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Construction is one of modern society鈥檚 most energy-intensive activities, and not only in terms of fossil fuels. Working in construction can be draining and you need to stay at peak fitness if you鈥檙e going to deal with the job at hand. For nobody is this more important than the construction boss, rising at dawn to attend early morning breakfast meetings and resting only after an evening schmoozing clients or answering late-night emails. In the intervening hours, they must juggle the conflicting demands of high-profile projects and large numbers of disparate employees, placate shareholders and suppliers and be prepared to fly round the world at the drop of a hat. In short, who better to take advice from on keeping your energy levels up?

The main contractor鈥檚 lot is perhaps the most stressful, as Vaughan Burnand of Shepherd Construction can testify: 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely gruelling, just the sheer number of issues you need to be aware of and all the things you have to remember.鈥� Don鈥檛 believe him? 鈥淚f you鈥檙e running a 拢300m enterprise, you鈥檝e got 3500 direct and indirect employees, 50 projects on site, some of which are going all right, some of which are failing, and that鈥檚 50 customers who might be demanding your attention. You鈥檝e got accounts that haven鈥檛 been settled, issues with money, marketing, business development, negotiation on new contracts 鈥︹��

So how does he cope? 鈥淕enerally, you don鈥檛 get selected for the job if you don鈥檛 have an appetite for work, self-flagellation 鈥︹�� But how do you maintain that level of activity day in, day out? Burnand says he goes to the gym and plays golf at the weekend, but admits it鈥檚 not easy to fit these activities in: 鈥淭he job sucks away your time 鈥� I鈥檇 rather be at work at seven in the morning than in the gym. And there鈥檚 all the socialising 鈥� it鈥檚 the only way you can get to know people properly. I鈥檝e only been home three nights in the past month.鈥�

Mike Nightingale, chair of architect Nightingale Associates, also has to do his fair share of corporate entertaining and eating out with clients. Such a rich diet can sap your energy, but Nightingale tries to minimise the effects. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e always got to be polite on the night, but I try not to eat much before or after 鈥� I only have one big meal a day. I eat very healthily and I don鈥檛 drink much 鈥� moderation in all things. I eat fish or vegetarian food and drink lots of orange juice. I have a healthy breakfast and a light lunch. What do I have for breakfast? Bran flakes with an apple cut up and orange juice 鈥� although I might have a cooked breakfast if I鈥檓 in a nice hotel, but then I won鈥檛 have any lunch.鈥�

Nightingale needs to keep fit to keep pace with his fast-growing firm 鈥� the staff has tripled to 300 in the past three years. As a result, the structure of the company has changed, with Nightingale giving up the joint chief executive role and appointing several new senior staff to share the burden. That doesn鈥檛 lessen the most exhausting part of the job however 鈥� the travel. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got 10 or 11 offices in the UK and one in Dubai. I try and keep travelling down to a minimum but I鈥檓 in at least three different centres in a week.鈥� No posh company car for him, though: 鈥淚 much prefer to go on public transport and work on the train, even if it does take longer. If you鈥檙e driving for four hours, it鈥檚 just wasted time.鈥�

If running a firm of 300 people is tiring, surely keeping tabs on nearly 14,000 worldwide has got to be something of a challenge? Not a bit of it, says Atkins chief executive Keith Clarke 鈥� and he loves his job. But he admits: 鈥淭he most draining bit is not problem solving, it鈥檚 supporting your staff and making judgments about their careers, which you can get easily wrong.鈥�

Keeping an eye on shareholder value and talking to investors takes up a fair amount of Clarke鈥檚 time, but he reckons that managing staff is more important: 鈥淚f you get the people bit right, the money comes in.鈥�

He also has to travel for work, and is often exhausted when he arrives at his destinations. 鈥淚 always fall asleep at about 2pm in the Far East, halfway through meetings. That鈥檚 usually when most of the decisions get made.鈥� (See 鈥淜eith Clarke鈥檚 travel guide鈥�.)

Clarke recommends avoiding unnecessary work 鈥� just because you鈥檙e emailed a million reports a day, you don鈥檛 have to read them. 鈥淵ou get sent more and more information at the top of an organisation but actually you should be using less 鈥� I鈥檓 meant to work stuff out without knowing the facts, making decisions before things happen.鈥�

Mark van den Berg, chairman of QS Northcroft, agrees that advances in IT systems, and email in particular, stretches an already long working day. The most exhausting part of van den Berg鈥檚 job is complying with government regulations and the demands of Companies House. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all the bureaucracy, red tape and the government legislative framework 鈥� it鈥檚 not what I became a QS for,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ast night I was dealing with an email at 11 o鈥檆lock 鈥� but at least I was at home.鈥�

Even though he鈥檚 at the top of the management tree, van den Berg likes to keep his hand in running projects. He鈥檚 joined a gym but only finds the time to go twice a month. Instead, he keeps fit by avoiding red meat and rich sauces and walking to meetings. 鈥淵ou can get to most places in London in half an hour. It鈥檚 too easy to put on weight and boring to lose it.鈥�

You could say the industry鈥檚 most precious reserves of natural energy reside not under the North Sea but in a bowl of bran flakes, a piece of grilled fish and a bottle of mineral water. But there鈥檚 one more important ingredient 鈥� unbridled enthusiasm. All of the energetic bosses who found time to talk to 黑洞社区 for this article echo Clarke when he says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just enjoyable by and large, so I don鈥檛 find it exhausting. This chief exec lark 鈥� we鈥檙e the lucky ones.鈥