Managing Teams Through Tough Times with Tony Roberts

With over 30 years in brand strategy, entertainment marketing, and content production, Tony Roberts has led teams across multiple offices, built agencies in London and LA, and driven growth through smart commercial strategies. He has developed a children’s TV brand, overseen business investments, and created ecosystems that maximise commercial opportunities.

His career spans launching European offices, advising on content distribution and acquisitions, and co-founding a production company producing commercials, music promos, and films. This business has gone from strength to strength in what has become a very competitive landscape with the shifting commissioning patterns of work and the emergence of other technologies.

In 2024 he co-founded AI studio FUTURE CREA+IVES working with agencies and brands for campaigns across the UK, Europe and US.

Tony sat down with LBB to look back on early experiences in leadership through walking donkey tours in North Wales, why management felt like a “natural step,” and staying your authentic self…

LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?

Tony> Probably walking donkeys down the beach in North Wales with kids on the back. I was only about 10 myself and I was there on holiday but loved doing it and before I knew it, I was almost running the rides.

LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn’t want to be?

Tony> I don’t think you can choose, I think you simply must be true to yourself and let it happen. I obviously try to do all the things you believe are right by your team and your business but ultimately if they’re not your true feelings, it won’t feel authentic. Just be authentic.

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership?

Tony> I remember when we had a film advertising agency. The industry took a nosedive after the 2008 global financial crisis and all the international divisions we served went back to the US. We decided to follow that work, open an office in LA and hunt it down and it stretched me to my limits between early morning for the UK team and long US days and things started to slip. The lesson came in a negative way and not a positive way. Don’t take on too much, focus on the important stuff and be available.

LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you?

Tony> Leadership was a natural step for me as I’m quite outgoing and have a tendency to talk a lot and have opinions, so it felt normal to put yourself in the firing line. I also hate being told what to do so an easy way to avoid that is be your own boss.

I think the strongest element of leadership is not about making decisions and leading in that way but to have the awareness to let others make decisions and back them up. Not all leaders would agree with this but it’s harder to do sometimes.

LBB> When it comes to leadership as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned?

Tony> I am absolutely of the opinion that it comes naturally. I know you can do courses that teach you the tricks of leadership for public speaking and decision making etc., but you must feel it and believe in it, not just do what the algorithm tells you. It comes back to what I am saying about being authentic… let yourself go and see where it takes you.

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them?

Tony> Making decisions that can affect a team are challenging in the way that you hope to make the right ones all the time. This is impossible obviously so it’s about how you deal with it when it goes wrong.

LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it?

Tony> Absolutely. The film advertising agency dropped off because budgets were cut and it was a race to the bottom financially. We tried to pivot into a youth focused agency, but we were too slow, staffed incorrectly and the other partners weren’t sold on the idea… I left and ultimately it faded away not long after. The key lesson here was move fast and physically drag people along with you and if they don’t want to come, that’s ok. But have a vision and follow it through the best you can.

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what’s your approach there? Do you think it’s important to be as transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?

Tony> Funny question this as it feels like a question a politician gets asked. Do you really want the truth so you can worry about it all week rather than working towards fixing something with a focused mind? I think a balance and being careful and considered must be the way to manage any issues leaders face. Just don’t tell lies.

LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship?

Tony> My first and probably only mentor was my first boss when I moved to London. He was a genius in client relationships and sales. Terrible at managing his own team but could sell ice to Eskimos and got everyone to trust him implicitly. He would then come back to the office with new projects, in the old days when people used to do business face-to-face and cause absolute mayhem in the agency. So I took the good stuff from him around getting your clients to believe in you and left the bad team management skills… I think. I hope!

LBB> In continually changing market circumstances, how do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through difficult waters?

Tony> Talk to people always. Get advice from people all around you but believe in your own decisions. Advice is great when it's good but I can tell you now, not all advice is worth following. Also, listen to your team as they are the ones who are in the trenches every day. If there’s an easy fix to an ongoing problem, the answers are probably closer than you think.

LBB> As a leader, what are some of the ways in which you’ve prioritised diversity and inclusion within your workforce?

Tony> We’re always looking for great people, good businesses are about great people, and they are hard to find. I went to talk by Andy Narin from Lucky Generals and he did a section on drawing aliens and why we all drew a similar alien. The true definition of diversity… find someone who draws a different alien and they will have a very different view and life experience.

LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with increases in remote and hybrid working patterns?

Tony> Culture is everything in the workplace. It’s the starting point of everything from what coffee you drink to what music is on that TVC. Get it right and you’re part of the club, not a business, which in turn makes decision making the easiest thing to do.

LBB> What are the most useful resources you’ve found to help you along your leadership journey?

Tony> Just believe in your decisions for good or bad – they make you who you are. The people who you meet along the way are always worth their weight in gold. People are my resources, not the leadership bullshit you’re served up on Instagram. The dogs are funny though.