The Apprentice 2 Weekly Performance Review, Episode 3: That's Crazy Talk

Maria: I said it before - you scare me. And it's no longer in a good way. You look to be all mouth and attitude and no results. The cart was hopelessly lost last week, a half a block away, huh? You got a firm quote, but nothing in writing, huh? This is what's known in technical terms as "screwing the pooch," and stupid mistakes like this will absolutely kill you in the business world.

Another thing, your attitude needs to change, pronto. In that little confab at the beginning of the episode, the second time you pointed that finger in my face would be the last. Stacie is sitting there trying to be diplomatic and professional, and you're going nuts in her face. She would have been absolutely justified in shoving that finger down your throat. You've always been among the first to point fingers, one of these days you might want to take some responsibility for your foul ups. You might find that people will actually respect you for it.

And I have to give credit to a regular reader who pointed out something I hadn't considered. In his words, "ALWAYS offer an incentive to a vendor who in my cheapskate opinion is charging too much: offer free advertisement, golf spot, sponsor credit, whatever it takes, particularly if I don't get the price in writing." Maria, as a VP of Marketing, you should have been the first to think of this.

Elizabeth: For the second week, Apex had a horrible leader. Let me make this clear, just in case the concept is too difficult - if everybody does whatever they want, there's no point in having a manager. As leader, your job is to make sure everyone does THEIR jobs. Saying, "Proctor and Gamble wouldn't like that," is not leadership, it's opinion. You were an absolute wreck, which is becoming an Apex trademark, actually. I'm BEGGING the next Apex Project Manager, for the love of Trump, PLEASE make an actual decision without going through a list of eighty-five alternatives first. Please?

Stacie: For the third week in a row, I think the wrong person was fired. I have to agree with Betsy's opinion in her article that you weren't fired for being "crazy" so much as it was a result of nobody else on the team seeming to like you. A team can't exist if one member doesn't fit in, so fair or not, you were causing a problem.

During the episode, particularly in the early boardroom segment, I thought to myself that you were the only member of Apex I would consider hiring, for the express reason that you don't fit in with these idiots. Kind of like my enemy's enemy, people I have no respect for don't respect you, and that makes you OK in my book.

In addition, as Betsy said, I would have taken great offense to the others diving into your mental health after having known you for such a short time. Maria even professed to tell you that you believe in Magic 8-Balls when you said you didn't! In a way, you were in a bad situation because any attempt to defend yourself might have just made you look crazy and "proven" their point.

In the end, you were the victim of people leaping to conclusions. Apex looked at your hair and makeup, factored in a momentary weakness caused by stress, and leaped for your neck like a hungry wolf. In a competition like this, showing such a large mental lapse can be unrecoverable, as it was in your case.

Was that better, Heidi?

Mike DeGeorge has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, and has almost ten years of management experience. He is also Assistant Editor of RNO. Email Mike at mikmaria@charter.net.

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