Lalit Sharma is a Real Estate, Yacht and Events Director at a Single Family Office in London. His role is incredibly varied and can in a matter of days include travelling to the South of France to oversee some of the family’s yachts to opening a 5-star apartment complex in London and having afternoon tea with the Matriarch. Having spent more than a decade within the Family Office, Lalit is considered a family confidant and so this role is more personal than most. Here he tells Agreus what a day in his life looks like.
What is your morning routine?
No two days are the same but regardless, I like a routine and I like to have a plan.
I have a young family and so the first thing I do in the morning is get the children ready for school. I then offer my prayer and gratitude to the Universe (the creator), I have recently started a new habit in lockdown which has brought me great joy and a lot of peace which is to feed the wildlife in my garden. Every morning I walk to the end of my garden and offer bread to the birds and squirrels which prepares me for less calming days at work!
Once I get to the office, I insist on chairing a morning meeting which is something I bring with me from my hotel background. Things in a Family Office can change overnight and the plan you had devised on a Wednesday evening may no longer be applicable by Thursday morning so it is imperative we touch base with every member of staff and prepare for the day ahead be it budgeting, checking-in on properties or hosting world leaders.
What do you wear?
There is no official dress code at my Family Office but I am very conscious of the image and family name we represent. In this world, you need to walk the talk and dress up according to the needs of your client, the impression you need to make and the person you are about to meet. You could have a Prime Minister visiting or an encounter with a multi-billionaire at any moment so you cannot be in jeans or trainers but while this is easy to maintain in London, it gets a little complicated when travelling. One day I could be having lunch with the family, another checking-in on our yachts in the South of France. Each of course requires a different dress code. Then again however, I sometimes host business meetings in the Villa & yacht and so in short, I must ensure I carry a business suit with me – wherever I go!
What is in your go-to work bag?
I am quite traditional and still like good old-fashioned business cards. As a result of that and being with my Family Office for over 11 years, I have quite the collection which I keep with me. I am also quite the creative so have a collection of pens, in every possible colour which I chose to write in depending on the mood of the day!
Other than that, I have a selection of information relating to each of our assets which while not making much sense to anyone else, allow me to travel between yachts and apartments across the world.
What is your favourite part of your role?
It doesn’t feel like work. You are moving from one home to another, one family to another and so it does not always feel like you are work. You are simply ensuring one house; one family and one project runs smoothly at any one time which you would do in your home life.
What are the challenges?
Every job has its challenges, we would lie if we said there are none. The biggest challenge within a Family Office is that there is no scope for “no” and there is no chance that you can lower the standard at any cost, so you need to strike a balance between delivering every single time but ensuring it is always of a high-enough standard to meet the expectations of the family. There are days where I wish I had a crystal ball but we make it work somehow.
How many hats do you wear on a daily basis?
I wear many hats on a day-to-day basis, the good part is that coming from a hospitality background, I do not mind getting my hands dirty and it makes the role exciting. Everything my staff and I do has to be of a certain standard to uphold the reputation of my Family, as a result, it does not matter what my ‘role’ or ‘title’ is – if something needs to happen to protect their name and reputation, I will do it.
Everyday is busy. I today returned from Cannes and have just learned that tomorrow we have to organise a big Gala event. It is the way of the world we work in and I often find myself wanting to multiply myself just to be in two if not three places at the same time. There are some tricks that you pick up over the years such as using travel time to organise your diary but whatever the plan, I’ll be there to run the show, even if it has to be with puffy eyes.
To offer an example of just how unexpected and chaotic a day in a Family Office can be, we once hosted the President of another country for lunch. He was meant to come with an entourage of 16 people. It was 60 people he brought. The food was catered for just over a quarter of the delegates and so we very quickly had to divide the rooms, create a top table and run down to the kitchen and get involved in the food preparation, boil additional rice and make a luxurious meal for 16 stretch to more than 50. My role is to make the day run smoothly without anyone else knowing what has happened behind the scenes.
What is the key to success in a Family Office?
To succeed in a Family Office you need patience, perseverance, an eye for detail and a strong networking book. You need a trusted circle of allies that you can call upon and reach instantly to solve a problem presented by the family which in my case is an extensive book of property developers and property maintenance workers in each of the countries we have assets in.
You also need to be a master of everything, jack of none. In some industries this is far from the case but in Family Offices you need to be a problem solver first, specialist second and you need to solve problems to the highest possible standard.