Ideas and Opinions from Donald Trump and TrumpU Faculty.
What I Learned from The Apprentice this Week
This week on The Apprentice, Kinetic project manager Kristine escaped unscathed in the boardroom by the skin of her teeth.
The teams had to film short Internet soap operas - called “webisodes” for a new foaming cleanser. Originally, Kristine wanted Muna to produce or direct or take some other backstage role. But Muna insisted she was much more comfortable in front of the camera. So Kristine caved and let Muna be one of the actresses. Then, as the filming started, Kristine disappeared for the first few takes to tend to some other less important task!
Here’s the rub. Muna was absolutely impossible to understand on film. By the time Kristine got back to the set and saw the footage it was too late to reshoot and she was stuck with the mumbling. The team ended up losing the task, mostly because no one could understand the dialogue.
In the boardroom, it came down to Kristine versus Muna. Kristine was put in the position of defending her decision to let her employee run the show. Fortunately for her, her teammates liked her better and voiced that support to Mr. Trump. She’ll stay to manage another week.
So here’s my career advice:
Don’t appease people.
It doesn’t do anyone any good if you just try to make people happy by placating them. In Kristine’s case, her attempt to soothe Muna (or maybe just to keep her quiet) ending up losing the task and almost costing her the job.
If you’re the manager, then manage. Trust your instincts and make what you think are the best decisions for your team. Realize that rarely will everyone be happy with your choices. That comes with the territory.
Sure, it’s okay to give people the occasional say in decision-making. That’s what teamwork is all about. But it’s up to the leader to make the ultimate decision. If things don’t go the way they were supposed to, that’s where all the blame will fall.
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15 Comments
["But it’s up to the leader to make the ultimate decision. If things don’t go the way they were supposed to, that’s where all the blame will fall."]
Mr Trump,
As a Board of Directors there is an element of authority, however in a boardroom it is the Chairman who makes the decisions.
As I have attended a few board meetings that have been relaxed there was never a trade off for professional decisions and the act of good faith.
To me the definition of good faith is remaining true to your identity, professionalism comes with experience at the boardroom table.
Lessons I have learned this week, to filter the noise and stay focused. My edge, punctuality is key.
I truly appreciate your example this week.
Isabelle Morgan
In the business world you have to be able to stand up assertively to all comers. No one is "difficult to deal with" unless they are insane. The other three team members could not meet the challenge of an assertive Muna. Kristine "ran away" at a critical point when she should have been following up on whether assignments were understood and being properly executed. It should have been obvious Muna had been mis-cast.
Kristine abandoned her job as project manager and should have been fired, along with her two supporters whose leadership weaknesses were also glaringly exposed. Walk tall, Miss Muna!
I’m kind of confused when a project manager (PM) should be held responsible when his/her team loses a task. Just when I thought Kristine was going to get fired, Mr. Trump told Muna she was the one going home. I didn’t think Muna deserved to be fired even though her accent may have contributed to Kinetic’s loss. Since Kristine was the PM, she needed to tell Muna that she was going to be assigned the task of directing and be behind the scenes because this is where she needed her the most. Kristine should not have given into Muna when she told Kristine that she didn’t feel comfortable with directing the task. The two other teammates could have spoke up as well and said something to her such as Muna, we really need you to direct because_____. Then they could have provided her with positive reinforcement to make her feel more confident performing those duties. I wasn’t sure what Angela’s role was in this task. Can someone tell me?
I think Arrow did an excellent job working together on this task and executed it very well. I like the way James recognized Nicole’s talent and passion for this task and stayed behind the scenes.
Note: This is for member 1540191 that said on week eight’s blog "Never in my life have I read so many posts about nothing."
Individuals that post to the blog may do so for different reasons, but I would have to guess mainly because we enjoy the show and like to respond with our thoughts. Try not to be so negative about other people’s comments!
rickyl
Kristine had the ultimate authority to make the decisions that were best for the team and not pacify one individual. She should have seen during the shoot that there were problems with Muna's delivery. As a result, the editing that had to be done as a result of the failure of the PROJECT LEADER to oversee the critical part of the task removed most of the product placement and left the only saving grace to that peice of film. The ending.
What they should have done was film the same dialogue with all members of the team filling each role one-by-one and taking the best of the lot to the final product. Would have been a lot safer that the usual "all your eggs in one basket" approach both teams seem to take.
Don't get me wrong, I am not a big Muna fan. But the wrong person got fired last night.
Personally I think Heidi came real close to having her head put on the chopping block for repeatedly evading Trump's question about who should go, Muna or Kristine. The man showed a rare moment of patience having to ask the same question about six or seven times before getting a semi straight answer. After all these seasons why has no one learned when Donald Trump asks you a question, just answer it. Don't get creative, verbose or start Hamlet's first act, just answer the question.
