The manager:  Ullrich G. Schubert
The job:  Chief executive officer of BNP Paribas Bulgaria
The company:  BNP Paribas Bulgaria was created in Bulgaria as a joint venture together with Dresdner Bank in 1994. Today BNP Paribas Bulgaria is a leading commercial and investment bank serving large and medium-sized corporate and institutional clients. In 2004, the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum awarded BNP Paribas Bulgaria the business ethics standard certificate. The bank is part of BNP Paribas Group which operates in more than 85 countries and has 141 900 employees.

“The successful manager is like a conductor: he should be able to make every performer play on the full range of its capacity from legato to fortissimo.”

It is a convention to ask chief executives of big companies about their management philosophies, but Schubert has a different view.

“I think it is rather pretentious to talk  about management philosophy and I would rather prefer to label this very important element of management as ‘shared cultural values’,” he says.

Schubert has a lot to share when it comes to different cultures. 

He has travelled a lot, and one can say that this travelling was in a way pre-determined by his education. He calls himself an economist with a particular European dimension in his education. After his diploma and master’s in macroeconomics at Tubingen in Germany, Schubert attended a one-year post graduate course at the College of Europe in Brugge Belgium.

Schubert’s post with BNP Paribas in Bulgaria is his sixth deployment to a different country. The first was in Germany, followed by a stint at head office in France, and then came the US where he spent five years. “I returned to Europe in charge of the bank in Luxembourg. From there I went to South Korea,” he says. This was until seven years ago, when the job in Bulgaria came up.

With all this travel, the question of settling down comes up. Schubert has a family with two daughters who live in France, so his time is divided between Bulgaria and France.

“At one point we just decided to settle somewhere,” Schubert says. Southern France, where his wife comes from, was their choice.

There is a Bulgarian saying that a man is a true man when he is on the road. Schubert seems to share this. 

“It is what drives me in a sense, the challenges of getting to know a new environment. I like to discover”: so Schubert summarises his philosophy of life.

Seven years might be expected to make you accustomed to a new country. “Seven years are a long period, but I think you never get accustomed. I discover new things about Bulgaria and Bulgarians every day, and as long as can do that, I am satisfied,” Schubert responds.

Like most foreigners, Schubert knew little about Bulgaria when he arrived in 2000. He made one trip to the country before taking over, during which he met a number of young Bulgarian leaders, as he describes them, without naming them.

“I was able to talk to them and this gave me a lot of encouragement and confidence. I met five or six political and business leaders at the time. I recognised that they were forward looking, beyond the frame... that was what I liked.”

Going by the fact that he is still wearing a martenitsa (amulets worn in March as a charm to ensure good health) it seems that Schubert has much affection for Bulgaria.

“I just have not seen a stork yet,” Schubert laughs. “I am too busy flying in airplanes.”

Again, a reference to his passion for travel.

“I like to travel around Bulgaria. My most favourite place are the Rhodopes, on the coast, I like Shabla in the north. It is unspoilt nature and I hope it stays that way”

Bulagaria’s long historical legacy well suits his interests. “I like to discover the ancient sites and thankfully there are plenty of opportunities to do so in Bulgaria, such as the ancient Perperikon in the Rhodope Mountains and Sboryanovo village in north-eastern Bulgaria” he says.

Sofia is often regarded by Bulgarians as a dirty and noisy place. But for Schubert, the capital city has a different meaning. “I like it. Sofia is a wonderful city full of young positive people. It a city where people live outside,” he says.

Schubert is proof that bankers have tastes beyond business operations. “Bulgaria has the best vegetables in the world. When I came here my biggest discovery was that tomatoes tasted and smelled like tomatoes. I had forgotten this. Most tomatoes are just red, but in Bulgaria they have a taste,”. He speaks with passion about the Rhodope trout. “Many people do not know that there is such a thing as the Rhodope trout which gives an excellent yellow caviar. It is one of the best things I have ever eaten, a delicacy special to Bulgaria.” 

