The Apprentice - April 10, 2005 : Bad Leadership Leads to Poor Management: Part One of Two

Tonight's Apprentice was back-to-back - double the firing. The task tonight was to renovate a room in a Boys and Girls Club location for Ace Hardware's "New Faces for Helpful Places" program.

Because Lenny was told, by Mr. Trump, that he was on "thin ice," he chose to be project manager for Gold Rush. Lenny didn't start out good though. When the Ace Hardware executives arrived to discuss the project with Gold Rush it was pretty much silent throughout the room. Lenny wasn't prepared, he should have been asking the questions to try and form an objective, but instead of asking questions, Lenny just sat there; already proving to be a bad leader.
Charmaine finally decided to break the ice and get the discussion rolling. She done what Lenny should have done, she started asking the executives questions.

Synergy's meeting went much better than Gold Rush's. Michael, the project manager for Synergy, wanted to understand exactly what the executives were looking for, and because of this he started asking questions right away. Based on the executive's answers, Synergy decided to go with a TV room, game room, girl's room and a music room. Synergy's theme was "The Lounge" - a place where kids could go to have a good time. I thought their idea was great!

Even though Synergy had a great idea, they did get a late start on their shopping for supplies; they arrived just a few minutes before the store was due to close. Because they got such a late start on their shopping, it also caused them to get a late start on the renovating process. The room had to be completed by 11:00 a.m. the next morning, and because of their late start they had to rush in order to get things completed on time. Michael also proved himself to be a poor project manager.

Gold Rush's theme was music, but unlike Synergy, Gold Rush got started with their renovation right away. However, when Bill showed up to check on Gold Rush's progress he was not happy. Lenny and Lee were no-where to be found, instead they were out shopping for electronics, and that left only three people to renovate the entire building.

Despite all the mishaps, both teams managed to complete the renovation on time. When the executives showed up for the judging, they brought along kids to try out each teams' center. The executives said that Synergy understood the core. They liked the idea of an area for both boys and girls, but they disliked Gold Rush's idea, because Gold Rush only focused on a single theme. In another words, Gold Rush didn't have a variety to choose from. Also, the executives felt that replacing broken electronics could become quite costly for a non-profit organization. As a result, the clear winner was Synergy.

Synergy's reward was to join the "Make-A-Wish" foundation as they took an 8-year-old little girl, who has cancer, on a shopping spree at "Toys R Us." Not only did they make this little girl happy, but they brought tears to her mother's eyes. Even I almost cried watching the little girl shop, and hearing her mother talk about her illness. It's so sad for anyone to have to suffer from cancer, but it makes things really sad when it's a young child.

While in the boardroom, Charmaine attacked Lenny, and Lenny attacked Charmaine. Mr. Trump agreed with Charmaine. Lenny ended up saying all the wrong things while trying to defend himself, and Lee tried to make Lenny look better. When asked by Mr. Trump, the majority of Gold Rush thought Lenny should be fired…well, everyone but Lee, and he voiced that Charmaine should be fired. However, there was no need for bringing anyone back to the boardroom, because Mr. Trump fired Lenny. However, Mr. Trump did compliment Lee for his loyalty to a friend (Lenny).

It was no surprise to me that Lenny was fired. Lenny always seemed to do a poor job, and I don't think he knew a whole lot about the business industry. I mean come on, the man didn't even know what a jingle was.

Business Tip: Before meeting with someone for ideas plan ahead. You can always try to have a list of questions ready so that you don't make Lenny's mistake and look like a fool.