The Apprentice: Weekly Performance Review, Episode 13 – Last Chances

You had better believe I’ve got a lot to say. I’ve mentioned before that I sometimes don’t know what Trump, George, and Caroline were thinking in the boardroom. Naturally, the biggest question in my mind has been, “Why the hell did they fire Troy?” This week, we got the input of four of Trump’s executives who, one would assume, are not overly familiar with the candidates’ past achievements. Sure, they know the results, as when Tom asked Kwame about his losing record; they have the equivalent of a resume in front of them.

In other words, they wouldn’t be influenced by something ridiculous like someone being chosen first while picking teams in a schoolyard manner. The candidates would be on their own, in their biggest challenge yet. In fact, this is probably the one challenge they had yet to face in this weeks-long job interview: an actual job interview. As anyone who has been through one knows, it’s among the most nerve-wracking experiences a businessperson can encounter.

Nick: In the past few weeks, I worried about your overconfidence. Indeed, I think it ended up being your undoing this week. The results of the interview we saw looked like the equivalent of a student stealing the answers to an exam, but taking a different test. You thought you had all the answers, but they were all wrong.

Amy: Ah, I’ve been waiting for this. As I stated two weeks ago with Katrina, it’s nice to have validation. Here are four executives in the Trump organization, with over 75 years of collective experience, saying the exact same things about Amy that I’ve been saying since week one. On this Easter week, we find that Amy is indeed like those chocolate bunnies we all got as kids: you see it there, looking for all the world like this huge treat. You can’t wait to sink your teeth into it and enjoy all the chocolate, but then when you finally take a bite, the hollow shell crumbles and you’re left frustrated, disappointed by empty promises.

Yeah, so I’ve been on a diet. Cut me some slack. The analogy still holds.

My point is, there never was anything there, and no amount of wishing or surprise on Trump’s part will ever change that. As for your exit interview, I wonder if one of those “good things in store” for you included that FHM layout. I expect that sort of thing from Survivor or Big Brother contestants, who are only out for publicity. I would imagine a that contestant on The Apprentice, especially one who made it to the final four and “proved” that she was more than a pretty face, might be more interested in furthering her business career than in shaking her ass. In other words, there’s no need for you to have to resort to such tactics to get publicity. If your mind is as sharp as people thought, you would have gotten plenty of other offers.

Unless, of course, you’re not nearly as smart as people seemed to think you are? Maybe you really don’t have what it takes and are desperate to keep your fifteen minutes of fame going just a little while longer?

It’s funny, just a few months ago, Heidi was the woman on the show I most disliked. I’ve since admitted that my first impressions about her were wrong. In fact, I have ended up very impressed with Heidi. Some people don’t like her crassness or her attitude, but I’d much rather have a take-no-prisoners, highly successful salesperson in my organization than an empty shell.

Kwame: I like you a lot, Kwame, but I simply don’t see you winning. I commented on your management style during the casino challenge a couple weeks ago, saying that it worked well. Let me clarify that: when you have two workhorses like Bill and Troy on your team, standing back and letting them work is an excellent plan. When you’ve got someone like Omarosa, with a proven poor track record, you’ve got to make sure they are doing what they need to be doing. I don’t like the management style of constantly looking over someone’s shoulder, but some people just cannot work without supervision.

The question is, why did you not press Omarosa about the contents of the call? Why did Troy have to ask the questions, while you just sat there? I’m prepared to accept the theory, presented by you in many articles I’ve read, that you’ve been unfairly portrayed in the editing as boring. But to simply sit back and watch while Omarosa pours your potential win down the drain is inexcusable. You also say that you would never hire Omarosa, as she has proven herself incompetent. So why did you pick her in the first place? It couldn’t have been that big a shock to you! If you are fired after this task, as I think you will be, you will only have yourself to blame.

On a related note, a co-worker floated an interesting theory: could Omarosa be a “mole”? Could she have been instructed to screw up the task (as someone on Bill’s team may have been similarly instructed) to see how Kwame handles it? I wouldn’t put it past Trump to try something like that, and I think it would be an excellent idea.

Bill: We didn’t see nearly as much of your task, since Omarosa’s idiocy has once again taken center stage. Your major snafu was a simple storage misunderstanding that, I agree with you, was blown way out of proportion. We also saw your major fault: You tend to concentrate more on doing the work yourself than on leading the troops. It’s not necessarily a fault, really, but it’s all I’ve got. Your attitude with Leslie, in my mind, is not an issue. You were correct in saying that you were in charge, and that she should not have gotten so worked up about such a small problem.

So who will win? Based on what I’ve seen in the last thirteen episodes, I have to go with Bill. Minor faults of either candidate aside, Bill has the “straight ahead, go get ‘em” attitude that Trump has. That will make the decision.

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. Email Mike at mikmaria@charter.net.

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