “How to Get Rich”. It is a “must read” for Apprentice fans, and I highly recommend it for anyone that wants insight into the mind of a billionaire.
