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. My First Cold Call

I kept driving past the Dooley’s and soon pulled into the parking lot of a nearby strip mall. My breathing started to get elevated and my palms a little moist as I realized what I must do. I had to knock on Coach Vince Dooley's door and ask for his help.

I was going to make my first cold call.
Vince Dooley was a man I had never met in person and to say that he was a hero in the State of Georgia is an understatement. I might as well be knocking on the front door of the White House. The stakes were huge, and I had no backup plan.

I summoned all the courage I could muster and put the car in gear. I pointed the Bonneville back towards the Dooley estate and soon pulled into the driveway and walked up to the door. My heart was beating quickly as I rang the doorbell.

2. Why The Global Economy Is Recovering Faster Than Expected

The economic impact of coronavirus continues to surprise. In the spring, previously unimaginable shutdowns pushed economic activity to unimaginable lows. After the initial shock, however, perhaps the biggest surprise has been how fears of systemic meltdown remain unfulfilled — the initial bounce back was far stronger and sooner than expected, and some sectors of the U.S. and other economies have seen complete recoveries to pre-crisis levels of activity.

While the stronger-than-expected recovery aligns with the business experience of many leaders we speak with, they still wonder what drove the gap between expectations and reality — and whether it can last. To answer these questions, we need to look at various recession types and their drivers, how Covid-19 fits in, and what this cycle’s idiosyncrasies are.

As the coronavirus forced the economy into shutdown, a brutal economic contraction unfolded, breaking many (negative) records in the process. Yet, the sustained impact was broadly overestimated — both systemically and cyclically — as the intensity of the shock fueled widespread economic pessimism.

3. Coworking making a comeback amid work from home fatigue

According to the latest Coworking Market Report, the coworking spaces industry is expected to shrink from $9.27 billion in 2019 to $8.24 billion in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. However, recent developments seem to suggest the worst may be over for the industry.

The big news in coworking this month is all about the surge in memberships coworking operator WeWork experienced in September.
A WeWork spokesperson reported that they sold 13 times more All Access passes in September than they did in August. They’re also seeing four times more single desk bookings.

WeWork and other coworking companies are taking advantage of this renewed interest in shared spaces.

4. Why Workplace?

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, business press headlines have declared a range of impacts on the workplace, from the end of the office as we know it to the absolute necessity of in-person workplaces like never before.

Looking to industry itself reveals similarly divergent responses. As just one stark example, Facebook presents the seeming paradox of committing to remote work as a permanent option for its employees while simultaneously doubling down on millions of square feet of new prestige office space on Manhattan’s West Side. How can we reconcile such extreme contradictions?

We believe it comes down to “why.” Why do we go to the office, and why is the communal workplace important?

To understand how executives in our networks are thinking about this issue, we have hosted a series of roundtables.

5. Come for the Desk, Stay for the Pool

With the coronavirus pandemic relentlessly pounding the travel industry, major hotel operators such as Marriott International Inc., Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corp. are dipping their toes into the personal-office business. With many people growing bored of working in isolation at home but unable or reluctant to return to their workplace, hotel rooms offer a change of scenery, a quiet setting and regularly sanitized public spaces.

Some hotels are promoting day passes at reduced rates while others offer longer-term packages for seven days or more that waive resort fees or include a complimentary second room for guests’ children.

“The long-term trend of how we fill hotels will likely shift,” said Peggy Fang Roe, global officer of customer experience at Marriott. “We’re seeing increasing leisure travelers, but it’s not 365 days and it’s not going to fill all of our hotels.”

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

Ken Ashley