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“Fully 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective activities… the smallest proportion of managers we studied – around 10% – were both highly energetic and highly focused. Not only do such managers put in more effort than their counterparts, but they also achieve critical, long-term goals more often… spend their time in a committed, purposeful, and reflective manner.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal, “Beware the Busy Manager”

Very often we find that managers and their teams are so busy working in the business that they have little time to work on the business. Meetings, deadlines, full email in-boxes, phone calls – comprised mostly of operational activities – suck up huge amounts of time and energy. We’ve often tried to work with such ineffective managers to set up training workshops and off-site planning retreats. But they are typically too busy fighting fires to spend time on any prevention strategies. As they work ever harder, the fires burn ever bigger. Too often this leads to burned-out managers, demoralized frontline staff, and slipping performance.

Strong leaders who are effective coaches know the value of R & R (reflection and renewal). They periodically pull themselves and their teams back from daily work in operations to work on themselves. They are constantly asking questions like “what should we keep doing, stop doing, and start doing to be more effective?” Coaches keep the fires under control by getting everyone involved in looking at underlying root causes and developing prevention strategies. This leads to renewed energy, clearer focus, and increased performance.

The value of R & R is not a new concept. Many centuries ago there was a vast wilderness dividing two friendly nations. Caravans of traders traveled a rough highway through the sandy and rocky wastelands. It was a long and dangerous journey where animals and people often ran out of precious water and perished. One day, a traveler named Ephram got lost and wandered many miles off the beaten path through rocks, thorns, and barren desert that made the regular route seem like a stroll down a country lane. Confused and near death from thirst, he stumbled into a cave. As he went further into its cool and inviting depths, Ephram discovered a large pool of clear, cold water created by an underground spring. As he drank deeply and bathed in its refreshing waters, Ephram’s failing eyesight (he had gone almost blind in the last few years) and pronounced limp were healed. When Ephram found his way back to the main road, word of the cavern and its miraculous waters spread quickly through the caravans. Although it was a two-day journey from the main route, Ephram’s Cavern quickly became a life-saving stop for all convoys down through the years. Weary travelers were refreshed and rejuvenated. Travelers continued their long journey with renewed vigor and energy. The caverns became a major factor in the growing size and frequency of caravans that traveled through the immense wilderness.

As the years passed and travel experience grew, caravans became better equipped and able to go longer and longer distances without stopping. As trade between the two nations grew, so did the competition. Bigger and faster caravans began to rush right past the long and difficult road leading off to the distant, magical waters of Ephram’s Cavern. Those travelers that did go to the caverns arrived at their destination days later than their harried competitors. But they were much healthier and their energy levels were higher. In the weeks and months of frantic trading activity that followed, those called the Ephram Travelers were less stressed, more focused, and used their time more wisely than their competitors. As a result, they finished their trading and left a few days earlier than the others. On the return trip, the Ephram Travelers once again made the long and difficult trek to the caverns. There they rejuvenated themselves and the beasts of burden carrying the heavy payloads to sell in their homelands. Since their harried competitors were already a few days behind, they again rushed past the cavern road to get home before the Ephram Travelers had commanded all the highest prices for the fine goods brought back from foreign lands.

Taking time for reflection and renewal continues to pay off in today’s workplace, as well.

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/business-articles/management-articles/leaders-focus-reflection-renewal-685747.html

About Author:

Reprinted with the permission of Jim Clemmer whose practical leadership & personal growth books, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational performance. An international best-selling author, his latest book is Growing @ the Speed of Change. Visit http://www.JimClemmer.com for more information on his books, monthly newsletter, and leadership blog. Author: Jim Clemmer

The Bishops Avenue as often known as Millionaires’ Row, it is situated in Hampstead and houses many of the oligarchs and Saudi Royal Family. Now one house is hoping to top all of the other houses in the street by commanding a price tag of 100million. Heath Hall is a Grade II listed property which used to be an Arts and Crafts home which has been extended and restored so that it is now 27,000 sq ft in size and has fourteen bedrooms. There is also two and a half acres of landscaped gardens equating to one of the largest gardens in North London.

The developer behind the project is Andres Panayiotou is hoping that the price tag will make it one of the most expensive houses up for sale in London. Neighbours of the property are the Sultan of Brunei and members of the Saudi Royal Family. He will not give an exact price for the property as he feels that you cannot put a price on house that has no comparison. However he is quietly confident that it will fetch twice as much as Royal Mansion which is located a few houses down and sold in 2008 for 50million.

He feels that the house is not about money but about creating a country classic in London which has luxury and security like no other house. Whilst he made his money in the buy to let business he has built more than 9,000 apartments but he felt that they were all the same, this project has been a lot more personal. He famously sold his reported 1billion property portfolio before the crash and bought Heath Hall in 2006, it was known then as East Weald. He paid 14million for the property from an undisclosed property company. The house was built in 1910 in the Arts and Crafts style for a member of the Lyle family of Tate and Lyle. It used to have 19,000 sq ft of living space and was then owned by the Bank of China from the 1950′s onwards, the house was used to house their employees but fell into disrepair.

When Panayiotou bought it he intended to restore the property as a home for him and his family and build some other houses within the grounds which he could then sell on for a profit. But he eventually decided to extend the property and stay at his 25 acre country estate in Epping Forest. He admits that he fell in love with the building as soon as he saw it and felt that it needed to be restored to its former glory, when he informed Barnet Council of his intentions they were very pleased due to the fact that it had gone into such disrepair. One hundred and twenty builders and craftsmen were involved in restoring the building and 50% of the interior space was extended by building to the rear of the property. So Heath Hall now has 35 rooms, along with the 14 bedrooms are 6 main reception rooms, a library, a cinema which has cream suede walls and a ground floor leisure complex. There is a white stone swimming pool and an outdoor pool in black stone. The plasterwork and fireplaces have been restored with some being restored with white gold paint, this alone cost 250,000. Upstairs there is an oval bath situated just off the master bedroom which is cut from one single piece of magenta-veined Italian marble which cost more than 220,000.

The work has cost him 40million so far but he admits that he did not have a budget when it came to doing the place up as he wanted to do it justice. He feels that quality and not vulgarity defines Heath Hall. His main focus was to put all of the state of the art technology into the house so he has installed a Crestron home-automation system which allows you to sit in your chauffeur driven car and touch a button which will de-ice your drive and run your bath to a specific depth and temperature whilst your dressing gown gets warmed up. Security is top priority and the first floor dressing room has a steel wall which doubles as a panic room.

On the Bishops Avenue there are more white vans than Bentleys at the moment due to the amount of renovation work being carried out there. Some in the past have had to be abandoned halfway through due to the mess that the developers have made of the properties but this is certainly not the case with Heath Hall. An agent for the area feels that it will probably be sold to a Middle Eastern, Indian or Russian buyer billionaire but Panayiotou is in no rush to sell.

http://www.uklandforsale.org

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/real-estate-articles/property-investment-articles/100million-pound-bishops-avenue-mansion-371641.html

About Author:

Miss Fiona Davies is Sales Director for http://www.uklandforsale.org She has worked in the property and land sector for the last ten years.All articles on the website are written uniquely by her. Author: Fiona Davies