Life and Business Coaching - Impact Life: June 2013

Sunday 30 June 2013

Why Lord Sugar was wrong to fire Alex

So he was irritating, he had incredible eyebrows, he was somewhat arrogant and demonstrated poor social skills ... that said, I believe Alex was the best of the candidates in The Apprentice because whether you liked him or loathed him, he was the only person in the competition to show that he can produce brilliant ideas and turn them into reality.

Week 1 - The flat-pack task:

It was Alex who came up with the idea of a chair, whose back could slide down in order to make a coffee table. He sketched it, he persuaded the others to back it, he designed the mechanics and he oversaw it's production. Lord Sugar stated that it was the best product ever produced on The Apprentice and on this task alone, Alex should have made the final.

Week 9 - The ready meal task:

As project manager, Alex unfortunately allowed himself to be talked into backing a daft idea ('deadly dinners') by the smooth and persuasive Miles. But Alex's original idea of the pop-ty-ping character who would be the icon for various international dishes was excellent, and he had already sketched it out.

As well has his innovative ability, you cannot question Alex's commitment to the cause as a team player. I can't think that any of the other lads would have so willingly taken on the role of Herbert the pervert as Alex did in the internet dating task, or would they have so passionately played the role of the Sergeant Major in the away-day task.

Lord Sugar's reasoning for firing Alex was that because he'd had moved around several business ideas prior to participating in The Apprentice, he lacked focus and should learn to settle on one thing. Furthermore, Alex had failed to go with his gut instinct on the ready meal task. But a lack of focus and a failure to go with your intuition can easily be worked on and improved, particularly for someone in their early 20s. What cannot be taught so easily is the ability to design brilliant concepts and turn them into reality.

Question - So who should have been fired the week that Alex got the boot?

Answer - Miles

Miles's composure in the boardroom put him head and shoulders above the others and was perhaps a reflection of his extra years of experience (at 39, he was the oldest candidate in the process). But Miles showed no ability to design new concepts and his 'deadly dinners' idea in the ready meal task showed a complete misunderstanding of his target market (the parents). In this task, he was fully responsible for his team's loss and should have been fired.

Conclusions:

1) It's reassuring to see someone of Lord Sugar's reputation make the wrong decision, but then it's not the first time I suppose. It was of course Lord Sugar who as the Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur and presented with the opportunity of signing Dennis Bergkamp (one of the most gifted footballers ever to have graced the premier league), balked at the £7.5M price tag, declaring he would not pay so much for Dennis 'Kick-a-ball' Bergkamp. So Bergkamp went to their arch rivals Arsenal and gave them a decade of majestic football and numerous trophies along the way.

2) If it was my £250,000, I'd rather pass on the smooth operators and invest it in someone with innovative ability, even if that person was a bit arrogant, slightly odd and had bushy eyebrows!

Thanks for reading

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Friday 21 June 2013

Business Development: When silence is golden

"If you've got nothing intelligent to say, don't say ANYTHING!"

These were the words of my ex girlfriend many years ago, just before meeting her dad for the first time.

Whilst I was someone who grew up in a house where any silence was quickly filled with chit-chat, it didn't take long to master this skill when meeting her parents. Her dad could be prickly at the best of times and he did not suffer fools gladly ... but those words have stayed with me over the years and helped me in business and personal dealings.

Example 1:

As a consistent blogger, I've suffered writer's block on a few occasions. To be fair to me, it's usually been down to busyness at work or home but when I get it, I tend to write pretty average articles which I avoid posting because at the very least, they don't offer anything fresh. Thankfully I know, that "if you've got nothing intelligent to say, don't say ANYTHING!"

Example 2:

Have you ever been in a meeting with people you wanted to impress and you felt desperate to contribute something to the conversation, but you just couldn't think of anything valuable to add? I certainly have but thankfully, I've learned that in those situations, it's better to enjoy the listening bit because "if you've got nothing intelligent to say, don't say ANYTHING!"

Tip 1:

Make peace with 'awkward' silences. They're only awkward if you feel awkward.

Tip 2:

When you want to say something at presentations/meetings, be clear that what you have to share is of genuine value and contributes positively to the conversation, rather than a needy and yet very human desire to have your voice heard and stand out.

Tip 3:

Ir you're a blogger/writer and you've got writers block, take a break and get out a bit more. The creativity will return in the end!

Thanks for reading

I help people to achieve more by developing their resilience, influence and productivity: