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Episode 10/07/04

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Apprentice II: Episode 10/07/04 users admin

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Archive through October 07, 2004Beachcomber25 10-07-04  6:56 pm
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Rslover
Member

11-19-2002

Monday, October 11, 2004 - 8:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Pam's ring

Rslover
Member

11-19-2002

Monday, October 11, 2004 - 8:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Raj is wearing red pants????
So, did anyone order anything?

Luvmykitties
Member

01-02-2004

Monday, October 11, 2004 - 8:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Rslover -
I believe P&G is pretty good about not sharing the e-mail list. And I don't get bombarded with junk mail from them either.
Check Oil Of Olay also. They ALWAYS have multiple samples.

I didn't order anything.
I don't need 30 sponges! And it seemed to sell out so quickly anyway.
Can't afford the panini grill.

At the end of Pam's segment, the co-host (don't recall his name) said "You've gotta see this ring. 10-carat. This is amazing" (looked square cut).
And it was on the left hand ring finger.

I like how they busted her chops about "children".

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Monday, October 11, 2004 - 9:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
thx RS

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Monday, October 18, 2004 - 5:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Seattle P.I. Business Section, Monday, October 11, 2004

'Apprentice' 101: Pamela crosses leadership line

By MAUREEN MORIARTY
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Donald Trump began the fifth episode of "The Apprentice" by assigning the teams the task of going to QVC (the No. 1 electronic retailer in the country), picking a product and selling it live on air. The team with the highest gross sales would determine the winner.

In this week's episode, Trump, fed up with the fighting and bickering (aren't we all?!) from the women's team, moved Pamela from the men's team to the women's team and designated her their new project manager.

The recap: The women performed with less fighting this week under Pamela's stern leadership but still lost to Mosaic by the smallest of margins -- a mere $10 difference on the team's combined sales of almost $36,000.

The following are lessons learned from my armchair quarterbacking of the fifth episode. It bears repeating that my take is based only on what is aired on a Thursday night episode, not what goes on behind the scenes, is edited out or is aired in later "Apprentice" episodes with more footage.

First Downs

Leader's clarity of expectations and accountability of team members.

Pamela understood that the women's team needed more structure and boundaries. She wisely began by clearly defining her expectations. She immediately got her team's attention declaring that she would not tolerate their previous behaviors of inconsiderate interruption and backbiting. She set clear boundaries and told them that she would hold them accountable. As a result, we saw less fighting and backstabbing this week from the women.


Behaviorally specific feedback.

Leaders must give behaviorally specific feedback in the workplace if they expect any change in behavior. Pamela said to Stacy, "Stop what you are doing and listen." This statement is clear and direct with no room for interpretation. In contrast, last week's fired project manager used statements like, "Stop wreaking havoc." This statement is open to interpretation and we all interpret things differently. Leaders need to key on the specific behavior that they want to change and communicate that clearly.

Penalty Flags

Dictatorial leadership style.

Pamela went overboard with her drill sergeant style of leadership that was interpreted by her team as being "lecturing and condescending." As in parenting, there is a fine line between providing clear boundaries and a dictatorship. Extremes in leadership (either being too permissive or too rigid) should be avoided.

Leaders need to balance their decisiveness and boundaries with openness to being influenced by followers. Pamela cut off her teams' attempt to strategically and collectively determine the best pricing for their product with her authoritarian style. One of the strongest assets of a team is the collective wisdom, experience and talent of the group. If a leader isn't open to influence or hearing a team's input, this asset is lost.

Pamela had to be bleeped several times due to her continued swearing at the team. Leaders who swear in an effort to gain control of a team are modeling unprofessional behavior and are demonstrating a lack of respect for their team.


Praise in public, criticize in private.

Elizabeth criticized (at Pamela's direction) Maria's poor trial performance as an on-air promoter via a loudspeaker and in public with only minutes to spare before going live on air. This didn't give Maria much chance to recover her self-confidence and composure and was no doubt embarrassing for her to overhear.

Feedback (particularly negative feedback) should be given carefully and with respect in the workplace. It is best to give challenging feedback directly to the person and privately.


Assessing talent and skill of team members before assigning roles.

Leaders need to effectively assess the existing talents and skills of team members before assigning team roles. Pamela relied too heavily on individual self-reports by simply asking the women on her team what roles they would be comfortable in.

