Leader/Follower Relations at Lincolnshire Management

The organizational hierarchy and leader/follower dynamics at Lincolnshire Management are very rigid and structured. At the very bottom of the hierarchy are interns, such as myself, followed by analysts and then low level associates. The next rank above associate is senior associate, who reports directly to the vice president of the organization. The vice president reports to the principal, who in turn is responsible to the managing director. Those ranked above the managing director are C-suite employees, which include the CEO, CFO, and COO. Finally, the highest ranked personnel at Lincolnshire are the IC, or investment committee. Interestingly, as an intern at Lincolnshire I do not report to an analyst, rather I report to a senior associate. This has given me greater opportunity and access to knowledge about the overall private equity industry and the day to day workings and responsibilities of higher level employees.

As mentioned in my previous post about the organizational culture of Lincolnshire, each employee is responsible for the completion of his/her own work on a daily basis. That being said, analysts must get their work approved by an associate, but associates mostly operate on their own. Additionally, daily collaboration via email and conversation between associates, senior associates, and MD’s is both common and essential in order to properly operate all aspects of business. In terms of decision making, decisions are made top down, starting with the IC and then reverting to the C-Suite. These types of decision are not day to day, but rather big picture for Lincolnshire. All day to day decisions and operations are typically made by the managing directors and then delegated to associates, analysts, and interns. These daily decisions have great impact on Lincolnshire’s productivity and organization as a whole.

I believe that this type of top down corporate structure is essential to Lincolnshire’s ability to function cohesively and effectively, but, unfortunately, is it an extremely intimidating power hierarchy. The C-Suite and IC are highly revered and spend little to no time with lower level employees. This distance creates an immense sense of respect, intimidation, and pressure between higher and lower level employees. Although it is unlikely to happen, I think that it be extremely valuable and beneficial for low level employees to have the opportunity to learn directly from high level executives, as they have the most experience in the private equity industry.