When Millions are at Stake

When millions are at stake, but the next lead­er­ship deci­sion is still up in the air

by Antho­ny Baumruk

A complex prop­er­ty port­fo­lio, crit­i­cal financ­ing nego­ti­a­tions and mount­ing pres­sure to act: a lead­er­ship posi­tion is not always vacant when addi­tion­al lead­er­ship is urgent­ly needed.

A prop­er­ty compa­ny is facing a crucial phase. Sever­al assets are under­per­form­ing against their busi­ness plans, major tenan­cy agree­ments are due to expire in the coming years, and neces­sary invest­ments are strain­ing liquid­i­ty plan­ning. At the same time, refi­nanc­ing is on the hori­zon. Banks expect robust cash flow fore­casts, clear action plans and an expe­ri­enced point of contact who can take respon­si­bil­i­ty for diffi­cult decisions.

The share­hold­ers are increas­ing­ly ques­tion­ing whether asset manage­ment, with its current lead­er­ship and team struc­ture, can still meet the increased demands. The discus­sion centres not only on the future compo­si­tion of the asset management’s lead­er­ship or exec­u­tive team, but also on the perfor­mance, distri­b­u­tion of respon­si­bil­i­ties and strate­gic direc­tion of the entire team. A possi­ble reor­gan­i­sa­tion of person­nel and struc­ture is being exam­ined in confi­dence, whilst the exist­ing struc­tures remain unchanged for the time being. Yet time is of the essence: investors expect results; banks and financ­ing part­ners expect robust figures and reli­able points of contact; and the day-to-day busi­ness requires clear prior­i­ties and consis­tent decision-making.

The solu­tion

A high-cali­bre inter­im Manag­ing Direc­tor or Senior Head of Asset Manage­ment takes on a fixed-term, clear­ly defined special mandate on behalf of the company’s manage­ment. They analyse the crit­i­cal assets, scru­ti­nise exist­ing busi­ness plans, priori­tise measures rele­vant to value and liquid­i­ty, and facil­i­tate chal­leng­ing discus­sions with banks, investors and other stakeholders.

In doing so, they bring not only in-depth asset manage­ment exper­tise but also the neces­sary senior­i­ty to medi­ate complex conflicts of inter­est, iden­ti­fy strate­gic options for action and prepare deci­sions at share­hold­er level.

The added value

The compa­ny imme­di­ate­ly gains addi­tion­al lead­er­ship exper­tise for a busi­ness-crit­i­cal phase. Financ­ing risks are addressed in a struc­tured manner, port­fo­lio perfor­mance is consis­tent­ly managed, and the confi­dence of key stake­hold­ers is strength­ened. At the same time, the share­hold­ers are provid­ed with a sound basis for deter­min­ing the future manage­ment struc­ture with­out making hasty decisions.

When it is worthwhile

When econom­ic pres­sure to act, chal­leng­ing bank­ing rela­tion­ships and strate­gic lead­er­ship issues converge – and an expe­ri­enced indi­vid­ual is need­ed who thinks entre­pre­neuri­al­ly, commu­ni­cates at the high­est level and takes respon­si­bil­i­ty even in complex situations.

Not every lead­er­ship gap is a vacant position.

VIA places expe­ri­enced inter­im exec­u­tives at C‑level, Manag­ing Direc­tor and Head-of-level – for situ­a­tions where expe­ri­ence, discre­tion and entre­pre­neur­ial confi­dence make all the difference.

What makes this case special

Unlike tradi­tion­al vacan­cy-fill­ing, this case involves sever­al high­ly complex chal­lenges occur­ring simultaneously:

• Banks & Refinancing
  • Covenant risks, upcom­ing loan renewals, poten­tial addi­tion­al collat­er­al require­ments and diffi­cult discus­sions with financ­ing partners.
• Port­fo­lio & Value Performance
  • Vacan­cies, CapEx back­logs, falling valu­a­tions, divest­ment deci­sions and assets with busi­ness plans at risk.
• Share­hold­ers & leadership
  • Conflict­ing inter­ests, confi­den­tial succes­sion plan­ning and the need to main­tain organ­i­sa­tion­al stabil­i­ty despite unre­solved person­nel issues.
• Stake­hold­ers & reputation
  • Safe­guard­ing the trust of investors, joint venture part­ners, tenants and banks with­out trig­ger­ing further uncer­tain­ty through contra­dic­to­ry messages.
• Discre­tion & Governance
  • Estab­lish­ing a special role that is clear­ly defined in legal and organ­i­sa­tion­al terms, with­out under­min­ing the exist­ing manage­ment through covert paral­lel structures.

The crucial point: The inter­im manag­er must be given a cred­i­ble mandate with the appro­pri­ate powers. Partic­u­lar­ly when it comes to commu­ni­ca­tion with banks and sensi­tive HR issues, their role must not be based on infor­mal influence.