CRA Inc

21 Jan 05 @ 8:20 am

The Apprentice: A Casual Study In Leadership (& What Not To Do)

As a person interested (obsessed) with business, leadership, and human behavior, I admit to watching The Apprentice. It’s like having a free human behavior lab on call, and with the wonders of TiVo, I can go so far as to watch non-verbal micro-behaviors in slow motion (to test my ability to, say, detect deception).

Great fun … if you’re a bit odd, like me.

Regardless, last night it struck me that, especially in the early stages, the show is a gold mine of “what not to do” coaching points for emerging leaders. So without any promise of consistency or quality, here are my observations from last night. If you’re a new manager or director, take note.

The first set fall under a category I’ll call “Don’t Be A Todd”:

* Take Responsibility: Todd, the striking and perfectly-dressed (with one exception that I’ll highlight in a moment) sales manager was dismissed last night, with cause. His leadership was terrible in general, but in particular he refused to take immediate responsibility for the failures of his team. He violated the “buck stops here” rule, a cardinal rule of earning credibility and trust. (What’s worse, he actually went so far as to shift blame elsewhere, a death move if you ever need to work in teams or influence without authority.)

* Never Place Yourself Above Any Task Performed By Others: Todd refused to be trained on the core restaurant tasks as were his team. This not only made him appear elitist, when his team needed him on the line he couldn’t pitch in. Great managers earn respect by being better at line tasks than their crew. Great leaders never place themselves above any task the people beneath them have to perform. Todd blew both.

* If You’re Male, Know What Shoes To Wear: I was impressed by Todd’s dress until the last minute of the show, when I saw he was wearing brown shoes with his dark grey suit. Men: Grey, navy, or black suit … black shoes. Brown or earthy suit … brown shoes, and sometimes a blue suit if they’re dark and of high quality. Slate … can go both ways. With what can you wear cordovan? A navy suit if the shoes are well polished; otherwise earth tones, and never black or grey.

The other observations fall under a general category:

* Don’t Be Afraid To Reflect Your Principles: When everyone else was piling on Danny as the problem (and scapegoat), Kendra , when asked, laid responsibility at the feet of Todd. Her point: No matter how bad Danny might have been, Todd’s job is to lead someone like Danny, and he couldn’t do it. It wasn’t the popular thing to do at the moment, nor the most expedient in terms of her own survival, but it reflected her personal view on leadership. It was a principle-based comment, and because it wasn’t the popular view, it was noticed by Trump.

* Only Dress Like A Danny If You Want The Role Of A Danny: If you’ve not seen the show, Danny is the iconoclast of the group, with creative, artsy dress among the sea of his very corporate-looking competitors. Last night Trump asked the others if his dress was appropriate. They all said “no.” But it was a trick question: The answer is, “It is if you’re a Danny.” What do I mean? Danny is an exec for a marketing firm that uses the web to market client’s wares. And I guarantee you that not only are his clients un-phased by his dress, they expect it. They expect a guy who looks creative/geeky to walk through the door. If he didn’t his initial credibility would suffer. So: if you ARE a Danny, you should dress like a Danny. My answer to Trump’s question: “He is if you want him to lead your web/creative function, but not if you want him to lead anything else.” The flipside: If Danny aspires to something different, his dress is a limiting factor. That’s not fair, and it’s not noble, but it’s the way it works.

posted in category(s): Coaching Points