Week One: Organizational Culture at Lincolnshire Management

While reflecting upon my first week at Lincolnshire Management, I realized that working in an established private equity firm, with an entirely male executive staff, was not at all like what I had expected. Entering into a field as rigorously competitive as finance, I expected to have a rigidly structured day, with specific tasks and assignments  to be submitted at certain intervals. To my surprise, my days spent at Lincolnshire Management are anything but structured. For example, this week at Lincolnshire, I’ve edited NDA’s, completed financial models, taken 2 hour lunches with executives, and even sat in on meetings with the CEO. Each day has delivered a new opportunity to experience, listen, and learn.

As is quite typical of corporate culture within the investment industry, the lower ranking members of the company are expected to arrive at work before their bosses, and leave work after their superiors depart. Although Lincolnshire does stick to this practice, in actuality it is quite more lenient than I ever expected. There is no formalized system of clocking in and out, because employees are paid by a daily rate. Subsequently, many employees choose to work the hours that work best for them. Specifically, my boss David, a University of Richmond alumni, arrives between 9:45-10:00am, and leaves at 7:00pm on any typical day. I found this practice of not logging hours extremely intriguing. Instead of working 9 hours a day, employees at Lincolnshire can complete their work as they please, within reason of course, during the work day. This places an extremely large burden of responsibility on employees, since neither they, nor I, are constantly being supervised or watched in the office. I’ve found that as a result of this policy, all of Lincolnshire’s employee’s are self driven, extremely motivated, and excited about what they do each day.

Further, the employees at Lincolnshire Management communicate extremely well with one another. Most messages and approval requests are communicated through short face to face meetings, rather than over email, as I had previously expected. Additionally I believe that the open layout and glass offices help to foster communication between employees and allow information to flow easily throughout Lincolnshire. Most employees, including me, choose to leave their office doors open and welcome short friendly conversations from any employee passing by. I have felt welcome at Lincolnshire from day one, and I believe that the small size of the firm was integral for my quick and easy acclimation and integration into the company.