What I’m a Celebrity Can Teach You About Business… And Life

I’m A Celebrity and business? Yes! There are many things we can learn from this popular TV show…

I’m sure, like me and my daughter Harlie, you’ve loved watching I’m A Celebrity recently. It’s great entertainment, although this year meant I had to suffer Harlie’s first celebrity crush – Roman Kemp!! Urgh – this obviously meant I was voting to get rid of him every week!

I took my mind off this by thinking about how many skills the celebs have discovered and how I’m A Celebrity be linked to business and corporate speaking and personal branding. In recent series they definitely seem to have stopped slagging each other off and realise the benefits of working together as a unified team – some of this year’s Apprentice candidates could learn a thing or two from them!

Here are my five takeaways from the jungle this year.

1. Lighten your load

You don’t head off to the Aussie jungle with loads of baggage in your case – all you need is the standard issue outfit which is presumably dished out by Ant & Dec the moment you land. When it’s all over, many of the celebs say the absence of material things helped them think more clearly and prioritise tasks properly. The same applies to business – try and lighten your load. You’ll never succeed if you’re saddling yourself with too much stuff all at once – and you’ll spread yourself and your talents too thinly.

2. Concentrate on the most important task at hand

You don’t need me to tell you there are so many different things competing for your attention during every waking minute – even every second. But during the challenges, the famous faces in the middle of nowhere must focus on just one thing – which could be swallowing kangaroo testicles!

Remember that true concentration is the absence of irrelevant thought. Give your immediate tasks your full attention and use your energy to invest wisely.

3. Trust and value your team

The celebs have to work together as a mastermind team to win challenges – or they go hungry (I’m sure there’s a huge pile of food nearby if they do fail, but let’s pretend there isn’t!). There’s genuine joy when someone succeeds with a task, and their prize is always shared equally among the campmates. A simple but important lesson – hard work and commitment brings shared rewards.

4 Be yourself, and you’ll make that connection

Appearing on the show is a risk – and not just because you’re probably going to have to drink a cockroach cocktail or sit in a hot tub filled with rotting fish guts. You’re fully exposed, at the mercy of public opinion. If you try and put on an act then you won’t be able to keep it up for long and you will ultimately be exposed. So the lesson for us here is to be yourself, be natural and connect with people naturally. That’s exactly what recent winners, like Jacqueline Jossa, Toff and Harry Redknapp, worked out.

I’m not joking here – I’m A Celeb is now closer to business reality than most Apprentice tasks! Everyone works together for a common goal and when they succeed, everyone gets to thrive and celebrate.

So, follow my consult and you can be the King or Queen of your own jungle!