According to economists at the Nationwide Building Society Islington in north London came out as the top hotspot last year with growth
According to economists at the Nationwide Building Society, Islington in north London came out as the top "hotspot" last year with growth of 29 per cent. The "new Labour" factor accounts for part of the rise but the area is also closely linked geographically and financially to the City and banks' bonuses were good at the start of 1997 and 1998, which created an influx of cash buyers. Ealing in west London came second in 1998 with a 23 per cent rise. Part of the boom there is down to the "BBC factor" - extra workers were relocated to nearby White City from central London last year And it's not only London owners who have benefited. If you are truly warped, you can even use a website to draw up a graph comparing the value of your house with a similar property anywhere else in the country ( www.upmystreet ). But be warned: don't do it if you live in Rotherham because the line would point depressingly downwards; house prices here dropped 10 per cent in 1998. For those who bought in parts of London in 1995 and 1996, however, this gives the opportunity to be unbearably smug.
The value of homes in certain parts of the capital have risen by more than 20 per cent in a year. (I plead guilty on this one - since 1996 I have made pounds 70,000 on a flat bought for pounds 107,000. Go on, just hate me.) So there has been a boom, but it's been patchy. Announce that your modest home is now worth twice as much as you paid for it and you are guaranteed to engender seething resentment and prickling jealousy among those of your friends who haven't been so lucky. Pays lip-service to family values and prayer but has been exposed as a liar and an adulterer.Gus, head of the fictitious newsroom in the Channel 4 satire, 'Drop the Dead Donkey': A hopeless toady to those above him and patroniser of those below, with a penchant for management jargon Described as "slimy, grasping, untrustworthy".. Few legal stimulants can generate as much instant passion as a good house-price debate. Mark Tully, BBC India correspondent, accused him of creating a "climate of fear".
The late Dennis Potter said that "fear and loathing was swirling jugular high" under his ruling. Robert Maxwell, the late head of the Mirror newspaper group: Not-so- benign dictator A browbeater extraordinaire, of family as well as employees Routinely publicly humiliated employees, including his sons "A man of immense ego... he had a complete disregard for the sensibilities of others," wrote journalist Roy Greenslade. A Department of Trade and Industry report deemed him unfit to run a public company.Bill Clinton, US President: Leading exponent of "Do as I say, not as I do". "If you ask your typical Footsie chief exec what makes a good leader he'll tell you smugly that it is something that you either have or you haven't." A sea- change in thinking will not come overnight "We just have to keep bashing away," says Ian Lawson.
"Apart from the bottom line benefit, it is the right way to deal with people That might sound corny But these are human beings, not human doings.". Chris Evans, television and radio presenter: Has given his staff dressingdowns on air. His former personal assistant said, "People are treated appallingly at Ginger [his company] and the climate of fear comes from the top. Everyone is so scared of Chris they call him God behind his back." Sir John Birt, Director-General of the BBC: Michael Grade said Birt made the BBC "an airtight fortress from which no stray opinion is permitted to escape". "If people are fully engaged they must be more use to the organisation they work for," says Ian Lawson. "If the most you have from your employees is compliance they won't do so well."However, not everyone is won over.
"The big bosses are going to take some convincing," sniffed one Financial Times columnist. When they leave or are brought down, which often happens - look at Mrs Thatcher - there is a vacuum. "The historical paradigm about leadership is that a leader is usually a man, often a military figure, very focused so that nothing will get in their way. This kind of white-charger leadership is very charismatic - they lead and everyone follows But it's very personality-centred. "The top 100 consistently underrated themselves - they showed a real humbleness and a willingness to learn."It is to companies' advantage to take these new principles on board, says Ian Lawson. The bottom 100 don't listen, don't comment, don't seek feedback, don't recognise stress in others - they are all task and ego-focused." However, getting these old-fashioned types to change their ways may be difficult. "The bottom 100 managers consistently overrated their own performance, even though their teams thought they were rubbish," says Ian Lawson.