What is leadership? This single word can bring to mind a variety of images and examples. For example, a leader is often seen as a political leader that pursues a passionate but personal cause. A leader is also an explorer by cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of the group follows. A leader is also an executive, developing the company strategy to beat the competition.
Besides, leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. Leaders set a direction; they build an inspiring vision and create something new. Leadership is all about where you need to go and win as a team or organisation. Leadership is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring. However, while leaders set the direction, they also must use management skills to guide their people in the right direction, smoothly and efficiently. In this article, we will show three young leaders that emerged in the casino industry. These leaders are more like in the category of executives that develop the company to move forward in a dynamic world with regulations.
A Sports Superfan
Max Meltzer is the Chief Commercial Officer at Kambi, and he loves sports. He is a season ticket holder for the Crystal Palace in the English Premier League. So there is no surprise that Max began his career as a sports agent. He said that he is a hugely proud fan of what was achieved with Simply Sports, where he has devised the business plan by singing players like Oliver Burke.
There is also no surprise that he went to guide athletes to work with companies involved in the sportsbook, like Press Association and now with Kambi, where he is the chief commercial director. Max Meltzer said that Kambi combined two of his most significant interests, sports and technology. Max’s job is to lead the sales team by focusing on partnering with bookmarkers and casino companies, usually the ones that are leaders in their fields.
Max oversees the planning, organisation and execution of Kambi’s commercial strategy. His career got a boost because of his mentor, Andrea Owers. She helped Max develop his leadership skills, where he learned to set clear targets, trusting in the ability of a team and giving guidance when needed. He said that her demonstration of what a good leader has helped him understand leadership. She was a leadership model for him.
Think for Tomorrow, Apply for Today
Allen Schultz, Director of Slot Performance, San Manuel Casino was the typical high school senior where he was stacked with school workload, a full personal life, and a mundane hourly job, and of course college. Allen dreamed of being a graphic designer until his supervisor asked him if he wants to have a career in the gaming industry.
So that’s how the gaming career began for Allen at San Manuel Casino where he worked for 20 years. He started from a young age, and it certainly had its challenges. Maturity and personal growth took time, but Allen was fortunate to have patient mentors. He said that he had outstanding leadership along the way, with mentors who guided him to where he is today.
In the end, Allen saw that his colleagues view him as a leader, and this epiphany was the most meaningful for his career. The gaming industry is changing rapidly, which created opportunities for Allen Schultz and his team, where they were able to extend their roles outside the norm. In the slot realm, Allen’s skills have become well-rounded with more diverse responsibilities. However, the irony for Allen Schultz was that he is his own worst critic, which eventually helped him adapt his approach and grow in understanding the people. This turned him to be a positive leader with lucrative business tactics.
When it comes to casino gaming, Allen sees it kind of behind than other industries in technological advancements. In the gaming sector, technologies like mobile gaming, augmented reality and other buzzworthy technologies are at the beginning. They are often now allowed to advance because of the required regulations to keep players safe. This is where young professional should step in because they are fluent in the use of technology and can adopt it more actively. Allen Schultz believes that a greater understanding of technology is critical to implement it in professional environments.
Allen Schultz is also one of those people that sees value in mistakes by learning from them, not repeating them, however. He encourages the next wave of gaming professionals to take more responsibility. His advice for new leaders is to make one thing at a time and do it well, keep your promises and do new things.
Having a Fantastic Career
Brandon Loeschner had seen that he could be more than just a simple accountant when he joined RubinBrown, which is an accounting firm where he partnered with the National Practice Leader-Gaming Services Group. The whole organisation is rich with history and entrepreneurship where he was able to meet the founders, work with their sons and have the opportunity to be part of the next generation of leadership that works on evolution.
Brandon joined the firm in 2001, and he saw dynamic changes that kept coming with the gaming expansion, new technology, server-based gaming, CMS innovation and iGaming. Every day Brandon whistles and grinds to build the brand and he says that you don’t get to wake up and just say you want to do a national practice in the gaming industry and it just happens.
Brandon Loeschner had grown today because he had several positive relationships with his mentors, particularly with Matt Rogers. The latter is a former athletic coach at Maryville and others like Chelle Adams, CFO at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, and Micheal T. Lewis, CEO of MTL Consultants. They all had a significant impact on Brandon’s personal and professional life with each of them good at challenging him to be better, and their lesson sticks with him until the day he retires.
Brandon’s own words of advice when it comes to leadership is to invest in yourself with experiences outside finance and industry because many of his most innovative ideas came from people that were outside his role at RubinBrown.
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