Leaders in the spotlight | Alina Necula, Lion’s Head Country Manager Romania: When we talk office, we talk customized services provided to tenants, a working environment adapted to each company needs

I would call an opportunity to progress as individual and expert, having a bird’s-eye view on Lion’s Head exposure on local level, it is the time of the professionals in our team to prove their skills, experience and sparkle on our latest development plans since they have the freedom to be responsibly hands-on the projects they manage.

The year 2024, so far, was not a good year for European industry, the crisis continue and the difficulties faced by the big Europeans economies had a serious impact in the smaller countries, like Romania. Romanian industry is connected to the big European economies, like Germany, and any difficulties there are transferred to us. In the past 5 years EU Commission produced several measures in line with the Green Deal commitment, unfortunately the EU authorities didn’t take into consideration the immediate impact to the European industry.

This year, The Diplomat-Bucharest shares with its valued partners and audience, a momentous milestone – the 20th anniversary on the business media segment in Romania.

So, we came a long, wonderful and also challenging way to this year, when we celebrate two decades of unwavering dedication to excellence in media and our relentless pursuit of delivering insightful, timely and impactful business news and events. To celebrate this milestone, THE DIPLOMAT-BUCHAREST connects with businesspeople and put into light their excellence and performances in a special event, THE DIPLOMAT-BUCHAREST AWARDS GALA. 

This year, the special Awarding Gala ceremony will take place on October 22, at JW MARRIOTT BUCHAREST GRAND HOTEL, Grand Ballroom.

To mark the occasion, we spoke with business leaders about their business sentiment, expectations and conclusions for the first half of this year. We recently talked to Alina Necula, Country Managing Director Lion’s Head:

The business sentiment for 2024

The company’s business development on the market stands as mature and substantial. Lion’s Head local team managed to maintain a prime occupancy rate for Oregon Park, boasting with recent major new leases, as well as office space renewals. The development of the logistics sector has been on the company’s radar in recent years and 2024 brought the company closer to officially launching the first logistics project in Lion’s Head portfolio in Romania.

What is more, outlining an opportunity vs. risk axis for Lion’s Head, we took advantage of the opportunity to change the classic approach of an office space landlord. We are no longer a supplier of spaces calculated in square meters or floating floors, but we thoroughly provide a new concept – “space as a service”, a space and a work environment where you benefit from services customized to your business needs.

With an excellent leasing activity for our office project, an integrated group of professionals on the premises, as well as the outbreak of the first logistics investment and development at local level as major objectives for 2024, I would consider H1 2024 as determined and consistent.

What matters most for a leader this year

A leader would be irrelevant without its team, a group of grounded, seasoned professionals that share values and team spirit. Passion and vision – the two pillars that revolve around my work. When it comes to the industry we represent, it is vital to think about the future and to have a future-oriented approach. This is why we focus on enforcing amongst all our standing and future investments the roots of “sustainability” (environmental-wise), “togethernesss” (community at the level of ages, cultures, genders etc.) and “beauty/desirable” (at the level of lived experience).

My work does not come out of public recognition, but out of passion. I make no mistake when I say the real estate sector runs through my veins and stands in my DNA thus struggle on a daily basis to empower my team with the same drive.

The fundamentals of leadership

In Lion’s Head, we don’t like half measures, while simultaneously showing respect for work-life balance. We are 100% dedicated to our projects when it comes to business, just as 100% committed to nurturing a strong team spirit. I always focus on being a leader, a guide and not a manager, empowering the members of my team with the power of taking decisions, a high level of self-awareness when reckoning their skills and flaws.

I put great value on communication and influence amongst my team, sharing knowledge and the boldness to strive for their opinions as long as they are grounded. In addition to this, I praise learning agility, the ability of being adaptable, of understanding new concepts and rapidly bringing them to live at operational level, opposite to being self-sufficient or mediocre.

I have great faith in my team’s capabilities and competence. It’s been a 2-year journey while I focused on creating and ensuring a stable mix of professionals, now reaching a solid, integrated team – senior-level professionals, easy-to-adapt persons, having corporate background. We find ourselves in front of major opportunities at the moment in terms of investments and developments so they have full gauge to level up their expertise and bring these new projects to life.

Empowering the business potential

Constant investments in the office market remain the company’s priority, whilst the development of the logistics sector has been on the company’s radar at group level in recent years due to the good returns it offers; so, the expansion of these plans, including the Romanian market, came naturally.

We can confirm our firm interest in launching the first logistics project in Lion’s Head portfolio in Romania and we pay special attention to the southern area of ​​Bucharest. Although we managed to adapt brilliantly to the challenges generated by the pandemic crisis and the change in working habits and office life, a diversification of the portfolio is a balanced strategy at the business level that will most likely materialize in the next 12-18 months.

Evolution of business and people

I would mention here two primary factors – technology and customer experience. Openness to AI, in particular, and proptech, in general, and, further on, the ability and interest for understanding your customer needs, turning him into a business and dialogue partner so as to translate all the data chain into valuable, up-to-date, customizable properties.

Approaching AI

I would relate both to AI and proptech/ property technology in general, clustering all the tech tools real estate experts use to optimize the way people buy, sell, research, market, and manage a property. Technology is not necessary, is vital in the construction and real estate world. PropTech is the future of real estate, since these solutions streamline real estate workflows, offer personalized experiences to users, democratize real estate investment, contribute to sustainable practices, and pave the way for data-driven decision-making.

When we talk office, we don’t talk walls, raised floors or cubicles anymore. We talk customized services provided to tenants, a working environment adapted to each company needs, bearing in mind the topic of cost-efficiency and environmental care.

Proptech is also said to be the modern remedy for real estate specialists suffering from piles of paperwork and a high-yield asset class for investors looking for fresh opportunities. In simple words, proptech is the robust alignment between real estate and technology so first thing when adopting tech into our world is to become less resilient to change, to understand the initial costs that pay off afterwards and to understand that, in the case of real estate developers, your building can and should become a living, changing environment according to the people it shelters, not a turnkey solution anymore, that once it’s delivered, stays that way.

AI, in particular, enables real estate investors to use predictive analytics to make investment decisions based on data. AI algorithms can predict property values, rental yields, and potential returns on investment by analyzing market trends, economic indicators, and historical data.

Thus, I personally am thoroughly interested in the tech world of real estate and intend to stay connected to its progress. It’s the second time in a row when I get the credit of being jury member of PropTech Startup & Scaleup Europe Awards 2024 with proposals showcasing breakthrough solutions and drive the future of real estate innovation.

The challenges and opportunities of 2024

Be it red flags or opportunities, it depends on the way you act and react to team challenges. The same situation could become both a red flag or an opportunity, it’s the leader’s approach and the company culture that can decide the outcome of this.

One aspect that often gets overlooked is culture. It’s not bound by time or place, but more a behavior for the well-being and performance of all. It can create friction, drag and turbulence in the workplace stealing great results from hard-working people. Your culture may have some rough surfaces to smooth out. A lack of employee empowerment could lead to disengagement, dissatisfaction or departure.

On the contrary, and this I would call an opportunity to progress as individual and expert, having a bird’s-eye view on Lion’s Head exposure on local level, it is the time of the professionals in our team to prove their skills, experience and sparkle on our latest development plans since they have the freedom to be responsibly hands-on the projects they manage.