William Harding
Kentucky
1) Muna: I think Muna is extremely smart and is probably one hell of an attorney. I also think she was extremely lucky her team won last week. She was asking so many questions about so many minute little details she was actually stalling the work. In this week's task, she made it very clear to everybody on her team that she wasn't willing to work behind the camera. Even though I am really not fond of Kenetic, they had a much better story line and probably would have won, had Kristine acted.
2) Krisine: Wow, what a weak leader. Imagine what would happen if you ran your company by saying "I am just going to take the path of least resistance". That alone should have sealed her fate. You shouldn't need to read Donald Trumps book to try and find an angle that will keep you from getting fired. You should read Donald Trumps book before you start the process so you understand him before.
It's like getting a job and McDonalds and then after you screw up the big mac, reading a way to fix it.
To Quote Stephen R Covey, "You can not talk yourself our of a situation you behaved yourself into".
positief reinforcement, she has the trust of Kristine. Kristine will be exposed that way to the team and Muna..Muna if somehow from early surroundet by negativity drop daily perhaps.
nice Team,
Daniela
Someone who is
a) respected by most (or all) team members
b) good to work along with
c) vocal, decisive and assertive (able to make difficult decisions)
d) versatile : both conceptual and detail-oriented
e) sharp and smart (not those who say things that shoot themselves in their foot)
f) a winner
For last night's episode, Kristine should have been fired for abdicating her duty to lead and "choosing the path of least resistance". It was clear to me that Ivanka was steering toward that decision by building up a case to fire Kristine but her father thought otherwise.
Since a couple of episodes ago, I have sensed that Heidi is in Trump's good books. How she escaped from being reprimanded for her wishy-washy decision when confronted by Muna's direct question in the boardroom confirmed my suspicion. Moreover, I do not like the fact that Heidi had assured Muna that she would keep Muna on her team yet reneged on her word when crunch time came and she chose Kristine instead. In that sense, I did not think Muna took a risk : she simply placed her trust on Heidi's word.
Muna is a bright and strong professional --- meticulous and a conscientious worker. I have not, however, seen her in a leadership role and it's a pity to see go her without having the opportunity to see her lead.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing more drama next week when a couple gets separated. I guess this is a test for both love and professionalism.
Andrew Wee
AAE Immigration
http://www.aaeimmigration.com
http://www.invest-in-canada.com
She has not been managing these people for years, knowing each one's strengths and weaknesses. She has only known them for weeks.
Being this new to a group, the leader needs to allow latitude to discover these strengths and weaknesses. Mostly to allow the group members to discover their own capabilities in sharp focus.
Had this been a real work situation Muna would have been continually resistant to direction from the leader because "she was never given a chance". In all probability she would have sabotaged the other work given to her behind the scenes in retaliation.
Khristine has a hard choice.
Kristine showed that she can't manage her way out of a paper bag. She made too many critical mistakes (Not making a decision and sticking with it in regards to Muna's role and doing her best Houdini impression at the beginning of the task instead of being on site during filming) this week and was lucky to get out of the boardroom and still be in the process. I'm not totally convinced that she would have said anything to Muna about her garbled speech even if she had been present. I think that Muna intimidated her and ultimately that almost proved to be her demise. Unless she really steps up over the next couple of tasks, I can't see her lasting much longer. She definitely isn't one of my picks to win it.
Muna took a calculated risk that failed miserably. I'm not a Muna fan at all, but I had to admire her for sticking her neck out hoping that a favourable result would occur.
Through the entire task, I believed the only one that would be safe would be Heidi, until the boardroom. I've never seen someone dance around an issue and refuse to provide a straight answer as much as Heidi did last night. I was sitting on my couch watching her skirt the issue, yelling "You're Fired" at the television. As William from Kentucky said earlier, there was a point that I thought that the Donald was going to get fed up with her lack of an answer and declare Heidi "fired". Props to him for his patience, but you can be sure that he probably won't tolerate that again. The former star has definitely lost her shine. I had her pegged to be in the final, but now I'm not too sure.
Hello Mr. Trump, you should have fired both of them.
We have one clear winner in that group already I believe.
You were looking awfully tanned and handsome on
Sunday night. Hope your Cap is getting better. Tee em
High and Let Em Fly. With Best Regards. God Bless.
A Quote from the Chairman of the Board - Mr Donald Trump as reported in responses to your blog posted by lightwayvez on 03/19/2007 12:07 PM
["But it’s up to the leader to make the ultimate decision. If things don’t go the way they were supposed to, that’s where all the blame will fall."]
Mr. Trump, why blame? How about crediting, holding accountable, and asking who owns the responsibility?