On January 8th, 2004, eight WoMen and eight Men arrived in Manhattan ready to participate in the unique NBC reality show The Apprentice, where the prize for the final player was a $250,000 a year job working for Donald Trump. The participants were divided into two groups and given 15 different weekly Business challenges such as running a lemonade stand, refurbishing an apartMent to rent, and running a well known restaurant.
Each week, the winning team received prizes such as a helicopter tour of New York, a meeting with George Steinbrenner at Yankees Stadium, and dinner at the famous 21 Club. The Project Manager for the losing team would select two team members to join him in The Boardroom, where The Donald would fire one of them, ending his or her participation in the game.
The all-WoMen team easily beat the guys team in the first four challenges. These landslide victories caused The Donald to say he was starting to think he may never hire a man again. The teams were then re-divided, so both Genders were represented on each team.
So, why did the WoMen do so well in the beginning of the game, then lose so badly?
There are four reasons why the girls lost:
SURFACE ISSUES:
The WoMen placed too much emphasis on their external appearance and did not trust their internal strengths. In fact, after they won the first four competitions, they were reprimanded by Mr. Trump and his trusted advisor, Carolyn for their inappropriate behavior. They were told that they were smart, dynamic, attractive WoMen who shouldn't have to cross the line of sexuality to win. Unfortunately, a tough negotiation with a high-end car dealer in week 11 showed that Katrina was unable to dig deeper than her good looks. She learned that batting her eyelashes and flashing a flirtatious smile may sell lemonade, but were ineffective at closing the big deals.
COOPERATION ISSUES:
The WoMen worked well together in big groups, but their cooperation with other team members waned as the groups got smaller. Many of the WoMen struggled with their own personal feelings versus was best for the team. This was obvious from all of the arguMents among the WoMen. Amy, the last Woman in the competition, did a great job of staying focused on the team goal and doing what was best for her team. She didnt seem to take things personally or step on other players in an effort to stand out. Erica, Katrina, Heidi and Omarosa however, often allowed personal feelings toward other team members to get in the way of their effectiveness as leaders, which eventually led to their demise.
CONTROL ISSUES:
On several occasions, though the WoMen knew they were correct, they let their ideas take a backseat to their male teammates. For example, Amy knew the best way to rent out the 90th floor Penthouse suite at Trump World Tower was to have the potential client describe his or her perfect layout for the room. Nick felt the best approach was to describe a suggested layout to the client. The two briefly discussed their opposing strategies after Nicks approach caused several potential buyers to leave without signing contracts, though Amy gave up the arguMent quickly and Nick continue using his ineffective strategy.
The WoMen were more comfortable challenging ideas of the other WoMen, but rarely defended their ideas to the Men. This inability or refusal to defend their own ideas worke d against them in The Boardroom. In fact, Trump specifically fired Kristi, the first Woman to leave the show, because she did not defend herself or her decisions as a Project Manager.
UNBALANCED ISSUES: The Donald
The stateMent all Men are created equal is true, but its misleading, because all Men are created equal but Men and WoMen, well... they are completely different as were the criteria used to measure the Men and the WoMen during this show.
Lets look at some of the inconsistencies:
TEAM SUPPORT:
> Nick blatantly refused to support his team members during the restaurant competition, which may have been a leading reason why his team lost. This behavior did not negatively affect his status in the game.
> Tammy was fired after week seven for not supporting her team an d her project manager.
HONESTY:
> Troy used questionable sales tactics and boldly lied to potential clients during the sales process, one of whom actually walked out because he felt like he was being hustled.
> Omarosa was openly reprimanded by Trump for lying to a vendor and to her team.
> Kwame ultimately lost the last challenge for not firing Omarosa for lying to him.
FRIENDSHIP & BUSINESS:
> In week eight, The Donald reprimanded Erica when she did not select Katrina to join her in The Boardroom. Though Erica sited several specific reasons for her choice, Trump felt that Erica allowed her friendship to g et in the way of her decision and she was fired.
> In week ten, Troy chose Heidi for The Boardroom over his good pal Kwame, though this choice did not work against him.
> Though Amy and Nick developed a romantic interest in each other, Amy honestly said she would fire Nick over Bill when Trump asked her directly. Trumps response to Amy was, Youre cold. Youre a cold hearted-person.
So, what can we learn from this unreal reality show? Well, the reality is, whether we like it or not, Men and WoMen are different and we are judged differently. We have to play to our strengths and learn that effective leaders cooperate with oth ers, work towards the good of the team, and dont take everything personally. Finally, we must trust our own instincts and defend ourselves with concrete, bottom-line reasons, without falling back on our looks or sexuality to close the deal.
Oh, and as Donald Trump says, If youre going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.
Kirstin Carey is a consultant, award winning speaker, and author of PowHERful Communications for WoMen Who Want to be Heard. As a Woman Business owner, Kirstin fully understands what is necessary for WoMen to be Successful Entrepreneurs. To find out how you too can love your Business everyday and live the Entrepreneurial life you want, visit http://www.powherful.com
Author:: Kirstin Carey
Keywords:: WoMen, Negotiating, Negotiate, Woman, Business, Entr epreneur, Success, Gender, Men, Donald, Trump
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips
No comments:
Post a Comment