Jack Averty: Who knows best? It May not be easy but listen to advice of others

In what has been a tumultuous week, it really does take a lot to come out on top of the pile. But if anything was going to knock Theresa May’s malfunction and Donald Trump’s toxicity off top spot then it was going to be The Apprentice.

The BBC One show may be going staler than some of the buns this week’s burgers were served in, but it still remains one of the most gripping programmes on television.

Not gripping in terms of quality evening viewing, but in the sense that it’s hard to tear your eyes away from the embarrassing decisions being made by self-proclaimed ‘intelligent’ people on £200k a year.

Buy meat, make burgers, sell burgers. As tasks go, this was a fairly simple start. A way for both teams to ease themselves into the competition and show everyone that, despite the tough times the country is going through, the best business minds will be able to make Brexit a success and prove to everyone that England can prosper.

Unfortunately, make burgers, sell burgers, is too much for our elite.

Of course calling those who go on the show the best business minds in the country is tremendously harsh on those who are real businessmen and women and actually have more than one brain cell between them.

We know the show is a publicity stunt, with people using it to become famous. And we also know that candidates are picked on their ability to make good television, rather than their business acumen.

But we still watch it, and as each series progresses, we learn an all important lesson – listening is key.

We know the candidates are pretty bad at the start and huge egomaniacs, but somewhere along the line the ones that tend to win start to listen. In-between Lord Sugar’s desperate attempts to create punchlines for television, the winning candidates learn what it takes to impress him and to win the competition.

A lot of it boils down to self-belief. Some on the programme have far too much, they ignore every bit of advice, regardless of where it has come from.

In the past, teams have been advised by experts to sell antiques in Clapham, but end up flogging modern art in Brixton. They then subsequently lose the challenge and are left dumbfounded.

But those who learn to manage their ego, swallow some pride and listen to those far more qualified find themselves coming out on top.

It isn’t exactly rocket science: sometimes you know best, most of the time you don’t.

Of course Wednesday was not all about The Apprentice, our poor Prime Minister Theresa May has to get an honourable mention. Here is someone who had a bit of self-belief, lost it, and was hoping her closing speech at the end of this year’s Conservative Party Conference would claw it back.

Unfortunately, between letters peeling off a wall, a coughing fit and a terrible prank, it didn’t exactly go to plan.

No doubt this will accelerate Mrs May’s removal from Number 10, but she really is quite unfortunate.

She was an excellent politician, it may be hard to imagine now but when she won the leadership race following David Cameron’s resignation she was the outstanding candidate. It was Labour’s worst nightmare and a Conservative dream.

That began to unravel fairly sharpish, and was cemented by the time the disastrous early election came round.

But the fact of the matter is it seems she stopped believing in herself and it was always going to be a slippery slope from there. Had she had more self belief and not hid away during the election campaign, would she be on such shaky ground now?

Now compare Mrs May with the US’s Donald Trump.

The man is the epitome of why self-belief needs to be managed properly. You thought Charles from The Apprentice was bad? Well President Trump takes the biscuit.

He refuses to listen to anyone and believes it’s his way or the highway. Tragically, thousands in the US are getting hurt because of his arrogance.

Anyone – apart from a number of trigger-happy people in the US – can see the country needs strong gun laws and gun control. The fact someone can own an arsenal of weapons and go on a killing spree, leaving 59 people dead, speaks for itself. The incident in Las Vegas was truly horrific and heartbreaking and it should be blindingly obvious to all what needs to be done.

But the man who has the power to make a change simply won’t. He believes in order for America to be great again then his people need to carry guns. He will not listen to the tens of millions who are telling him otherwise, he believes he is right and will not even entertain the other side of the argument.

We listened to our parents and teachers (occasionally) when we were growing up, we listened to our bosses when we began our working life and even as we get older and wiser, we still listen and take advice from others. So why do some, especially those in such high-profile and important positions, feel that because they have achieved greatness they need to stop listening and learning?

In The Apprentice some candidates feel that because they made it onto the show that it means they must know best. Having an ego can be incredibly dangerous.

Confidence and self-belief are positive, they just have to be managed.