Elvin Box's blog

My attention has been drawn to a new book on leadership, written by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones. With this being a most vital and yet elusive ingredient in modern business, plus one of the six key subjects on Constructing Excellence's agenda for 2006, leadership is something we all need to understand better.

The book is called Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? with the subtitle ‘What it takes to be an authentic leader'. This subtitle is the cool bit for me; what is an ‘authentic leader'? I'll have to dig and delve within this publication before I can say what the writers believe it is, but it has made me reflect on today's construction and property leaders. The men I would proffer as ‘those I would follow' from the recent past would include Bovis' Sir Frank Lampl, Ian Macpherson for his work at Mace and probably John Lelliott's notable contribution to the company that bore his name.

These guys were all noted for their vision, direction, inspiration and giving their respective businesses a sense of purpose. They also had more than their fair share of charisma, were not adverse to taking a risk and appreciated a good old fashioned ‘laugh and a joke'!

Not so sure that there are many similar figures around today. Male or female come to think of it. What do you think?

Mon 23rd January

An old mate at EC Harris reassured me that although I appear to be movie-tough guy Leon , ‘the QS & PM community knew it was that camp ex-Schal guy’

Elvin Box, QS News blogger

According to psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall of Cardiff University's Centre for Lifelong Learning, an expert in seasonal disorders, today was to be the most depressing day of 2006. It's the dire convergence of all our seasonal woes apparently, anal-retentive Cliff (well be fair, what ever made him think of calculating misery?) took into account factors such as foul weather, Christmas debts, the lingering effects of seasonal overindulgence, failed New Year's resolutions and generally reduced motivation. Thus the happy soul came up with today's date.

Well, don't know about you, but I didn't feel any more miserable today than I am any other Monday.

Meanwhile, my concerns that this blog's weekly outpouring to the wonderful world of QSs and PMs was missing the target, have proved, thankfully, to be premature. This evening an old mate at EC Harris called me on the mobile to rubbish West Ham's ‘lucky' victory over Fulham, ask if I knew of anywhere ‘to crash' at MIPIM, and to reassure me that although I appear to be movie-tough guy Leon in my photo promoting the QS Blog, "the QS & PM community knew it was that camp ex-Schal guy".