Terry tells it like it is: Week 4
I fired Chris this week, for several reasons. First, he didn't seem to take his role of Project Manager seriously. When I first gave him the task as Project Manager in this challenge, he played down his team's abilities and seemed reluctant to lead them. But the main reason I had for firing him was that he showed his team's material to the opposing team. I caught him out in a lie, and rather than accepting responsibility for that, he just dug a deeper hole for himself. I do not appreciate liars or deceivers, so he had to go.
Going for a position in my company, I can't fathom why Chris wouldn't have taken this opportunity more seriously. If he really wanted to be involved in my company, he should have stepped up to the plate a lot more than he did.
Chris aside, I must say that with four challenges under their belts now, on the whole the contestants are performing to my expectations. This particular task was a lot harder than the first ones, and I saw a lot of creativity and business skills coming through from the contestants, which can definitely fit within my company.
When a contestant makes a mistake on The Apprentice, it does not
necessarily warrant an immediate firing, as I do believe in second
chances. However, the level of mistake must be taken into account.
Everyone is entitled to make a mistake, and I've certainly made a
few myself in the past, but you have to be able to step up and take
responsibility for them.
Mistakes can be made through incompetence, through miscommunication
and for a variety of other reasons, but at the end of the day, when
you make an error, if you're willing to put your hand up and admit
fault, and also show a desire to put it right and learn from it,
then I will be much more likely to be forgiving.
After four episodes, I'm finding that I'm becoming much at home in The Apprentice boardroom and, indeed, there are now very few differences between the way I operate in the Apprentice boardroom and the way I operate at the Century City in my everyday work. I'm beginning to understand and know the people that I'm dealing with a lot better, and each week that knowledge increases. I'm confident that one of these contestants will be a good apprentice for me.
Of course, it is very important that I select the right
candidate to be my apprentice. Business can be gruelling but it
also provides many rewards for the people who work hard.
I've had a lot of achievements that I've been extremely proud of,
but my proudest moment in business to date would probably be the
seven-year project which is the Century City complex in
Wellington's Tory Street. With 750 carparks, 140 apartments and a
100-room hotel, it was something that I visualised and had a dream
of building from a vacant site.
To see it finished now is a huge achievement for me, and I hope
that it inspires The Apprentice candidates to take this opportunity
to work for me very seriously, as there will no doubt be many
opportunities and doors that will open for whoever I select.
