Biography of the Russian manager

Natalya Romanova to share: Evgenia Burnstam, not without reason, consider the gurus of Russian management. Nevertheless, over the past three years, a person who built the Alfa-Bank retail network has changed three places of work and, remaining unsatisfied, decided to do his own business. In the country there is still no entrepreneur who can appreciate the managerial talents of Bernstam and completely entrust him with his job.

After this incident, Savelyeva worked in the Bernstam team for six years and considers it a gurus of Russian management. Evgenia Burnstam is often called the "launch director", capable of creating a large business from scratch. In the middle of the x, he “launched” Alfa-Bank, then built a corporate governance system at Interpipe-the largest industrial holding of Ukraine.

From February to June of this year, he worked on the creation of a financial supermarket as the first vice president of the Nikkil financial corporation now-Uralsib. Another thing is that the owners who are able to completely and completely entrust their business even to such a talented manager as Evgeny Bernhtam are not too much in Russia. But negligent managers who are inclined to complain about the immediate supervisor to “higher authorities”, which are prone to complain, enough.

Again, traditionally, at the beginning of X, voucher privatization was engaged in-the Finabel company established by our hero at that time was one of the largest in the market. Being an assistant professor at the Department of the Directorate of the Dagestan Agricultural Institute, he not only improved his skills in the field of “practical economy”, but also tried to raise commercial talents in others, creating a school of managers in the middle of X.

Having taken the post of chairman of the board of Alfa-Bank, Rappoport called Berstam there in the year. After a short time, there were twenty of them. Then the expansion in Russia began, ”recalls the vice president of Alfa Bank Alexander Gafin. For eight years, the bank opened 28 branches and 40 dopophyses throughout the country. Alfa had three subsidiaries - in Ukraine, in Kazakhstan, as well as in Bashkiria.

According to Evgeny Burnstam himself, he manages to manage people best in life. Different methods: economic, social, psychological. He always harshly checked the work of his subordinates. Under the guise of an ordinary private client, Eugene could come to the department and ask to open an account, give him a plastic card. He was not too lazy to get up at eight in the morning and come to the department in order to “cheer up” the already grilled employees.

The result of such raids was the emergence of photographs of Semenych, as Burnstam is still called in Alpha on the tables of the Bank Client Departments Operationsists. However, knowledge of the leadership sometimes played with Alfa’s employees with a cruel joke. Very often, inspecting the activities of regional branches, Bernstam arranged a “demonstrative flogging” of local personnel.

Usually in such cases, Bernstam and I accompanied the entire local leadership of the branch. And already closer to midnight, when, in theory, it is high time to go to the hotel to sleep, Zhenya performed with his crown number. He suggested that local top managers return to the bank and check how things are there. The only people who could be in the office at night were guards.

Bernstam called the door, a guard, to whom Evgeny Semenovich “corrupted his eyes”, of course, opened. And here the demonstrative performance of Bernstam began. According to the instructions, you can let only a shift or manager to the bank at night! Immediately, the shift chief was called from the house and the “construction” of staff continued with renewed vigor.

All attempts at least somehow justifying themselves ended standardly: at best, reprimand, and in the worst-dismissal. ” This management principle often caused opposition from local leaders. In response to numerous complaints, the owner of Alfa Bank Mikhail Friedman usually replied that Bernshtam had virtually unlimited powers, because he is fully responsible for everything that happens in the bank.

And if he considers it necessary to rebuild the branch’s business, simultaneously dismissing the trade unprofitable, in his opinion, employees, then no one - including the owners of the bank, will intervene. But in the case of the failure of the project, it was Bernshtam, and not regional managers, will answer in full. Our hero justified such high trust in a financial result.

Simply put, the business he built brought profit. Otherwise, they wouldn’t hold on to him like that, ”says Alexander Gafin. There is, however, another explanation of the success of Burnstam. When the failure of the program became obvious, Bernstam was sincerely surprised: “How? I gave you such a successful business ... "" Thank you all. Everyone is free! In Alpha, the resignation of Burnstam is associated with the restructuring of the bank.

In the middle of X, when the branch network was built, local managers had broad powers. In fact, branches turned into mini-banks.They really led them to Bernshtam. And in M, after reforming, all units, whether it is retail, legal direction, etc. As a result of the function of Bernstam, were blurry, and this was not too much liked by a person who was used to delving into a situation every day and completely control everything.

But the owners of Alfa considered that the Polish banker Machi Lebkovsky, who already had experience in building a banking express service system in their homeland, is more suitable for the implementation of this project.

By the spring, it became clear that Abe is developing not at all as a pace as the owners of Alfa Bank expected. The Bank of Moscow has supplanted Alpha from second place in terms of private deposits. The queues in the "Express" branches became the parables in the tongue. The contract with Lebkovsky was terminated. And Abe, having survived the outflow of customers, associated with the crisis of trust that arose in the summer, is now reoriented to a more wealthy audience.

How can one not recall the ability of Bernstam in time to disown the deliberately failed projects? Kiev "Moskal" having left Alpha, Evgeny Bernshtam replaced not only the field of activity, but also the country, taking the post of president of the Ukrainian Corporation "Interpipe". Bernshtam speaks of his “Ukrainian period” as a deceased - either good or nothing: “It was a very interesting and useful experience for me.

Then I was offered to manage a large enterprise with a very diverse business: from metallurgical companies to television channels. ” The newly made president had to restructure the company, increase the profitability of the business and find a strategic investor. The first two tasks were completed by Bernstam: a clear corporate governance system was created in Interpipe, which not a single Ukrainian company could boast of before.

And the profit increased several times. However, almost for the first time in his career, Eugene failed to fully realize a business plan. According to people who know Bernstam well, going to Interpipe, he made at least two mistakes. Firstly, he left for Ukraine alone, without his team of managers. And secondly, I did not calculate political risks.

In fact, this is a family business. The arrival of Bernstam was not happy there for the presidency of the company. As always, Bernshtam was demanding both to himself and to the team with which he works. And if subordinates can be changed, then business owners are not. It was in Alpha by Bernstam that he possessed a “mandate of trust” by shareholders, could rely on his subordinates himself.

In Ukraine, he was alone. In fairness, we note that after him several more Russian managers moved to Interpipe, but these were people not from his Alpha team. As a result, I had to “step on the throat of my own song” and often sacrifice business interests for political goals. Bernshtam was not ready for such a turn of events. And the owners faced the problem: what, in fact, do with all these purchases.

The task of Bernstam was to build a unified sales network for retail financial products offered by banks, insurance and investment companies that are included in Nikul. The creation of “financial supermarkets” in Nikil has been talked for several years, however, it has not yet been possible to become a noticeable player in the retail service market of the corporation. After the arrival of Burnstam, the idea of ​​building a full retail business began to acquire real outlines.

Another was surprising: the corporate culture of “Nikil” was strikingly different not only from the “alpha”, but even from the “interpipa” model. Bankers-bankers were very skeptical of the new place of work of Eugene. It seems that Bernshtam turned out to be the only one who sincerely believed that he could convince Tsvetkov and create a business built on professionalism, and not on personal devotion.

The owner of “Nikil” carried away our hero with a clear vision of the development of his business for five years in advance. Paradoxically, one of the toughest Russian managers was not alien to a romantic attitude to life. As a result, having not worked for six months, he left Nikil. There are few owners who give full power in Russia now, but there are a lot of accustomed to control the whole process.

Either “bend” under the shareholder, or engage in their own projects. ” Bernstam chose the second. But it is possible that soon there is still an entrepreneur who is able to entrust him with his business.