NEWS

Exclusive: Simon Leslie – reflections of a managing director

Published on: 9th September 2019

Simon is available for interim and consultancy roles whilst exploring options for his next permanent career move.

Simon Leslie (right).

Simon Leslie is a managing director in the toy and entertainment sector. He built his experience working in sales for iconic brands like Crayola and Monopoly, serving major accounts including Argos and Amazon, where he developed joint business and marketing strategies. During his time with Hasbro, Simon took on executive assignments in Portugal, Chile and Italy. Toy World caught up Simon, to see what he learned from his time abroad.

“Firstly, you open yourself to new, and often bigger, opportunities that you would not otherwise have had access to,” explains Simon, when asked what the opportunities are when taking an international role. “You also expose yourself to a variety of different challenges, both business-wise and culturally, that encourage you to deploy different skills and strategies. It’s a bit like playing new golf courses; you have the same core swing but adapt it to the new layout and environment in front of you. As you widen your network to include new countries and continents, you learn different perspectives along the way. I was deployed to Portugal, Chile and Italy, and in each country, noticed that local teams had certain business blind spots that I helped uncover. The reverse was also true; each team would educate me in my own under-developed areas. The pace of learning is double what it would be in a similar position at home. That is the great opportunity – rapid personal and professional development.”

To read the full interview, which was published in the September issue of Toy World, click here.

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