Morello’s Win a Win for the "Customer"

Twenty-three year-old Andrew “Morello”, the “boy from Moonee Ponds”, is the first winner of the Australian version of The Apprentice.

He will join Mark Bouris, the man behind Wizard Home Loans, in heading up a brand new national venture.

Though Morello had lots of virtues, I think the main reason he took out the title was his commitment to customer service…

And I’m not talking about the kind most people associate with the term.

What I am talking about is the kind that goes on behind closed doors…

In the workplace.

Between employer and employee.

Most people don’t see employees as “customers”.

But Morello did (or at least appeared to).

More than once during the series, Morello outlined his belief that people rise to the occasion when you entrust them with responsibility.

Rather than dictate. He guided. And rather than have his team mates report in, he empowered them.

It was a model of leadership that contrasted markedly with that of his opponent in the final, 31 year-old mother from Perth, Heather…who, though hardly “Hitler”, was far more focused on getting the job done, than in building relationships with her teammates.

In the end, I think this focus on results over relationships cost Heather the job.

What about the organization you work for?

If it were in the running for a new apprentice, how would Morello and Heather have been split?