“Once you have seen one Family Office, you have seen one Family Office.”
In the same way that every family is different, every Family Office has its own set of idiosyncrasies which separates it from the next but where there are stark differences there are also great similarities and one thing on everyone’s radar since the end of the pandemic is humanity.
Whether it is philanthropic giving, making a social impact or humanising the money you create, Family Office professionals are increasingly conscious about being human in their day-to-day roles.
We conduct several interviews with thought-leaders at Agreus and since the start of 2022, each has made a reference to the importance of being human.
These are just some of the ways that Family Office professionals are bringing humanity into their everyday roles as Family Office professionals.
Fiona Spence McNeil is the Director of Residences for a Single Family Office in Florida. She urges you to be human in the recruitment process. She said: “I often say there is a hidden resume. In this hidden resume are the things we often forget. When people interview we tend to interview on a corporate level, career and educational driven but again, in the Family Office world and behind the mask, you need to find the basis and the source of the person. In doing that I now say I’ve found the hidden resume. You will find skillsets that people never put on their resume that in this industry are so helpful. I hired a housekeeper for instance who upon joining mentioned that she was a trained florist. She hadn’t deemed this relevant but it was amazing. I could suddenly save thousands of dollars each year on professional flower arrangements, she also told me that she had been an Executive Assistant previously, again great, now you can help out on the administrative tasks, another had been an engineer in her own country, great you can help out with mechanical tasks. There is a hidden resume for everybody and I think it is something that is missed but can be so useful. Things like languages, hobbies. For most corporate roles they are deemed irrelevant but in our reality, it is amazing. It is about humanising your staff and by doing so producing success. Your team is everything and how you treat them determines your level of success. It is 50% skillset and 50% personality.”
Lalit Sharma is the Operations Director at a Single Family Office in London. He thinks starting your day with kindness is the key to remaining human in this industry. “No two days are the same but regardless, I like a routine and I like to have a plan and the first thing I do in the morning is 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!”
Russell Grey is a Close Protection Officer to Family Offices. He echoed this importance of being human by saying: “I take my role and its requirements incredibly seriously but I try not to take myself too seriously because in spite of the success and wealth that my clients have, they are human beings. As humans, we are genetically wired to want to connect and they cannot build that connection with someone who is aloof or stand-offish. I try to show the human side when appropriate, going back to Emotional Intelligence, if I feel the timing is right, I may crack a joke or make a light hearted observation. Of course, it has to be at an appropriate time, and I have to gauge that very carefully. It is not about us, it is about our clients and we need to make them feel comfortable, in every sense. A good friend and mentor of mine once said; ‘Through our jobs we get to witness and touch the edges of a life we would never have otherwise got to experience. It is like being invited to the best party in the world. But never forget we are only guests. It’s not our party.’”
Charu Ghandi is an Interior Designer to affluent families and Family Offices. While she designs grand buildings, she said we are all fundamentally human. She said: “We engage with our clients on a very human level and in a very positive way, we do not treat our clients differently but rather, we are cognisant of the demands of their time and cognisant their expectations. Ultimately, whatever your net worth, we all share the same fundamental requirements. We all want to feel safe; we all want our children to feel safe, we want a space that allows us to be the very best version of ourselves. UHNW homes are becoming less about typical markers of luxury and more about living authentically and connecting with who they are and what matters to them.”
Kedra Winter is in-house legal counsel for a London-based Single Family Office. She said: “I do not come from the traditional trajectory. If you look at my LinkedIn profile you might think well, grammar school, Oxford University, Barrister. Very traditional but actually, my dad was a builder, my mum was an accountant for my father’s firm and so everything I have, my father built with his own hands. Lawyers are a luxury and actually there are those who really need help who just do not know where to go, are scared or have been told they cannot afford help and so do not receive it. I very rarely say I can’t do anything. That can be from someone down the road who has a tree fallen down and does not know how to communicate with the insurance company to those with ongoing legal matters. It is important to help and not expect back and I think always remembering that who you are is an accident of birth and not a God-given right means you need to look after those who need it. There was a person who once said the way you treat the unfortunate is a measure of society and I think it is important to do this. When you are surrounded by so much it is important to remember those who do not have it and if you can help, you should.”
Do you think the human touch is the key to Family Office success?