Tues, 2nd May

I had an interesting day on Friday. As an Adjudicator for the CIOBs Construction Manager of the Year Awards, (CMYA 2006, to give it the correct abbreviation) I attended the training day held in the rather splendid offices of GVA-Grimley in London's west end.

Yes, over the next couple of months a tour the length and breath of Great Britain will be undertaken by myself and 35 other representatives of the CIOB, to determine who are the ‘construction managers' of 2006, plus of course, just like at Crufts, who is the supreme champion! Also like its canine rival, CMYA 2006 is quite a complex show.

Now in its 27th Year, to arrive at the 9 individual CMYA 2006 category winners, that cover projects from a range of out-turn costs and sectors, some 80 construction sites will be visited. This will require over 3,000 miles of travel via plane, rail and road, with close on 1,500 man-hours being clocked up during the process. Just organising the visits is a logistical nightmare, let alone carrying out the interviews, site tours and collating the final scores.

Fortunately the CIOB's Simon Avenell, who is project managing the CMYA 2006, is an experienced campaigner. I am sure that by the evening of Tuesday, 31st October, when this prestigious Awards evening ceremony is scheduled to take place in London's Grosvenor Hotel, the gathering will have absolutely no idea of the colossal task that was required to get those 9 worthy winners to the rostrum.

It is a shame that the English F.A could not take a leaf out of the CIOB's book, and embark on the same ‘No Fuss' approach to their recruitment process to appoint the next head coach of the England Football team.

Granted, the F.A.'s pending appointment is rather more sensitive than CMYA 2006 and will obviously attract the attention of the world's media. That said, there is still no excuse for the appalling, cumbersome manner in which the F.A. announced Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new head coach on Thursday, only to be rejected by the current coach of Portugal on Friday evening.

Dogs and Dinner come to mind when trying to find the words to appropriately describe yet another perfect example of the English F.A.'s inability to handle its affairs. First the Wembley fiasco, now the Head Coach Dilemma. The F.A. do seem to have a ‘blind spot' when it comes to efficient and effective recruitment don't they?

Talking of interviews and getting the right person, I cannot wait for the next edition of ‘The Apprentice'!

A quick update since my last blog: Sharon's project management skills went AWOL during the task to sell innovative products to business; Tuan's lack of a killer instinct meant it was him who got canned, and not the mistake prone Syed, after the hilarious letting task; Succumbing to the gnarled raw aggression of Sales supremo Ruth, Syed finally walked the plank after failing miserably to impress as an entertainments manager on board a luxury cruise liner.

So, now the real ‘Interview' process starts. To date, it has just been Sir Alan engaging in a bit of Punch & Judy Recruitment antics with his cohorts, legal expert Margaret Mountford and PR guru Nick Hewer. It makes for great TV and it also ensures Sir Alan is kept abreast of which budding Apprentice could land Amstrad in the courts, or splashed across the tabloids for all the wrong sorts of business. However, this process alone is insufficiently deep and probing to determine who will be hired.

Hence Wednesday's edition will see the entry of Sir Alan's tried and trusted interview panel, whose job it will be to ‘interrogate' the contestants and advise Sir Alan who should be considered for the final task.

To survive this task, they need excellent relationship skills, be adroit communicators and ambassadors, and of course have no skeletons in the proverbial cupboard, i.e. a C.V. that stacks up. They now have to sell themselves, or as one of my life-coaching colleagues terms it, "Sell thy soul to the devil!" Two contestants are due to be fired.

Expect Paul and Ansell to be the two left standing.

Then hope and pray that the English F.A. second Sir Alan's team. The current incumbents at the F.A. really haven't a clue about legal issues, good PR or recruitment.

By the way, before I forget, there is one Brazilian who is definitely coming to London and is definitely worth a hearing.

Like his fellow countryman, big Phil Scolari, he is renown as a ‘Maverick', as the title of his first book suggests. His second book, which is equally controversial, is ‘The Seven-Day Weekend'.

Ricardo Semler is the chap's name and he is leader of Latin America's fastest growing company, Semco. Nothing to amazing in that, save for the fact that Semco have: no official organizational structure, No company strategy, no CEO's, Vice-Presidents and no HR department

Ricardo Semler has a truly radical approach to leadership and is creator of the world's most unusual workplace.

He has also implemented a damn fine recruitment process too.

Maybe The F.A. should visit this web link to ensure they catch him when he speaks in London during November:

www.leadersinlondon.com

And finally…

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."
Robert Fritz