BBC APPRENTICE, week 7 debrief

Ok, so we’re preparing for week 8 of the Apprentice, but I’ve just gathered my thoughts from week 7. So each week I’ll write a blog about the previous week. Do chime in with your thoughts in the comments!

Click here for the week 1 blog if you want to go back and read it.

Click here for the week 2 blog if you want to go back and read it.

Click here for the week 3 blog if you want to go back and read it.

Click here for the week 4 blog if you want to go back and read it.

Click here for the week 5 blog if you want to go back and read it.

Click here for the week 6 blog if you want to go back and read it.

You’ve had 6 weeks of analysis, but it now feels time to throw some predictions out there. Read to the end to see what I’m thinking.

1.??????Probably with the help of some cleverly cut footage, this week we saw a classic case of how ?leadership indecision is tricky. And by that I mean twofold; firstly, despite the role of Project Manager, who’s actually in leadership (influence), and secondly is that leader leading well (impact)? Influence and impact are two key elements of successful leadership. Successful leaders take people with them on the journey, and they get the job done. This is helped hugely by knowing and understanding the team, and playing to their strengths. It doesn’t mean dictatorship, and it doesn’t mean not asking for opinions and preferences, but it does mean sharing a clear vision (more on this in the next point), and decisions with compelling reasons, and not changing the plan for political reasons. When you are working with those in leadership, or you are a leader, remember these things.

2.??????Let’s talk about sharing vision. The ultimate failure of the task this week on the Apprentice was down to an unclear vision, which meant it was poorly executed. It’s so easy when we’re being creative and imaginative to consolidate our plans in our head. The challenge is to communicate enough of the vision, and the reasons for it, for colleagues to grasp the sense of it and feel shared ownership and understanding. This means that decisions as yet unmade are easier to form because the overall vision is caught.

3.??????Name it what it is. ‘Bee-pure’ sounds like a natural honey, not a self-driving car, but we’re all guilty of this. I’ll give you another example a little closer to home; we used to be ‘The CORE’. Sounds like an apple, huh? That’s why we re-branded a few years ago, as the Careers & Enterprise Hub; who we are, and what we do. We hope that with our name now you’re able to access and find us more easily, and be a little more confident of what support you can gain from our service. So when you need to name something; a product, service, team, place – be wise and name it what it is. The old classic phrase is ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ (aside: did you know this now famous idiom sidled into our communication via a marketing campaign for Ronseal?!).

4.??????When being set a task, whether it’s a million pound contract or a small project at work, make sure you ask the right questions. I’ll focus on three areas that were missed on this week’s episode:

·??????Quantity – How much of what do you need to produce? What level of detail?

·??????Price – what’s the budget they’ve got available for the production/ completion?

·??????Audience – who is this for?

This week we saw both teams fall foul of forgetting the key questions. Neither therefore knew that by getting this right, ￡1m was on the table, and for up to 30 of the driverless vehicles. They also missed that this wasn’t an experience, but a mode of transport; that National Rail probably wasn’t going to be up for having a karaoke pod with lots of things that could break, or need cleaning. That this was going to be used by business people as well as socially, and that red carpet and pink seats wasn’t anyone’s vision of a good idea. Make sure you know the questions to ask, so you’re answering them correctly to the brief, rather than your personal trends.

5.??????Don’t turn your back on an audience you’re presenting to. This week, we saw a fatal mistake; throughout most of the pitch, the presenter had his back to his audience. I always think of it like being in the presence of the queen (although perhaps with a little less curtseying). In the presence of royalty you should never show your back, to the point where you reverse out of a room. Whilst it may not be to that extreme, it’s a sign of politeness and engagement to use body language and eye contact as part of your non-verbal communication. This can help build rapport and engagement, and that can lead to sales, and a good working relationship. Never underestimate the benefit of good body language, or the detriment of bad body language.

Ok, so I promised some predictions, some opinions, and here they are:

1.??????I feel like we’ve finally got someone who stands out – Kathryn. She seems to be in the right places, contributing the right things, and can immediately and earlier than the others, see potential pitfalls.

2.??????I thought for a moment that the week 7 bottom 3 could have all been fired. The project manager was most obviously to blame for the failure of the task, but Akshay has been in the board room far too many times. Although I completely agree with this not being his week to go – he was entirely innocent for the failure of this task, and that needed to be made clear. Nick – I also felt probably could have gone. Nick seems to bob on through, but I wonder if the reason he’s still in is because of his business idea that wants Lord Sugar’s partnership. He reminds me a bit of previous winner, Tom Pellereau – they both have a similar presentation, and although business in the traditional sense may not be their thing, inventions and a clever mind is, and that’s worth a lot.

3.??????The idea’s been rattling round for a while, but perhaps with the exception of Nick (and Aaron? Possibly…) I think there’s a serious possibility of an all-female final. Having said that, as above, one seems to be standing forward ahead of the rest at the moment.

I appreciate it’s possibly mad of me to comment at week 7 on predictions of all these things, and I appreciate that we all get things wrong, and next week I might be entirely wrong! Having said that, in these blogs previously I’ve been talking about making decisions with the information you have available at the time. On the information I have this week, this is where I’m at. It might change next week with new information!

Do you agree with these predictions? What do you think? ?