The Perils of Interview Interruptus

In the Final Three episode of “The Apprentice,” we learned that for picking people, there is still no goofy game or calamitous contest quite as revealing as an interview. The three remaining contestants, college-graduate Kendra, Tana, and Craig, ran the grilling gantlet of four top executives: the chairman and CEO of pizza giant Domino’s, David Brandon; QVC’s president, Darlene Daggett; the chairman of Prudential Real Estate, Howard Lorber; and the chairman and CEO of Burger King, Greg Brenneman.To the inquisitors, Kendra came off as a young, aggressive whippersnapper whose answers sounded scripted, but whose rough edges could be smoothed over. Tellingly, real estate agent Kendra’s biggest champion was Prudential’s Mr. Lorber, who said Kendra was a potential superstar. As for Tana, the Burger King boss questioned whether she could become a leader, while the QVC head praised her entrepreneurial skills. The others called her solid and honest.Then there was Craig. In his interview, Craig rumbled, bumbled, stumbled, and crumbled. Whether the question was, “Were you flying under the radar?” or, “Tell me about your leadership style,” Craig was tragically tongue-tied. While his brilliant smile initially impressed, this hard-boiled bunch found Craig’s answers horrifyingly substance-free. Craig failed to make the grade. The shoeshine-shop owner, who had beaten 15 others to reach the next-to-last stage of the contest, was fired by Donald Trump.Right away, Trump set up “the task of all tasks” that book-smart Kendra and street-smart Tana will compete in to decide the season’s winner. The two were assigned to manage separate media events. Kendra drew the Best Buy Video Game Championship and Tana got the NYC2012 Athlete Challenge at Chelsea Piers, a promotion for New York’s Olympic bid.The events themselves were enough of a challenge. But then The Donald saddled each of them with three of the most difficult to manage former contestants. Tana got bad boy Brian, anger-management victim Chris, and foul-mouthed Kristen. Kendra was handed mood-swinger Michael, song-and-dance man Danny, and Erin, the lawyer/beauty-contest winner. Tana futilely asked The Donald’s henchman, George, if she could trade team members. George told her that the challenge is to succeed despite incompetence.The ineptitude surfaced quickly. Kendra’s side’s pre-event meeting with Best Buy was nearly blown by dim-witted Danny until Kendra arrived to take charge. Tana’s team was effectively cut in half when Chris and Kristen failed to find parking in Manhattan and missed the client meeting.Episode 16 Turning PointsWhile the outcome won’t be disclosed until this week’s one-hour finale, Tana’s event seems manageable, assuming she can avoid being derailed by her squad’s incompetence. Upon hearing her slate of co-workers, Tana immediately announced her willingness to terminate terrible teammates. She knows that the final round is an individual contest – since they have already been fired, her teammates have no vested interest in her victory.Kendra’s assignment seems the most daunting. For one thing, her three squad members are certainly one dream short of a dream team. In addition, while Tana has one very needy sponsor, NYC2012, Kendra has two, video-gaming giants EA Sports and Sony. And worse yet is her event facility, the quirky Webster Hall in Manhattan. EA’s event has been scheduled for the main floor, and Sony’s is in a gruesome basement space so dreary that a Sony executive has threatened cancellation.Lessons LearnedLESSON ONE Bosses must fire at will. Being boss means having ultimate responsibility for success and cutting out cancers. With lame-brained employees Chris and Kristen, Tana will almost surely have to act on her stated fire-at-will policy. Kendra was able to rescue her client from demise at Danny’s daffy hands, but she, too, may need to whack a member or two.LESSON TWO Depth matters. Craig’s shallow interview performance is a reminder for all Trumpologists that a leader needs lots of clubs in the bag. Craig’s smile got their attention, but his lack of focus, clarity, and ability to communicate why he should be hired did him in.LESSON THREE Use disgruntled employees as doers, not as thinkers. As evidenced by Danny’s muddle-headed presentation to Best Buy and Kristen’s outburst while hunting for a parking space (“I don’t care who wins or loses. My *** is no longer on the line”), employees who don’t have a stake in your success should not be asked to think or create, just to follow orders.This week, the finale. Stay tuned.Mr. Whitehead is a career consultant. E-mail trumponomics@aol.com.

The Perils of Interview Interruptus

The Perils of Interview Interruptus

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