retained. Lying to Trump only confirmed that sending the text was not a mere lapse in judgment, but a sign of a fundamental lack of trustworthiness, immediately disqualifying Anand as a potential hire.
Second, how do you think Trump got wind of the text messages? He (and/or NBC) owns the phones used by The Apprentice candidates, of course. We all need to remember that any communication that we conduct using cell phones, computers and other devices owned and provided by our employers for the purposes of doing our jobs is subject to their possible monitoring and review. I repeat: These are not private communications. We need to remember that as we’re posting on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter or sending e-mails and text messages. Just ask former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, whose text messages on city-owned devices helped to get him fired from City Hall, in addition to jail time.
Now, on to my performance review of Task 9.
Leadership Lesson: Great leaders do not weigh the value of ideas against the level of like or dislike for the person who is the source of those ideas. They do not allow their personal biases, or the biases of others, to blur their ability to objectively weigh potential courses of action, regardless of who suggests them. They actively solicit input from every member of their team, even if–actually, especially if–they don’t all see eye to eye.
TASK 9: Design and build in-door displays for the new Kim Kardashian signature fragrance and then set up the displays at Perfumania store locations.
Last week, Trump abandoned the men vs. women theme, reassigning Clint Robertson and Steuart Martens to Fortitude and Stephanie Castagnier and Poppy Carlig to Octane. This helped Liza by breaking up the remaining female candidates’ “Liza-Hater’s Club” and placing its leader, Stephanie, on the opposing team. Liza’s respite is short-lived, however. Now that both Anand and David Johnson (losing PM on Task 8) have been fired, Octane is down to just two candidates. Trump makes Liza the newest member of Team Octane, with her arch nemesis Stephanie and Poppy, who gets a second shot as project manager (she was victorious as PM on Task 2) for this task. Clint, with a victory under his belt as project manager on Task 4, steps up to lead Team Fortitude.
After unanimously agreeing to design their display around a sexy, life-size image of Kardashian, Octane quickly becomes a team of two, with Liza as an unwanted third wheel. Not that Stephanie has much respect for Poppy, who is fresh out of college and lacking in business experience. Poppy’s lack of worldly sophistication becomes apparent when she equates Kardashian’s image withÂ