Trump fired Pamela because of his perception that she did not possess a good assessment of people and chastised her for not having done a better job assessing her team's individual skills.

Leaders should use a wide variety of methods to assess the talent and skills of their team. As one example, a 360-feedback assessment commonly used in a corporate environment allows for a more complete view of each individual. This process gathers feedback about an individual from all sources, including supervisors, peers, customers and direct reports.


The price is right.

Product pricing was a major factor in winning this week's competition. Assessing what price the market will bear is a critical factor to business success. There are a multitude of methods to determine pricing. I was disappointed that both teams rushed through this decision-making process and that neither team used a good facilitation method to strategically analyze options.

I was surprised that both teams elected a risky "high price/low volume strategy" and did not capitalize on QVC's proven marketing strategy of leveraging low price and high volume. QVC sells more than $4 billion a year with this pricing strategy.

It could be argued that the men's team was the true loser this week. They sold a paltry 252 Delonghi panini grills -- 25 percent of their sales forecast -- on QVC. In the corporate world, this performance would be viewed as dismal, particularly in light of the potential of the QVC viewer market.

Likewise, the women were selling a cleaning product at a price near $30. A better strategy might have been to price the product low as a way to encourage new customers to try the product, resulting in higher sales volumes.


It's tough being the substitute quarterback.

Pamela was directed to lead a chaotic team that was on a losing streak. I give Pamela credit for recognizing that a major change in leadership style was needed. Again, there is a fine line between providing direction and being perceived as a dictator. This fine line, in her case, was the difference between success and failure.


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, M.A., is a professional accredited executive coach, corporate leadership trainer, team facilitator and founder of Pathways to Change. She is teaching a continuing education leadership course based on "The Apprentice" for Bellevue Community College.


Roxip
Member

01-29-2004

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 8:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think Maria did a good job of managing Elizabeth the other day. She was trying to do it in a way that did not embarrass Elizabeth. Elizabeth, characteristically, took it as being "not one of the girls" and sulked about it. Maria showed more leadership qualities than I expected when she took Elizabeth's negatives (over attention to detail) and turned them into an area where they could be best used.

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 11:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I agree Roxip. Particularly after, wasn't it just the week before?:

"Elizabeth criticized (at Pamela's direction) Maria's poor trial performance as an on-air promoter via a loudspeaker and in public with only minutes to spare before going live on air. This didn't give Maria much chance to recover her self-confidence and composure and was no doubt embarrassing for her to overhear."

Then Maria (as PM) was REALLY in a position to do 'Hey, It's Payback Time' ...but she didn't. She didn't smooze, just was very firm & direct, and ended up getting the best use out of Elizabeth's skills.

I think Elizabeth is wearing on everyone, frankly. I bet she's one of the next to go - OR if she becomes PM I bet more than one person will subconsciously sabotage her project.


Boberg
Member

10-04-2002

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 4:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I too thought Maria did a good job as project manager, esp. removing Elizabeth out of the way so they could get some things accomplished.

Watching Carolyn laugh till she cried was great.

Raj...I had high hopes for this guy but this past week he proved himself to be easily distracted by a pretty face...more interested in smoozing than working...he is soon due for the Donald Dump!

Lancecrossfire
Moderator

07-13-2000

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 1:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Boberg, I too thought Raj was pretty good, until he showed that all it took to get him distracted from the task was a female's looks. Don't get me wrong--nothing wrong at all appreciating someone--but it seems there is a better time for that--after the task is done!

I happen to think it was as unprofessional of Carolyn to laugh at the guys as it was for Raj to hot on all the models during the task.

If the other guy (I forget his name) laughed at the women during a traditionally male oriented task, I think he would be considered out of line.

Xena
Member

10-14-2004

Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 2:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I definitly think these women do not have the qualitys to take over a multi-million dollar buisness deal. Trump would without a doubt go bankrupt again.All of them are so caddy and have no sense of loyalty. They try to say everyone is clinically insane to get them kicked off. Pamela had a big head on her shoulders from the get go. She thought she was hot stuff when Trump picked her as a leader. It was her time to shine and she blew it.Although she did bring them closer to victory then they have been getting.The price on that cleaning product was really outrageous.