The Sofia Echo asked Schubert for his professional view on the banking sector in Bulgaria and his personal perspective as CEO of one of the leading banks operating in the country.   

He came to Bulgaria only four years after the major financial and economic crisis in Bulgaria in 1996-97. That was the time when most Bulgarians lost their savings, and hence their trust in the banking system.

“I have to give credit to my predecessor. The bank was already created here as a joint venture together with Dresdner Bank in 1994 and it was doing well. We were one of the very few safe havens for Bulgarians.

“I came here from South Korea, and I must say that the Korean crisis, that we all remember from the mid 1990s, was a clearly a banking crisis where the banks were overexposed,” he says.

For Schubert, in Bulgaria’s case the turning point was 1997 when the banking sector started its positive development. An example comes quickly to mind.

“When hiring staff we are not looking for true banking experience. First, because true banking experience in this market can mean a maximum of 10 years. Everything before 1997, I would not consider as relevant or positive banking experience.”

Still, Schubert says, in less than one decade the Bulgarian financial sector has changed from a very rudimental money exchange and deposit handling system into a competitive, fast growing, service-orientated modern financial industry.

This is where he positions BNP Paribas today “as a true finance and investment bank.”

Asked about other banks that are opening branch after branch in the country, Schubert says that retail banking is a very different business.

“The bank group as a whole knows how to do it. The best example is that we have recently acquired UkrSibbank in Ukraine. It is a huge bank with 10 000 staff and is a retail bank. Have we missed opportunities in Bulgaria for retail banking? - Probably. We missed a very nice bank that was privatised, DSK Bank.”

Schubert personally examined the DSK Bank possibility, but says straightforwardly that his bank was not ready at the time.

“This does not mean that we will forget retail banking forever in the region, but for the time being we have made a choice that we will focus on corporate and investment banking.”

This choice is reflected in BNP Paribas’s philosophy towards clients. “Creative solutions for the clients” is Schubert’s motto when it comes to banking services.

“Our corporate clients are not interested in banking products alone. They are interested in their objectives, to produce and sell something or to provide some services. The financial services that they need are not of highest priority. Our role is to provide service that will provide value for our clients in terms of their objectives. It is of value for them if they do not have to come physically to the bank, filling in forms and bringing cash to put into the account.”

Ideally our clients will outsource a large part of their financial services to their preferred financial services provider, BNP Paribas.

“This obviously includes internet banking,” Schubert says. "It is value for them if they do not have to come physically to the bank, filling in forms and bringing cash ti put into the account".

Being an employee at BNP Paribas Sofia under Schubert’s management seems like a both demanding and rewarding job.

First, Schubert is a man who does not hide behind phrases. The person who inspired Schubert most in his career was Alfred Herrhausen, the Deutsche Bank chief executive who was killed by a bomb blast in 1989. “I was very fortunate to meet Herrhausen in Frankfurt at very beginning of my banking career. I keep his memory very much and I also have adopted one key principle in my life: Say what you think, do what you say and live up to what you do.”   

“Principles” is a key word in Schubert’s style.

“We at the bank follow certain principles when it comes to our work - commitment, ambition, creativity, and responsiveness.”

“Commitment is, first of all, how we service our clients. It also, for me as a manager, means taking care of my staff, because after all they are the ones who produce the results. Commitment to shareholders and to the society in which we operate is also on our list.”

Schubert says that he favours collective ambition, not individual ambition.  “Our clients are pre-dominantly large corporates, other financial and public institutions, and we have to offer them creativity in order to satisfy their interests.”

Creativity here is not meant in the arty sense.

“After all, BNP Paribas is not an interior design firm.”

Schubert asks the next question himself “What is creativity in a profane number crunching business? It is thinking outside the box.”

He is ready with examples, which sound rather useful for inclusion in a manual for beginner bankers.

“Financing might be a solution for some clients, but shortening the balance sheet of the client might be a better solution. Another example is that state guarantees can give big comfort, but a combination of swops will do the same job and will not burden public debt as much. So, even in a rather straight business where numbers talk, creativity can produce much more value and client satisfaction.”

