Leadership Skills Versus Management Skills
Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard gave an excellent definition regarding management and leadership in their book, “Management of Organizational Behavior”, which help us better understand the qualifications of leadership skills:
How to Deal When You Just Can’t Take It Anymore
Are you going through one of those times in your life where it feels like pressure and stress is coming down on you from every direction? The saying “when it rains it pours” is often a good description of the way we feel when we are stressed out. It can be easy to decide that you simply cannot deal with the excessive pressures that have been placed on you, but giving up like this is the easy way out. You deserve better from yourself!
You can fight back against the pressures using affirmations targeting excessive pressures. Free positive affirmations will help you look at the pressures that you are struggling with and make them have a purpose.
It may not feel like it right now, but did you know that pressure is a good thing? It’s true that excessive pressure can make the best of us crumble, but it doesn’t have to. You just have to learn how to deal with the pressures that are placed on you in the most positive way. The way that you can do this is by learning some pressure affirmations. These seemingly simple statements can help you break down the overwhelming sources of pressure so that you can deal with them in a more constructive way.
There’s a Purpose to Excessive Pressures?
Pressure affirmations remind us that there is a purpose behind the pressure, usually to keep us going. When you begin to look at all of the pressures that are raining down on you in this way you will find that they can actually motivate you, which will make getting through this hard time a lot easier. Free positive affirmations can help remind you that you are a strong person and you are capable of taking on anything. When you give the excessive pressures in your life a purpose you will find that they are not as cumbersome as they once were!
What if you could turn the crippling pressures in your life into motivation to push forward, would you do it? Are you thinking that this may not be possible because the weight of the world is on your shoulders?
The fact is that anyone can use free positive affirmations and take whatever is stressing them out, pressuring them, or tearing them down physically and emotionally and make it work for them. These short little sayings will remind you that you have the power to control these pressures. You have the power to harness these pressures and use them to move you forward.
Instead of simply throwing your hands up in the air and giving in to excessive pressure, learn and use a few free positive affirmations instead. Repeat positive statements to yourself constantly, such as: “I am confident and capable of tackling anything that comes my way.”
You will be surprised what these positive thoughts can do to help you move forward and make what seemed like an insurmountable task much easier. Life isn’t easy and you are going to encounter high stress and excessive pressures from time to time, but how you deal with them will determine how successful you are under pressure. Use free positive affirmations to your advantage every time, you’ll be better for it!
Property Development – What’s an Entitlement and Why Do I Need it to Build?
What is An Entitlement?
The definition of entitlement with regard to land development is the legal method of obtaining approvals for the right to develop property for a particular use. The entitlement process is complicated, time consuming and can be costly, but know what you can and can’t do with a piece of property is vital to determining the real estate feasibility of your project. Some examples of entitlements are as follows:
Entitlement Examples:
1. Zoning and zoning variances for building heights, number of parking spaces, setbacks. Your land use attorneys and zoning experts come into play here. My advice is to heavily rely on their expertise and follow their directions to avoid unnecessary delays in your approval process.
2. Rezoning. Depending on the current use allowed for the property, you might need to have the site rezoned which is a complicated process and sometimes cannot be done.
3 Use Permits. You may need to obtain conditional use permits and this goes hand in hand with zoning and zoning variances.
4. Road approvals. Do you need to put in existing roads? Who maintains the roads? Are there shared roads via easements? These are all questions that you need to have the answers to and be prepared to comply with in the regulatory process.
5 Utility approvals. Are utilities available to the site? Do you need to donate land to the city in exchange for utility entitlements? Again, you will need to comply with the municipality regulations and standards.
6. Landscaping approvals. The city planning and development agencies must also approve your design and landscaping. Your architect and engineers will be most helpful in this area.
Hire an Experienced Development Team:
The best advise is to hire an experienced development team of architects, developers, lawyers, project consultants, civil, soil, landscape and structural engineers and consultants at the onset to help you analyze, review, interpret and advise you regarding design studies, applicable zoning and code requirements, and maximum development potential of the property. Without an experienced team, it is extremely difficult and a lot of time will be wasted in trying to complete the regulatory process because the very nature of the regulatory process is so complicated.
Here is how the process works. First, remember to keep in mind that the process is very slow and frustrating and can take approximately 3 to 12 months or sometimes years depending on how complicated the project is. Part of the reason is that each city planner has different interpretations of their local rules. Today, approvals involve jurisdictions overlapping such as city, county and state and these jurisdictions do not communicate with each other. It is extremely crucial that you establish good working relationships with these planners to obtain your approvals. Again, this is why you need to work with a development team that has already built these relationships with local staff of the local jurisdiction where your property will be developed. These relationships will streamline and help to expedite your approval process. Your experienced team of experts will be able to negotiate issues for you and eliminate additional requests by the local jurisdiction to avoid further delays in obtaining your approvals.
Regulatory Process:
Majority of development projects must go through certain aspects of the entitlement process and some projects will be required to go through several public hearing processes for approval depending on each jurisdiction’s rules. To begin, commercial development of land requires a review and approval from the local Development Review Board or Planning Department Review Division. Each municipality has a different name but the functions are similar.
The process starts with obtaining site approval from the local Planning and Development Department. By contacting the local Planning and Development Department Review Division, your expert team will then put together a land use pre-application which complies with the codes of that particular jurisdiction. By complying with the codes, this will eliminate additional requests by the jurisdiction, further review and extension and unnecessary delays of the approval process. Next a meeting date will be set. You and/or your representatives will meet with the Planning Department to discuss the proposed project and review process. The process includes approval of your site plan, elevations, colors, landscaping, vicinity map, etc. Environmental information will need to be submitted also. There is usually a fee that accompanies the application. The fees vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If for some reason your site plan is denied, you can appeal to the City Council. The appeal process varies from each jurisdiction. Once you obtain site approval, then you will need design approval, master use permits. The design approval process is where your architect will design the building shell, core layout, exterior appearance, building height, site layout, landscaping concepts, traffic impact, site access and utility layouts and submit them for approval. Neighborhood hearings are generally required for all general plan conditional use permits. You may be required to send out written notice or post information on the site. Normally the City will send notices to the neighbors also. Signs should be placed on the property, and an open house meeting is generally held. Your development team will be instrumental in advising and assisting you so that you have a higher probability of achieving success in obtaining neighborhood approval. Be prepared, even if you comply with the regulatory process codes and regulations, there is always the possibility that the neighborhood may have their own agenda and that the hearings and decisions may not be favorable to your project going forward. This is where your attorneys and the rest of your development team’s expertise and participation are crucial.
If wetlands are located on the property you will need special documentation that states whether the Wetlands Act applies or not. If it does, either it will result in significant or insignificant impact as granted by evidence of a permit. Sometimes it is best to set aside or donate the wetlands portion of the property and avoid development issues. Your development team will be able to advise you on the best course of action once they have assessed all the information and reviewed the reports.