EDITOR’S COMMENT The hottest ticket in town this week was to EG’s inaugural CEO Summit at Battersea Power Station. Not only were attendees treated to a special private tour of one of the most talked about – and anticipated – developments in the capital, but they were gifted a whole day of learning and inspiration from industry leaders – from inside and outside of real estate.
I’m not going to give all the insights away here – (1) because you really should have been there; and (2) because we will share a few in an upcoming issue soon. But I do feel compelled to give away just one or two.
The event was focused on building resilience and brought together thoughts and experiences from leaders on a range of subjects, from the economy to politics, the environment to technology, the future of work and understanding our future generations.
The biggest takeaway for me came first from former Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye and then was echoed through numerous sessions throughout the day. And it was a really simple message.
Do the right thing.
That was Holland-Kaye’s biggest learning from running one of the world’s busiest airports, which almost overnight became the quietest. A business that went from dealing with millions of passengers a day and huge amounts of money, to virtually none and nothing. This is a man who understands the need for resilience.
Do the right thing, he told us, not the easy thing.
Holland-Kaye faced some pretty personal attacks during the Covid era as he fought to get aircraft moving again. But he knew that he was doing the right thing, for the right reasons. And with that belief held steadfastly, he could take the abuse. He could handle the hardship.
Do the right thing, not the easy thing.
That was again echoed in our conversation about the future of work. The easy thing is to create beautiful office space with all the bells and whistles in an attempt to bring people back to their corporate desks. But the right thing, we learnt, is to really think about the users of our spaces and the type of work they do. And guess what? Most people don’t want collaborative space.
Leesman chief executive Tim Oldman told us that most people, essentially, have really dull jobs (I’m paraphrasing, obviously) and we just want space like we can get at home: quiet, focused, comfortable space. So the right thing, we discovered, is to listen to the user of space, not the corporates, and certainly not the architects.
Do the right thing, not the easy thing.
That was a message that definitely came through in our big conversation about proper forward motion on real estate’s journey to help save the planet (and its people). We as a sector need to be impatient about progress when it comes to the green agenda. We have to do the right thing, even if in really tough economic times it feels too costly, too hard. Because in the long term the cost is much, much bigger than anything it could be today. The cost is lives. All of ours.
Do the right thing, not the easy thing.
We wrapped up the day with a session on the multi-generational workplace and understanding the value in and of Gen Z. From the leaders in the room – most of whom were definitely not Gen Z or close to it – there was still quite a wide misunderstanding of how to unlock the power of this motivated generation. They want to feel listened to. They want to feel involved. They want to help our businesses grow. But that means us leaning in, us being more open, more visible, listening.
So, the biggest lesson in leadership that I can share with you from the EG CEO Summit is really, really simple: do the right thing, not the easy thing.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews
