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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Sunday, November 07, 2004 - 8:34 pm
I knew Raj wasn't long for the Apprentice's world as soon as he said he wanted to tear down the wall and turn 4 bedrooms into 3. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but aren't families usually LARGER in the 'burbs? As in, an extra bedroom would definitely add value when a family of four is looking to purchase a home? But I do agree with everyone... this was a poorly edited episode. I'm heading over to Yahoo! right now to see if I can find any clips to shed light on the debacle of Thursday night! And SBG? I still love you, even though you were mistaken about Raj. (Thinking he was all that and then finding out *I* was right! <wink>) I forgive for glare!
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Sweetbabygirl
Member
08-31-2002
| Monday, November 08, 2004 - 11:03 am
Yes, Costa....you....were....right. (SBG blinks as if a Stepford Lurker - probably from too many Bellinis!)
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Vsmart
Member
02-10-2003
| Monday, November 08, 2004 - 4:10 pm
According to LaVelle Ward (a big developer in Chicago) at www.theapprenticerules.com the real reason Raj was fired is that he didn't follow DT's suggestion to take Chris into the Boardroom. DT wanted to fired Chris. Raj showed that he was disloyal to DT by not following his advise.
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Seamonkey
Member
09-07-2000
| Monday, November 08, 2004 - 6:47 pm
SBG, you must scroll upward and review my comment about you and Raj.. it would be soooo romantic..
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Monday, November 08, 2004 - 7:24 pm
Oh yum Everybody! For those who aren't hep on Ivana and Chris, check out what the lady says. Yep, today is Monday and the business section. I'll pull it up and post it next. I'm not a betting woman but I bet seriously that Chris will haul a$$ next week, especially after Vsmart's info.
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Monday, November 08, 2004 - 7:36 pm
Apprentice 101: To come out ahead, know the fundamentals http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/198618_apprentice08.html By MAUREEN MORIARTY, SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER Monday, November 8, 2004 With 10 candidates left, Donald Trump began the ninth episode of "The Apprentice" by bringing back the first four candidates that he had fired and added them to the two teams. "In life, you have to work with people you don't like," he quipped. For last week's task, each team had to completely renovate two dilapidated Long Island homes with $20,000. The winning team would be whoever had the largest increase in home value as determined by Trump's team of appraisers. The recap: Mosaic wins again, raising the value of their remodeled home from $390,000 to $430,000, or 10.26 percent. Apex lost, posting a 7.14 percent gain. The primary reason for the loss -- under Raj's leadership and vision -- was turning the four-bedroom house into a three bedroom and choosing a contractor that failed to complete the project on time. The appraisers arrived to a home that looked like a bomb had gone off. Trump justified firing Raj citing hiring the wrong contractor, bringing Ivana into the boardroom without good reason, turning a four-bedroom home into a less marketable three-bedroom and "making a lot of mistakes." The following are lessons learned from my armchair quarterbacking of last week's episode: First Downs A leader who solicits feedback. Raj began by asking his teammate Kevin for feedback about how he could improve as a project manager. Soliciting feedback from others is a great method for leaders to gain insight about how they are affecting others. A clear vision. Raj led with a clear vision for the remodel of the home. His vision was to knock out a wall upstairs and consolidate two bedrooms into one larger bedroom. Unfortunately, it was a real estate mistake, and therefore the wrong vision, but I give Raj credit for providing his team with a clear picture of what he wanted and standing by it. Understanding the leadership role. Sandy, project manager for Mosaic, understood that her time on the project needed to be devoted to directing, managing and supervising the project instead of being a "worker bee." She wisely and successfully fulfilled her functions as the leader and didn't get sucked into the trap of diverting her energy and attention to specific task work that she could delegate. Penalty Flags Master the fundamentals of the game. Football teams win by mastering the fundamentals. Raj, who had a background in real estate, lacked the basic understanding that additional bedrooms add value to a home. He also failed to hire the right contractor to complete the job on time, and Raj should have hedged against that possibility by tying his payment to completion of the job on time. These are fundamental rules of the real estate game. Raj failed to execute the winning play because he failed at fundamentals. Don't let ownership cloud your decision-making process. Raj was highly influenced by Kevin in selecting the contractor. Instead of using his own judgment to evaluate the relative potential of the contractor candidate, he allowed Kevin's ownership in selecting the candidate and Kevin's pride in "thinking out of the box" to influence his decision. Ownership of an idea is a powerful driver of personal behavior and groupthink. The emotion behind ownership can overpower judgment and common sense. What criteria are you using to make that decision? The most critical decision of the entire project was the hiring of the contractor. Instead of being a critical evaluator utilizing a defined set of selection criteria, Raj selected the contractor based only on Kevin's recommendation. He should have had a list of criteria including but not limited to having several strong referrals and a labor force sufficient to complete the job on time. What is the contingency plan? Raj knew from the get-go about the potential risk of his contractor not performing, stating that it was commonplace for a contractor to fail to meet commitments. His fears were realized throughout this project. With less than two hours until the appraisers arrived and no appliances installed, the contractor munched a taco instead of hustling to complete the job. Yet, Raj still failed to develop a contingency plan and, as a result, the project was not completed on time. In contrast, Mosaic had a contingency plan. Midway through their project, Andy smartly realized