The Apprentice _{8 October 2010}

It’s Wednesday evening and BBC1′s The Apprentice is soon to be viewed in our household. Our teenage daughter has three friends over for supper and two of them have already called home to ask Dad to do the honourable thing and record it as they won’t be home in time. The third friend breaths a sigh of relief as her Mum isn’t picking her up until 10pm so she will get to see it in real time, before any mention of who has been granted the gruesome ‘your fired’ line from Lord Sugar is heard on the Radio in the car on the way home.

I have received 2 text messages from friends reminding me that it’s a ‘must see’ and my husband has already been warned that if he wishes to see it he needs to be sat down quietly by 8.55pm without a rustling newspaper. The suspense is mounting as we await the new series.

As always there is the pressure prompted last few minutes, finalising domestic chores but we make it into the lounge with seconds to spare, sitting down as the Dance of the Knights by Sergei Prokofiev begins.

As Dan Harris rises to the challenge and starts to bully — I mean lead his team — I receive 3 texts messages from friends who describe him in 6 letters. They use two different words but the meaning is very clear and I deduce that they really don’t like him. I text back in support of their feelings, excited that already we have a pretty good idea who the identity of the candidate will be that Nick Hewer and Karren Brady help Lord Sugar to guide to the exit door.

We watch, laugh and squirm as the 16 budding fledglings explain to Lord Sugar why he would benefit from employing them into his £100,000 a year role when they have done such a brilliant job and managed to make about £37.50 each for a night’s production and day’s sale of sausages. Their hourly rate is probably equal to no more than about £2.20 for their efforts. Just as well they are the countries best as they too like the rest of the UK may have hit a financial deficit had they not worked so well together. It seems that all of them are experts, with experience and marvellous track records. They truly are legends … in their own minds!

Surely an apprentice is an amateur, someone who works with others to learn a trade not an expert who is already nearly as brilliant as the humble and not to be messed with Lord Sugar. It’s amazing that he manages to keep his cool with his new budding pupils.

So why is it that we, the audience, can see the short-coming’s of these people when they are so clear that they have so much to give? Why is it that we wince at the words they say whilst they commend themselves for their disastrous performance? Some people say that The Apprentice makes for good TV but is not like the real world of business. I’d like to disagree: what we see on our TV screens on a Wednesday is typical workplace behaviour. Granted some of it may be exaggerated or embellished for the TV but it is typical of many future leaders who lack the guidance and mentoring support that the need. The DDI reports that 37% of leaders are currently failing in their roles as they don’t have the basic skills to fulfil their role requirements. This means that UK business is throwing away thousands of pounds (or even millions) by appointing the wrong people into leadership positions, or by not developing them to be effective leaders (Engaging leadership study, CIPD). How many Dan Harris’s are there really out there? I’m sure many of us can think of one.

Hopefully watching BBC1′s The Apprentice gives businesses an appreciation of the urgent need to develop future leaders. Developing leadership skills is vital to the overall capacity of any organisation, whatever the size or sector.

Lord Sugar’s right-hand woman Karren Brady will be joining Talent Pool delegates as the Key-note speaker at the 2011 Annual Symposium.