Power Reads: 5 Interesting Articles That Will Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in leadership and the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. Each day we can become a better version of ourselves.

1. The Very First Office Building In The World

Over 90% of the workforce at the time were agriculture workers. When the remaining 10% of businesspeople, lawyers and military types needed to convene, they had three options. They could meet in the palaces of the ruling elite (stuffy), meet in each other’s homes (kids under foot), or coffee houses (loud).

James needed his leaders to meet and work with breathtaking speed to build the fleet. He faced another very specific challenge with his meetings–security.

Early in 1722, James had a then revolutionary idea. The Royal Navy could build its very own office building. At that time, buildings were built for religion, royalty, residential or retail. This new idea could really shake things up.

On March 5th James presented a proposal to the boss which would start a trend that continues today, nearly 300 years later. He asked for permission to build a three story, U-shaped brick building. It would have private offices for senior military officials and an ornate board room for the most secret of meetings. Thomas Ripley was commissioned as the architect for the project and created a likeness for the boss to see.

2. After Record Online Shopping Spree, 'All Heck Breaks Loose' For Apartment Owners

Black Friday spending jumped 22% year-over-year to $9B, according to Adobe Analytics, and the firm projects American shoppers to spend more than $180B this holiday season. Shipping volume is expected to rise, with upward of 30% of residents receiving packages daily, up 10% from pre-pandemic level, according to Package Concierge.

Even the shipping companies delivering those packages are feeling overwhelmed, as UPS announced Tuesday it would limit shipping volume for large retailers including Nike and Gap to keep up with e-commerce delivery demands, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The wave of cardboard boxes is expected to crash this week as Black Friday and Cyber Monday shipments begin to arrive, and apartment complexes even only a few years old will find themselves without enough places to put the packages, developers said.

3. Reinventing the Leader Selection Process

Addressing a class of West Point cadets in 2011, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates asked bluntly, “How can the army break up the institutional concrete—its bureaucratic rigidity in its assignments and promotion processes—in order to retain, challenge, and inspire its best, brightest, and most-battle-tested young officers to lead the service in the future?” The question was, he said, “the greatest challenge facing your army—and frankly, my main worry.”

The secretary’s concern was not ill founded. In a 2009–2010 survey of 22,000 soldiers, 20% said they were serving under a toxic leader. Another survey showed that fewer than 50% of army majors believe the service promotes its best members. (The picture in the corporate world is similarly bleak. In one study, researchers estimated that half of senior executives were failing in their leadership duties. Another found that 16% of managers were toxic and 20% were incompetent.)

In response to such feedback, the army designed an entirely new process for selecting battalion commanders—its first executive-level position, typically attained 17 to 20 years after an officer has joined the service. It chooses approximately 450 a year, each of whom is responsible for the training and development of 500 or so soldiers.

4. Real Estate Shows How Amazon Won 2020

Black Friday shopping mall foot traffic was down 52%, according to Sensormatic Solutions, but online sales were up 22%, data from Adobe Analytics showed. COVID-19 has turbocharged the move toward online retail, and so Amazon’s real estate take-up has also accelerated dramatically.

To zero in on one of its largest markets, where good data exists, Amazon leased 14M SF in the UK this year up to the end of November, according to Savills. That is more than three times its take-up in 2019 and almost twice as much as its previous annual high, the 7.9M SF it leased in 2016.

When it comes to online retail, Amazon is the market as far as real estate is concerned. Savills data showed the company accounted for 82% of all e-commerce leasing in 2020 and 30% of the total logistics markets.

5. Seven Books That Will Change Your Life

I find new revelations of meaning. I skim through their pages and read highlighted paragraphs and sentences that resonated with me during the first pass.

Sometimes, a book crosses our paths when we are not ready to meet it; its message goes right over our heads. This is what happened when I picked up number two on this list the first time I tried to read it, the second, and the third. Not until the fourth time, after my life took a turn, did I understand its wisdom.

The following seven books I revisit at least once a year to keep my noblest impulses alive and remind me of what is essential for living well while amid a world that is chaotic.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Ken Ashley