The moment of revelation is upon us! Who will be selected to run one of Donald Trump’s businesses as the Apprentice, earning a cool $250,000 and the attention of an entire nation? Only days away, we will hear Donald Trump alter his popular catch phrase, “You’re Fired!” to “You’re Hired!” and the life of one young entrepreneur will be transform through metamorphosis from participant in a reality competition for three months to Chief Executive Officer within the construct of Trump Organization for one year. The winner will join the ranks of those VP’s who in the second to final leg must interview them for the position. Therein lays the distinction for the final four candidates that set them apart from the experience of the other twelve candidates who performed challenges to test business skills in order to advance. At this stage, more emphasis is placed on the traditional interview process of resume experience and education, interview presentation, and a test of leadership. But what will be the criteria that set apart the finalist from the runner up? As Amy Henry stated in a camera confessional, “The big unknown is what the skill sets they require are.” It is true; the candidates do not even know what job they are interviewing for. So how then, could they know what assets they should draw attention to? A conclusion could be drawn by examining what the factors were that either permitted or hindered the final six candidates’ advancement to the next level.
Two installments ago, the project at hand was the casino game promotion. The objective was to develop and implement an original game design to attract new customers to the Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, increasing the Taj Mahal’s revenue in casino gaming. Starting with $2,000 seed money, each team had the services of a Taj Mahal carpenter to assist the team in building its casino game to the design and construct specifications. Customers were tracked by electronically coded “player cards” to record the amount of money spent gaming. The team whose customers had the highest total dollars spent won. That team was Protégé with $123,159 because they went after the VIP’s. Bill Rancic contributed to their success by brainstorming the VIP player target pool. Troy McClain contributed by developing the creative Wheel game structure and premise for a raffle to win $1,000 cash. Kwame Jackson was the successful PM who oversaw the entire operation. But the main reason why they were successful was because they came prepared. They began implementation of the planning and preparation stage from the minute they were on the bus departing New York City for Atlantic City while the Versacorp team slept.
Versacorp earned $105,352 and a trip to the board room. Amy Henry, as project manager, contributed to the loss by developing an ineffective game design and prize. They offered a raffle to win a $300 rental car value, an insufficient draw in high stakes casinos. Katerina Campins failed to contribute anything of value to the project, except ideas that while good, were rejected and she did not fight for them. Nick Warnock brought even less to the table but the arguable corporate social dynamic that emancipated him from the Board Room was the rivalry between head strong competitive career women. Social behavior analysts have observed that in competitive environments involving mixed gender, the females tend to compete amongst each other for the favor of the supervisors as the best female of the pool. This dynamic can be seen throughout the competition, where the once dominant all female Protégé began to internalize their targets once they were integrated with the male gender. The eight males were cut down to four, yet all remaining four advanced to the finals as the women decimated their strength until only two remain. Perhaps this microcosm of corporate social interaction reveals that women are ultra competitive against their own gender because they are trained to stand out in a male dominated arena, seeking their approval. Or perhaps the women no longer viewed four men as a threat and focused their attention amongst their female rivals, to decrease their numbers and deal with the inferior men in due time. An interesting issue to cover but would take much more in-depth analysis than available here. Suffice it to say, the principle occurred in this series, as the women were eliminated in succession from eight to two.
Once again, preparation proved to be the factor that achieved successful advancement in the board room. As project manager, Amy cast the deciding vote on who to go against but kept her selection secret until required to reveal it. Being inexperienced in the Board Room as she was always on the winning side, she prepared her strategy all evening. Preparation gave her the edge to emphasize her strengths and Katerina’s weakness. She assessed she had a better shot against a rival female based on her prepared research the night before, carefully analyzing that her own overall success rate was outstanding to which Katerina’s could not compare. Katerina did not prepare rather relied on her assertion of a romantic conspiracy between Nick and Amy would sway Donald Trump to look unfavorably to the alliance much the same way he frowned upon the friendship between herself and Ereka Ventrini. It was close, but Amy was correct in her assessment and advanced.
