When it comes to real-life leaders, who is the best role model on reality TV?
Would it be Donald Trump, the venal and menacing egotist in The Apprentice, who fires an employee for missing a sales goal by pennies?
Or Mark Cuban, the self-centred showman of The Benefactor, who rates character by forcing adults to play with blocks?
Or Richard Branson, the flamboyant, self-promoting star of The Rebel Billionaire, who challenges potential employees to go over a waterfall in a barrel to prove their courage?
How about none of the above. Management experts say that while all three represent very different leadership styles, they are all essentially flawed models.
"My feeling is leaders should not be trying to emulate any of them," says Kris Laroche, senior associate in the Centre for Exceptional Leadership, a leadership development company in Vancouver. She says she considers even the fictional characters in the CSI series to be better depictions of leaders.
"Being a successful business leader is not just competition and making money these days. The bigger questions are: Where are we headed, what's our vision and how can we best use everyone's talents to get us there," Ms. Laroche says.
However, these real-life leaders have created multibillion-dollar companies, and their approaches to leadership are central to the themes of some of the best-watched reality shows. What we see of these leaders on the small screen offers good indications of how they conduct themselves at the top of their empires, leadership pros say.
Since their shows are the closest many viewers will ever get to the minds and strategies of these corporate leaders, watching them offers cautionary lessons about how leadership is changing.
Donald Trump: Dinosaur
The scolding drill sergeant of a boss who punctuates his commands with exclamation points-- "Somebody! will! be fired!" -- is an anachronism, Ms. Laroche says.
"Trump's autocratic, powerful, know-it-all style was once considered the model of a leader."
But the nature of the world and what we've learned works best in business has changed. "The shift we're seeing in good leaders is the importance of engaging people in creating a vision, rather than just handing out assignments."
The CEO of the Trump Organization is very decisive but that is undercut by his "command and control model," which doesn't facilitate creativity, says Vince Molinaro, principal and national practice leader for Knightsbridge, a human-resources company in Toronto.
He demonstrates little patience when people disagree, which creates an organization based on fear: His contestants fear him and, importantly, so do his colleagues, who are supposedly his most trusted advisers.
"Trump's priority is clearly only Trump. Leaders today must focus on the development of others but Trump fails to grasp this fundamental truth," Mr. Molinaro says.
He is not a mentor and begins each show with a demand, for instance that would-be employees "set the right price," but never offers any advice from his experience.
Worse, he is inconsistent, Ms. Laroche says. "In one episode, he will behead a candidate who fails to stand up for himself, and in the next round, he will fire anyone who dares challenge His Majesty's opinion. That leaves people baffled by Trump's vision of great leadership."
Probably his biggest failing is he shows no ability to develop effective teams, Ms. Laroche says. "He pits people against one another and in today's complex business environment, this style is bankrupt."
You can't lead by fear alone, so sorry, Mr. Trump, both the experts say you've failed.
Mark Cuban: Warm and fuzzy
The boy computer whiz who sold a dot.com startup at the top of the market and bought the Dallas Mavericks basketball team exemplifies an emerging leadership style that focuses first on people, with the expectation that profit will follow from a team working well together, the pros say.
Mr. Cuban scores highest for openness, Mr. Molinaro says, calling him supportive, patient, friendly and informal.
However, "it's almost too down to earth with all the hugging and high-fives. When people deal with him. it is almost a question who is the leader," Mr. Molinaro says.
He actually admits his faults and acknowledges that at least part of his success came from luck. And he is willing to share his secrets of success with everyone, showing good mentoring skills, Ms. Laroche says.
At the same time, he would often just sit back, casually watching everyone struggle, "as if they were show dogs jumping through hoops," she says. At the end, he would sometimes arbitrarily decide the winner of his little games. "This bears no resemblance to how good leaders behave," Ms. Laroche says.
Both Mr. Molinaro and Ms. Laroche agree that Mr. Cuban lacks the maturity and professionalism needed to be an effective leader of an organization.
Richard Branson: Risk taker
The Rebel Billionaire tells viewers he believes leadership is more than business talent and negotiating skills. His definition includes spirit and daring.
"He displays a balance of being business-focused while also demonstrating a genuine concern for others," which gets the best out of people, Mr. Molinaro says.
As well, the CEO of Britain's Virgin Group doesn't ask anyone to do anything that he wouldn't be willing to do himself, Mr. Molinaro adds, which "goes a long way toward creating the confidence in the leader that gets the best out of people."
The experts also credit his physical warmth, creating an atmosphere where teams actually seem to enjoy themselves, Ms. Laroche says. He also shows how difficult he finds it to dismiss them, offering his appreciation for their contribution and advice for the future, she notes.
But where Branson fails is in putting people at great physical danger, Ms. Laroche says. "He offers no explanation about how this is related to business risks."
And worse, he is conflicted about his expectations, she adds. For instance, after requiring contestants to make death-defying stunts, he turns around and admonishes one loser for doing something so risky.
Most importantly, ego constrains all three of these bosses. "None of the leaders could be considered great because there is way too much ego in all of them," Ms. Laroche concludes.
"It is a huge problem in a leader because ego gets in the way and creates a culture of suspicion that leaders are only in it for themselves and that they and the business can't move forward."