Five
Lessons from Donald and Martha's Apprentices
By Kerry Patterson, co-author of the national bestseller, "Crucial
Confrontations"
As strange as this may sound, you
can actually learn a great deal about leadership from Donald Trump and
Martha Stewart's "Apprentice" shows.
The circumstances they've created on their shows are ideal for spotting
both good and bad leadership. Imagine that you work for a company where
they force you to invent, produce and sell a product you most likely
know nothing about -- and do it within just a few days. And all the
while everyone is clambering over each other like castaways on a crowded
life raft -- someone is going to be thrown overboard at the end of the
shift if their team doesn't win.
As it turns out, these unrealistic circumstances surface a variety of
behaviors that are quite helpful in selecting who might one day make a
good leader. Mostly the leaders and contestants demonstrate what not to
do, but you can learn from these errors as well.
As you observe the highly opinionated leaders and the tortured
contestants, here are five things you should learn not to do if you want
to be an effective leader:
1. Don't judge people solely on the basis of results.
Although it's true that over the long haul people have to be judged
against their accomplishments, in the short-run they have to be measured
against their efforts. A coach would never advise a team exclusively on
the score: "The problem is you didn't score enough." Apprentice teams
are either applauded or ridiculed based on outcomes alone, worse still,
outcomes that typically rely on a great deal of luck. Look at actions,
not just results.
2. Don't review employees only from the comfort of your office.
This piece of advice is a cousin to the first. To be effective as a
leader, you can't merely sit in your office, review results and then
punish the guilty.
Instead, you need to carefully observe your direct reports, note both
skills and problems, and then provide useful advice on how to be more
successful -- as would a skilled coach. Skilled leaders don't only point
out problems; they also teach specific skills and solutions.
3. Quit punishing people for following sound advice.
This game drives employees nuts. Here's "The Apprentice" version. At the
end of each contest, Donald, Martha and friends beat up the losing team
for having chosen a stupid product that everyone "just knew wouldn't
work" -- despite the fact that the expert consultant assigned to them
told them the idea was positively marvelous. The team that loses is
vilified for sucking up to an expert, while the team that wins is
applauded for having the good sense to listen to the expert and
implement his or her advice.
4. Don't offer up shallow homilies.
In virtually every episode, leaders often serve up homilies as if they
were great words of wisdom, when in fact the suggestions contain no
substantive content.
For instance: "Don't rely so much on your schooling; trust your
instincts." Now there's an accident waiting to happen. And sure enough,
if you allow enough episodes to pass, someone is bound to suggest: "Quit
shooting from the hip and start relying on the basics you learned in
school." Effective leaders offer advice that is behaviorally specific
enough to be actionable.
5. Don't win arguments only to lose the team.
As you watch the contestants compete, you have a good chance to see one
of the most important leadership attributes. When stakes are high and
emotions run strong, do they find a way to speak and be heard or do they
toggle from silence to violence? Low performers say precious little and
then verbally abuse their colleagues when the plan falls apart. Or they
use excessive advocacy -- battering others into submission or into a
fight. Top performers, in contrast, speak with confidence and invite
other opinions. They avoid jumping to horrific conclusions about their
teammates, and thus they stay in control of their emotions. They watch
carefully to see what's happening as they speak. As others become
defensive, they make it safe by establishing common ground.
If you would like to pick up a tip or two from any of the reality shows,
don't look for people who know how to bash their way to short-term
success or who offer up harsh yet vacuous advice. Instead, see who's
able to get people with different opinions to work toward a common
objective and do so with conviction. These are the people you want to
model and who make effective leaders.
Kerry Patterson is co-author of the New York Times bestsellers "Crucial
Conversations" and "Crucial Confrontations." He has consulted with more
than 300 of the Fortune 500 on corporate change initiatives over the
past 30 years. Visit www.vitalsmarts.com for information on how
solutions from Kerry's company, VitalSmarts, can help you achieve big
change fast. |
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