The prelude to the Final Four in the previous installment involved the execution of the penthouse lease agreement. The objective was to lease a Trump World Tower penthouse for a private event for the largest amount of money. The private event was to be scheduled within 90 days of executing the lease agreement. The lease would only be valid if it adhered to the lease agreement and met all criteria determined by a Trump Organization Representative. The market was tough and both teams struggled to persuade clientele to offer the asking price but in the end, good fortune worked out for Versacorp while setting the bar too low for Protégé doomed them. With their high bid set at $40,000, even if Protégé should have received it, they would have lost. Versacorp got over their asking price of $40,800 while Protégé only made their minimum $35,001. As a result, Troy McClain, Bill Rancic, and Kwame Jackson faced the Board Room tribunal.
In contrast to the previous boardroom where preparation and overall task performance were the criterion for advancement, Donald Trump and his review board where more concerned with educational background, work experience and candidate motivation to join the corporation as the criterion to advance. After initially assessing that they were equally responsible for the failure of the task, given all three set the bar too low for the asking price at $35,000 - $40,000, Donald Trump noted the diversity and range of the academic backgrounds. The spectrum ranged from high school for Troy McClain, to a good collegiate academic performance (Magna Cum Laude) for Bill Rancic, to a Harvard MBA (ranked in the top five in the nation) for Kwame Jackson. He then focused on their work experience. Troy is self employed as a mortgage lender and is currently building an insurance business. Bill runs his own multi-million dollar national company he founded, cigarsaroundtheworld.com. Kwame is currently an investment manager for Goldman Sachs on Wall Street. Donald Trump asked Kwame Jackson why he would want to leave Goldman Sachs and work for him. Kwame answered, “There are only a few extraordinary instances to lead an extraordinary life and this is one of them.” Bill was spared from the final elimination, as Troy incorrectly believed the criteria were still based on task performance and contribution, he thought he had a better chance against Kwame who suffered a greater loss record. Donald Trump assessed that when dealing with multi-billion dollar companies, the risk would be too great by hiring someone without the educational background to support the requirements. Kwame Jackson advances.
The current installment consolidated the candidate pool in half by means of the traditional interview process. Without adequate preparation time, the four candidates were summoned to interview at the Esquire Suite at Trump World Tower. They were introduced to the panel of trusted advisors who would evaluate their interview performance in order to eliminate two of the finalists. With such high stakes, the margin of error would be minimized by subjection to tough, in-depth questions designed to weed out the undesirable and highlight the stellar qualities of the ideal candidate they wish to work with for one fiscal year. The interrogators are: Norma Foerderer (Executive VP of Human Resources and Media Relations), Alan Weisselberg (Chief Financial Officer), Charlie Reese (Head of Acquisitions), and Tom Downing (General Manager of Trump International Hotel and Casino). At the end of the day of interviews the panel gave Donald Trump their recommendations. What were the interviewers’ criterions for selection and for what possible employment objective?
As we look back on some of the highlights of the interviews we can determine that the questions presented were searching for indications that the prospective candidate should present strong respectable commanding leadership qualities in the high paced, energetic environment within the project specific operations, possibly involving public relations or promotions in the Trump Organization. Alan Weisselberg inquired if Kwame projected a low energy level. He replied his style was different which did not appear as outwardly projective. Charlie Reese wanted to know Amy’s familiarity with the Trump operation. She immediately evaded the question with an alternative answer regarding “value” which did not appropriately satisfy the question presented. Charlie cut her off, calling her out on her digression then tripped her up emphasizing her inexperience with Trump’s main operation, construction. Norma Foerderer delved into character weakness. Bill offered that he is never satisfied and that “could be a curse.” Norma disagreed, seeing it as strength, as always striving for more and therefore called Bill out on substituting a negative with a positive. Tom Downing investigated what else Nick brought to the table besides his own self-professed “charisma.” Nick seemed stumped. Nick explained the inadequate feeling, “You have to perform. They were firing some difficult questions.” Alan followed up with Nick wondering, “What do you do on Day 1?” He answered, “Introduce myself and present a ‘vision’.” Alan shot back incredulously, “You can do that on Day 1?” Charlie scrutinized Bill, “You’ve been going around on instinct…without your education” to which Bill interrupted, “No, I am proud of my education.” Norma probed if Amy had a problem hiring women. Amy said no, she did not. As the omnium-gatherum, or convoluted medley of questions, barrages the confused insecure aspirants, we hear the final omni range voice over boom, “What do you think their perception is of why you are here because I cannot figure it out?” A grilling inquisition indeed.
The objective of any job interview is to portray an honest presentation of your personality, experience, abilities, aspirations, and attributes that would be welcomed in any working environment tailored to the specifics of the position. Of the four, Bill made the best presentation as two of the four interviewers / advisors chose him as the person they found most remarkable. Norma liked what he said and found his behavior appropriate for the post. Charlie viewed Bill as relatable and who would require minimal supervision and time. Kwame made a positive impression as well. They found him to be engaging and brought a likeability factor that would persuade others easily. Judging by these factors I would say that the position required some skill in public relations and promotions / marketing wherein the apprentice would be making presentations for a group of people involved in finance, such as shareholders in a corporation. Bill Rancic is the stand out, who excelled in the promotions and marketing aspects of every successful task throughout the competition. Kwame Jackson as we know is an investment manager at Goldman Sachs but previously worked for Proctor & Gamble in sales and marketing. Perhaps Donald Trump and his elite colleagues plan to utilize the apprentice to persuade shareholders who invested in a poor performing commodity to remain confident in a turn around. Several of Trump Organization businesses are struggling to remain solvent and need to be promoted properly with enough time to prevent bankruptcy, such as the two projects assigned in the final task of the competition, The Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino, and the Crystal-Trump National Golf Course.
Under the hypothesis that the above job description is indeed accurate of the one in mind for the apprentice, we see that Nick Warnock and Amy Henry both failed to make a presentation worthy of the ideal candidate. Three of the four advisors when asked described Nick as an ideal likeable salesman but lacked the intellect and respectability of an ideal leader. Amy was perceived much worse. She was depicted as someone who “would get on my nerves after a while” and that “she irritated the hell out of me.” To Donald Trump’s dismay, her personality was described as “boring”, lacked “content” and “empty.” She is clearly not ideally suited for public relations or promotions of any kind. Looking back, it was apparent whenever she failed to persuade anyone to buy anything, whether it was lemonade, a ride in a Pedi cab or raffle tickets for a lame car rental. The rationale for Amy’s dismissal would be that she has little substance. They need someone who commands the respect of others before she could lead effectively.
The advisors were thanked and dismissed, with the candidates summoned into the Board Room for the final assessment and results. Donald Trump received a unanimous consensus regarding the general impression of Nick Warnock’s leadership versus salesman imbalance when the group was individually asked who they would get rid of. All three of Nick’s rivals selected him and cited his leadership inexperience as the reason. I agree when reflecting back to the Flea Market challenge. He delegated all control and decision making regarding the location and product to the women who proved to be astute in marketing, which he based on a four task consecutive winning streak. The Donald could not argue with the majority consensus and so informed Nick that his ride was over. Nick departed with integrity, thanking the panel for the opportunity to compete. Donald and Carolyn Kepcher informed him that he was outstanding. The next cut was easier to make. He informed Amy that she surprisingly received negative reviews across the board. Curious to observe her retort, he asked her what he should do. Her reply was very appropriately considerate toward the final outcome; that it is up to him depending on what skills he is looking for. Unfortunately, it wasn’t hers and so she was fired. Yet her reply demonstrated a keen self awareness and intuition that the final selection should be based on who he considered was best, appropriate for the job. She may not have won the apprenticeship, but she certainly won my respect, and I would imagine that of America. Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson have advanced to the final two, but what will be the decisive factor that will determine the winner of the apprenticeship?
Under the unintelligible heading, “Dog Does Not Eat Dog” Trump once again professes another of his grandiloquent postulates. Paraphrased, he said “the best thing businessmen can do is surround themselves with people who are talented and loyal. However the minute someone is not loyal, cut them loose, don’t give them a second chance. You never know what makes someone loyal and if they are not the first time, they will not be loyal a second time.” For the final task, Kwame and Bill will each preside as CEO over their own team of employees and oversee all the details of an assigned major event for each team. The winner of the apprenticeship will be the one who does the better job of running the event.
