How to Deal With Getting Layered
Currently at a LMM fund. We have a 3-4 associates / senior associates, 2 VPs (including myself), and a few Principals.
I've been working directly with the Partners on new deals and my Portco staffings. This has been super efficient and I've gotten great exposure and responsibility. However, we just hired a new Principal who is now staffed on a few of my deals alongside me. It's certainly caused some difficulty in adjusting to a new presence, especially someone who technically "outranks" me. It's resulted in me not working the way I would normally work (i.e. do I respond to emails asap the way I usually do, or do I give the new Principal the courtesy of responding first, how should I be including him...etc.). It's been even more challenging because they come from another PE firm with a different industry focus so they aren't super familiar with the current industries / sectors we invest in.
Anyone have any experience with this type of situation and any advice you could offer?
Had to deal with that as a SA with a VP once, it’s definitely an awkward experience and can be pretty painful / annoying.
Maybe generic advice but I definitely think it’s worth getting coffee with the principal and talking through exactly what working together will look like and setting expectations on both sides so neither of you feels like you’re encroaching on each other’s turf. I would imagine they’re double staffing you guys right now so that he can get up to speed on the industry and your internal processes for the first few reps before they run you both independently going forward. If it’s a concern 6 months from now, I’d bring it up with a partner (in a diplomatic way).
Agree - and in addition, I view this as an opportunity, as someone already mentioned. They would not staff a shit VP/SA with a new Principal. They gave you the opportunity to train up this Principal. Good luck.
Communication is key - tell him you're going to respond, or tell him he can respond, don't just let it sit.
My personal opinion, don't be arrogant, but you've been there longer and you know the lay of the land, so use it to your advantage.
He's walked into your world, so you have the opportunity to take control and frame his interactions with you. Until you get him up to speed and then he should likely view you as a "partner" and not a junior.
If you've been working with the senior guys so closely, they obviously trust you, so you're likely not being layered due to incompetence.
This is an opportunity for you, I think.
A good Principal should hopefully be able to balance carving out their own niche and value add, while making sure that they lean on you heavily for the first few months to figure out deal cadence, how the partners like to work, how to get up to speed, etc. If I were the Principal, frankly, I would have reached out to you to ask you for help/ask you about your working style as soon as I could, but tha'ts just me.
With that said, this is part of corporate life, managing up and down. At the end of the day, your goal is to try and make this guy look good because that will ultimately benefit you and the firm. At the same time, if the guy is insecure, a jerk, blames you for things, is trying to take credit, etc. I wouldn't let that fly at all. As a VP, you have enough status in the firm to hold your ground within reason.
As mentioned above, I'd get coffee with the guy, go out to lunch, set up an hour meeting, etc and walk through how things typically work across diligence, portco work, etc, basically anything you're doing that he might become a part of, and then I'd suggest how to propose to bring him into the loop and see what he has to say. My opinion is that you'll want to guide him which gives you some control over what you're proposing to him and doesn't let him run wild on trying to impose changes that might be irrelevant or unnecessarily. You ideally want him to feel included and in control as a decision maker, even though your managing him to make sure he's not having out oversized impact and that you're still really in charge of the day to day. I'd think you could do this by doing things like cc'ing him on all emails, presenting him with drafts of things normally meant to go directly to a partner a day before so he can look at them, provide comments, etc. Make him feel like he's contributing and overseeing.
Plus as a tenured employee, it's easy to say things like "I've worked with xyz partner on a bunch of deals, they typically like to operate this way..." With all that said, I'd brace yourself for a little bit of changed workflows, additional work, etc. For example if you have a typical diligence package you put together, be prepared to have that new person chime in with some comments, create some work, etc. They're going to want to feel like they're in control. It's on your to give them that control, wihtout it creating a bunch of unnecessary and silly work, which is what I've experienced in the past with mid senior level people coming in. Also, it might also be useful to guide him as to how the existing principals currently work/interact with you. Again, something that he should hopefully be pro active on, but giving him the "hey typically the way I work with *insert existing principal* is that we xyz. How does that sound?"
Last thing, give him a little space to settle in, be open to learning from him, even if it seems like he's bumbling around the first few months, switching firms is tough, as long as he's not arrogant/entitled, hopefully you can find a good cadence to settle into.
OP here - thanks everyone for the helpful advice, these are all extremely insightful and much appreciated. I'm planning on grabbing coffee / lunch with them next week to talk through expectations and plan how to work together that can take advantage of both our strengths.
One thing that is frustrating is that I was given the opportunity to work directly with the partners, and was excelling in that role, because I loved the extreme ownership that I felt. It definitely made my work product better and I shot up the learning curve. Now with someone in between, I'm concerned that it'll have an impact on my "drive" if I now feel like I'm just answering to another mid-level again. I'm also concerned that it'll create this perception that I "need" someone to be layered on top of me.
I also am aware enough to understand I'm probably overthinking this and shouldn't act so territorial and standoffish. I don't want to be "that guy" that is abrasive to work with. It's a normal situation that as the fund grows so will our team, so it's unrealistic to expect that the team's dynamic and method of staffing will stay static forever.
Been on the other side as the new guy and it feel odd when the existing junior guys act arrogant and / or make it seem like they don't give 2 shits or include you. Remember if you both stay here 5+ years, you will do more damage than good to yourself. This person may be partner when you are principal. Pick your battles and put your happy face on. And yes he does outrank you - don't forget that. None of us work for our own family offices.
How did your situation end up working out?
Have experience with sr associates/VPs butting in unnecessarily between myself and a principal before. Frankly, from my perspective, take as much ownership as possible it only ever looks favorably upon you and makes your principals job easier - the only people who will be offended are those who don’t actually add value. Make it known this new guy is redundant because end of the day he took a spot that could have been yours.
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