Island Survival Tactics Might Not Put Winner in Good Stead at Work

Lie. Scheme. Backstab. Win a million dollars.

Do nice guys really finish last?

That’s what America wanted to know after Richard Hatch, the “Survivor” contestant viewers loved to hate, walked away with the big prize.

Rest easy. Hatch, a corporate trainer who orchestrated clandestine alliances to vote others off the island, is not the embodiment of successful office politics, management experts said.

Hatch behaved like a type of corporate creature that career consultant Neal Lenarsky calls “the terrorist.”

“There are guys who are terrorists, who actually make it to the top. But they can’t survive for the long haul. Eventually they screw people and then it comes back to get them,” said Lenarsky, who runs Burbank-based Strategic Transitions Inc.

Though it didn’t happen over the summer run of the show, Lenarsky said, he is confident that in a corporation, Hatch’s “Survivor” behavior would do him in.

The problem with this type of employee, Lenarsky said, “is usually they move on to the next place to terrorize.”

And although Hatch’s actions were widely criticized, they probably came from his professional background.

“I knew from the moment Rich was selected that he was going to win,” said Joe Bast, senior consultant with the Los Angeles office of Personnel Decisions International, a management and human resources consulting firm.

“If the goal is to make connections and build relationships, someone who is an expert in facilitating that is at an extreme advantage. He realized that was his advantage, and he really leveraged it.”

In real-world corporate alliances, however, the goal is not to be the last man standing, Bast said. “At an individual level, if you are drawing alliances to keep people out, it draws bad blood, corporate karma so to speak.”

Corporate or not, karma was catching up with Hatch Thursday, a day after the much-hyped two-hour finale revealed the 39-year-old Rhode Island man as the winner.

At one unofficial “Survivor” Web site, animosity toward Rich was so great that he was dubbed “Hatch Machiabelly,” a reference to both his tactics and his flabby midsection. He may also end up spending some of his winnings on legal bills, considering that he was charged with child abuse a few days after he returned from the island.

Hatch--known as “the naked guy” for frequently turning the beach into a clothing-optional zone--got some points for his underwater fishing expeditions. Those were examples of hard work for the common good.

But his arrogant manner made him enemies on the island. In the end, Hatch’s embrace of the show’s slogan--”Outwit, Outplay, Outlast”--allowed him to pick off his competitors.

Hatch wasn’t the only corporate archetype that consultant Lenarsky saw on the show. Take Sean Kenniff, 30, the dopey neurologist who voted against islanders in alphabetical order and who disparaged the two finalists for viewers’ ears only after extolling them in a parting speech.

Kenniff is a “benign saboteur,” Lenarsky said. “They really screw you, but to your face they are nice.”

Reesa Staten, research director of Menlo Park-based OfficeTeam, said she also sees office political types in “Survivor” cast members.

Rudy Boesch, the 72-year-old former Navy Seal who made it to the final three, is an example of the hard-working veteran, somebody who isn’t going to get caught up in water-cooler chatter.

America’s sweetheart, 23-year-old Miami Beach student Colleen Haskell, like the other young castaways seemed to be after adventure and fun more than the money. “There are those people in the workplace,” Staten said. “It’s interesting, but they aren’t as vested as the other workers.”

Then there is Hatch, who Staten calls the consummate office politician, the ladder climber.

John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement firm, said he comes across people like Hatch.

“There are people who play the political games very adroitly and do end up being overly conniving and sometimes win,” Challenger said. “More ethical people just won’t put up with it. They end up leaving.”

At least there’s comfort in the fact that even if there is a Hatch in the office, he can’t run around naked.

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RATINGS JACKPOT

The audience for the last “Survivor” far surpassed estimates. F1 . . . For Howard Rosenberg, the real castaways were the journalists promoting the series. F1

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Surviving in the Office

Management experts saw characteristics in the four “Survivor” finalists that had corporate parallels:

Hard-working veteran

* Rudy Boesch, 72: Not one to chat around the water cooler.

Sore loser

* Susan Hawk, 38: Forgot that taking defeat gracefully is key to being invited back.

Shifty contender

* Kelly Wiglesworth, 23: A real competitor who was sacked by her lies.

Office terrorist

* Richard Hatch, 39: Consummate politician who kept his eyes on the prize.

Source: Times research