the original contractor was in trouble and they would need additional resources to complete the job. He saves the day (yet again) by hiring an additional contractor. The result was a picture-perfect remodeled home ready for the inspection Trust your instincts. Raj should have trusted his instincts and intuition about the contractor. Raj knew he was in trouble before he started by allowing himself to be placated by Kevin's emphatic endorsement of the contractor. Leaders need to pay attention to their own internal cues. Self-awareness and trusting one's intuition are business basics. Intuition has been defined as "logic working at warp speed." Not listening to your intuition can have disastrous results. There's no crying in the boardroom. Sandy, project manager for Mosaic, broke down in tears in the middle of the project when she realized they were behind. Personal authority, which is at the heart of leadership, is lost when leaders lose control of their emotions. Followers need leaders who can provide order and protection. Everyone's trust and faith in a leader is shaken on a team when the leader breaks down in tears. Can you imagine a quarterback crying on the field just before a critical play? Here we go again -- keep your mouth shut in the boardroom. Trump has thrown out, chastised and fired previous candidates for voicing unsolicited opinions in the boardroom. After Trump told the Apex team to leave, Chris declared: "The chemistry is horrible on this team. We will be defeated again next week." Trump responded just as expected; he snarled that he will be watching Chris closely as project manager next week. Chris succeeded in becoming Trump's next target by opening his big mouth and displaying disloyalty. Now, the pressure is on him to demonstrate that he can come up with solutions to fix his team instead of just complaining. But who is going to follow and trust a negative leader who has displayed open disloyalty to his team? Ivana made the same mistake. She has been called into the boardroom enough times to know better. (Can you believe she is still a candidate?) Unsolicited by Trump, she opened her mouth and lobbed one last stink bomb at Stacie J., who Trump had been praising for her good work on the project. Trump, however, didn't buy what Ivana was selling. He nailed her, barking back, "Why are you so nasty?" Great question. Emotional intelligence and self-awareness are not strong suits of Ivana. Ivana is a fly in the ointment and continually fails to separate business from personal issues. She consistently injects negative energy into the team. As the sideline referee, I would thrown her out of the game on a personal foul. Personal attacks are counterproductive and can severely impact a team's performance. From the sidelines: Give Mr. Bowtie Raj credit for his tenacity trying to pick up women -- although I don't recall him succeeding. True to form, Raj (after being fired) tried to pick up Trump's receptionist on the way out the door. At least he had the professional good sense to wait until he was fired to hit on the receptionist. He failed to get her number but noted in the taxi interview, "Robin didn't give me her phone number this time, but I'll get it eventually." Influence and persuasion are keys to good leadership. Women may give him an opportunity to fine-tune his skills. Maybe Raj has been the apprentice for the wrong show, maybe he should try out for "The Bachelor"? ABOUT THE SERIES What can real-world business leaders learn from the popular NBC series "The Apprentice"? That's the question the Seattle Post-Intelligencer posed to Maureen Moriarty, who uses the show as a teaching tool in her Bellevue Community College course. She'll try to answer that each week on Mondays through the show's regular season. Maureen Moriarty is a professional accredited executive coach, corporate leadership trainer, team facilitator and founder of Pathways to Change. She teaches a continuing education leadership course based on "The Apprentice" for Bellevue Community College and gives speeches and offers corporate training based on the popular TV show.
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Sasman
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 3:04 pm
I loved this episode. I couldn't believe that Raj didn't learn a thing from what has gone on in the BR before. If there is one thing that DT can't stand, its when someone opens up their big fat mouth at the wrong time like Chris did. When he gave Raj the opportunity to take Chris along with Kevin & Ivana, that was the end. IMHO, Trump would have fired him in a heartbeat. I almost expected Chris to get fired right there. So Raj was very stupid and deserved his fate.
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Upstate
Member
01-16-2004
| Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 8:19 pm
if chris was one of trumps "pets" he would of complimented him on speaking the truth no matter how hard it was. trump isn't consistant at all. most of the time he talks just to hear himself speak. 
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Fabnsab
Member
08-07-2000
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 12:45 am
If Trump thought that Raj should have turned around and brought Chris in for that comment only and forget the good job he did in the task then Trump has a screw loose and no sense at all. Who would make such a spontaneous business decision like that based on a 5 second comment? That is ridiculous and unprofessional. It is something men accuse women of being- too emotional and unpredictable. I am glad Raj didn't break down and do what Ivana did with Bradford. Trump must like "Yes-Men"
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Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 2:04 pm
Trump has come across as having a severe case of PMS and wanting to get the hell out of there quickly the last few shows. It seems to get on his nerves and he makes impulsive decisions.
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 6:51 pm
according to CNN, raj got his date with robin! http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/33858.htm
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 7:03 pm
hey, well let's not give him too much credit. I bet she wanted the publicity (or Trump did!) Excerpt from the link above: " Raj, known for his bow-ties, asked Robin out at the end of last week's episode and — even though she has a very serious boyfriend — she agreed to at least meet Raj for a cup of Joe. The pair chatted yesterday over coffee at (where else?) Trump Tower. "
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