Oppeus International Leadership Series Winter Boardroom Lunch

Dr Marcele De Sanctis, Principal Consultant and Terry Coyne, Head of Leadership Assessment, hosted their Winter Boardroom Lunch on Thursday 14 August 2014. This was the fourth in a series of seasonal events hosted by Oppeus International focusing on thought leadership and emerging trends in talent and leadership assessment, development, and management. This event followed our highly successful Winter Boardroom Lunch held in May 2014 in which Dr Marcus Bowles led a stimulating and engaging discussion on the ‘Leadership in the Digital Economy’.

In the Winter session, Mr Preston Kevin Lewis, Managing Director of Warner Brothers Consumer Products Australia, New Zealand and India, shared an inspiring discussion on his journey of leadership within Warner Brothers and transformation of the Australian, New Zealand and Indian business. Specifically, Preston discussed his own journey growing up in America and then moving offshore to progress his career in licensing, consumer products and entertainment with the exceptionally regarded Warner Brothers brand. He was given the opportunity to come to Australia and lead the business from Melbourne, with a particular focus on rebuilding the brand, consolidating retail outlets and improving profitability. Preston shared some very interesting reflections on his approach to leading the organisation’s transformation, focusing on the importance of recruiting people who can ‘slay the dragon’ early and make an immediate impact on the business; the importance of clarity and passion as a leader and being able to hold people accountable; and, the cultural differences leading American and Australian businesses.

Oppeus International has been fortunate to have a long relationship with Preston Kevin Lewis through supporting the Australian business in high performance team development workshops, recruitment and broader leadership development of his team. In addition to our ongoing focus and market strengths in Consumer and Retail, Preston was a fabulous speaker to support the Oppeus Boardroom Luncheon series.

After his considerable successes in Australia, Preston will now move to London to lead Warner Brothers Consumer Products United Kingdom and Ireland and we look forward to hearing of his successes.

Guest comments included:

“Thank you for the opportunity to attend the lunch. Preston was an entertaining presenter and I very much enjoyed listening to him. It was great to meet the Oppeus team and individuals from other organisations.”

General Manager Human Resources, Property

“Thank you for a lovely lunch yesterday . I thoroughly enjoyed it and appreciate you thinking of me and extending the invitation.”

Non-Executive Director, ASX Top 5 Organisation