Kwame was assigned the concert event and had selected as his staff from the previous six cast offs his original Protégé team of Troy McClain, Omarosa Manigualt-Stallworth, and Heidi Bressler. The objective is to successfully manage and execute the Jessica Simpson concert event at the Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino. Team Kwame was appointed an entertainment director, Diane Lamezec, yet he is in charge of all aspects of the concert. One of the goals of the concert is to create recognition of Jessica Simpson’s charity, Operation Smile. Kwame will be judged on his overall success managing all aspects of this project: logistics, budget, talent, meet & greet, and the ability to raise exposure for the charity (promotion). Kwame explained that his executive preference is to delegate and assign duties or roles, make out the plan and make sure everyone is executing it rather than micro-manage until everything is done. He placed Omarosa in charge of logistics, Heidi in charge of “meet & greet”, and Troy in charge of promotions. He assumed responsibility of the budget and talent in addition to his role as boss over his employee staff. Perhaps Kwame’s trust and faith in others, particularly those who have proven unreliable track records may be his undoing.
Bill was assigned the Chrysler-Trump Golf Tournament and had selected as his staff from the previous six cast offs his original Versacorp team of Amy Henry, Nick Warnock, and Katerina Campins. The objective is to successfully execute the Chrysler-Trump National Golf Classic. Team Bill met with Lesley Ray, Director of Sales and Events, for expert consultation yet Bill is the appointed the course General Manager and Tournament Director, in charge of all aspects of the event. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Ike Austin Foundation. Bill will be judged on his overall success managing all aspects of the project: sponsor and charity relationships, event staff, logistics, transportation, celebrity attendance, awards dinner, and overall guest experience. Bill explained that his technique was to blue print the plan of action and meet with Lesley Ray for her expert consultation, being that she does event planning all the time and could therefore benefit from her experience and knowledge. He assigned his team more task-specific functions such as placing Nick in charge of charity event placement cards and guest sign-in, Katerina in charge of gift bags, and Amy as liaison to Donald Trump. Bill seems to implement the opposite approach and desires to micro-manage the entire operation over every detail. It may be that his difficulty to relinquish control may leave him overwhelmed and prone to a break down, ineffective decisions or operation error.
Both teams have already experienced set backs that seem to reflect an error in judgment based on their respective managing approach. Kwame’s trust in Omarosa seems unwarranted as she incomprehensively ignores a critical phone call to confirm transportation logistics by Diane Lamezec, complicates things further by refusing to address a team member’s request as to the nature of the call if task oriented, and then lies about it when confronted about the potential problem in order to reflect responsibility. To make matters worse, Jessica Simpson is lost because of Omarosa’s transportation miscommunication snafu and she has the nerve to order Kwame back to the office to resolve the problem. In Kwame’s own admission, he would never hire Omarosa in the real world. She was supposed to be in charge of the flights but she proved to be incompetent. He is used to working with competent people. Bill has his own set of problems. It seems that due to his control issues, he overlooked the requirement for approval in order to store inventory in a model home. In frustration, his resolution is to take all the boxes, many, many boxes, and utilize Leslie’s office as temporary inventory asylum. Oh the horror! The horror! As I watched this segment I could only imagine the empathy rummaging through Diane and Leslie’s minds as they anticipate the disasters Donald Trump has subjected the organization which bears his name with this foolhardy reality venture.
As the suspense is deliberately heightened with that network television hyper-dramatic adrenaline builder “To Be Continued”, one begins to wonder if the pitfalls were not intentionally set to entrap the apprentice hopefuls and test their ability to overcome. Perhaps Omarosa is the mole? Could she have deliberately sabotaged the transportation situation to test Kwame’s resolve? Omarosa has the gall to criticize Kwame as not “hands on”, essentially stating that the problem is his fault for not walking her through the entire process of her duties. Perhaps she is supposed to upset Kwame in order for him to fire her?! If that is the case, he is not measuring up to the desired result because at the moment, he seems to avoid confrontation at all costs. What about Bill’s obstacle? More focus has been placed on Kwame’s task, so perhaps more will be delved into his plight during the second half of the finale. It could be that either Nick or Katerina assume the role of the mole. There are many unresolved questions but there is one absolute certainty, the finale would be one nail-bitter that will have most of America cheering on for their choice of The Apprentice.
What are your thoughts regarding the topics I explore in this article? As always, feel welcome to share any comments, theories, questions or answers you may have in the following articles comment link. Previous contributions were clever, insightful, entertaining and appreciated.
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