“When it comes to responsiveness, I rather want to think of pro activeness. We should not wait for the phone to ring. Anticipation goes very well with creative thinking. This positions us in front of our competition.”

The theme brings back Schubert back to his beloved classical music. “The real challenge is that our clients do not want to listen only to standard  classical pieces, so Bach, Beethoven and Schubert are out. Clients want contemporary and modern music, and not the same piece they have listened to in the past. It is like an instant and continuous improvisation, but with highly professional musicians.”

This is not enough for Schubert.

“My role here is to fill these rather abstract values with real life. Finding the balance between the clients, the staff, the shareholders and society is not easy but the answer is in finding the what I call quadruple win-win-win-win solutions.” 

Conflict management is an important part of a manager’s job.

“First I think that many conflicts can be avoided through a leadership by example. For me conflicts do not occur because of mistakes but because of inadequate behaviour. The manager should not make the mistake to punish mistakes.”

According to Schubert, inappropriate behaviour should not be tolerated; this is his founding principle in handling conflict situations.

“If there is  such a situation, I think the manager should draw the attention of the respective parties to their responsibilities. He must explain to them the consequences of their behaviour, but in a positive, forward-looking way. After all we are not an investigation office and we want the conflict to be solved.”

Shared cultural values are key to Schubert’s management philosophy. Evidence that he wants to share experience are his master classes where he teaches Bulgarian students. Schubert teaches a master class organised by Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum. This has given him another perspective on the coming and promissing Bulgarian generation.

“There is a huge need for additional management competence, so I encourage every Bulgarian leader to establish more business schools for the young and bright students so that they can stay in our country - and I mean Bulgaria”. For Schubert what the talented Bulgarian students can improve is to have more initiative.

“Bulgaria has its strengths in education and one of the strong sides, according to me, are the mathematical skills and the language schools all over Bulgaria. Here languages are learnt as a mother tongue, and this gives a true competitive advantage to the Bulgarian labour market.”

However, the major shortcoming is that the labour market in itself is very small and illiquid. “Finding highly qualified staff is very difficult and there is still the tendency for such people to go and work abroad. Our approach is to hire rather inexperienced but well intentioned young people from the university and train them." He thinks that there are far too many headhunters in Bulgaria for such a small market.

“There has to be a major effort to increase the supply side so that the market for qualified staff grows. This is also the recipe for Bulgaria’s overall growth policy.”

If you want to work for BNP Paribas and Mr. Schubert, you must meet the following conditions: “We are looking for team behaviour, commitment beyond the expected, highest ethical standards, a never-give-up mentality, a true service attitude”. Of course, Schubert wants people who are quick in learning and in putting theory into practice.       

Although a foreign banking institution, BNP Paribas is not the best place for expats in terms of work.

“I actually sent all of them home when I arrived,” Schubert laughs. “We had six expatriates when I came, and now we have only two, including myself, but after seven years maybe I am no longer that much an expatriate. 

Despite the low turnout at the May 20 elections for Bulgarian MEPs, Schubert is an optimist about Bulgaria and the European Union. 

“Without claiming to be a visionary, when I came to Bulgaria seven years ago, I told my staff that Bulgaria will get into the EU. Three years ago we put on the wall outside our bank a countdown panel, when many people still had doubts whether accession would happen in January 2007.”

“I see some of the things that need more work in Bulgaria. The country needs a thorough improvement of the judicial system and when I say judicial system I do not mean the lawmakers, but the reliable and efficient functioning of the courts. In general, in fighting crime things are going in the right direction, and we have to abolish the red tape, which means administrative reform. This is not a task exclusively of the Government. I think that the entire Bulgarian population has to contribute to it.” How to contribute is a difficult question.

“Sometimes it means to change a certain mentality, even if it is only by fulfilling a citizen’s duty, for example to participate in elections.”

Schubert gives the example of France and its recent presidential elections.  “What I can say to Bulgarians is to live their democracy, take your responsibilities into your own hands and set example of best practice. This works for a successful company but it also works for a successful country.”