by Abe Batavia
Our final Finance to Leadership [F2L] program was addressed by Alistair Flett, Commercial Director at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.
Ali described his career to date with roles across the world in Argentina, Australia, Germany, Spain, UK and USA. He began his career in investment banking at Deutsche Bank then Lehman Brothers in London, as an equity research analyst covering European media. Finding a passion for the media industry, he decided to change sectors.
Ali’s first role in media was with a digital music start-up company followed by 4 years with MTV Networks. He then joined Discovery in 2009 as a Finance Manager and worked through various FP&A roles in different countries. In 2013, he took up the Head of Financial Development role at SBS in Sydney, before being asked to re-join Discovery in 2015.
Ali discussed the challenges he faced moving into a management role and how he overcame them. He also shared his experience of inheriting a difficult team and the strategies he used to turn things around and create a high-performance group.
Ali highlighted the importance of having strong mentors and their impact throughout his career. He keeps in touch with previous mentors from London and US and finds great value in the ability to discuss ideas and concerns in a trusted environment.
It was a great pleasure to have Alistair present to our [F2L] group and give insights from his professional journey on how to become future leaders.
If you would like to find out more about our [F2L] program, please visit our website http://snip.ly/u5fzt
