What does leadership in the sports industry of 2018 look like? How do you maintain a working culture that prizes dedication and industry but fosters creativity and a sense of flexibility too?

Joining Leaders' James Emmett and David Cushnan on the podcast this week are Wimbledon's Alex Willis and Octagon's Joel Seymour-Hyde, both previous honourees at the Leaders Under 40 Awards.

Willis is Head of Communications, Content & Digital at the AELTC, while Seymour-Hyde is Head of UK at agency giant Octagon. As well as a focus on leadership in sport - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and what the most effective modern-day working practices look like, Willis and Seymour-Hyde, give their perspectives on:

- Sports marketing and sponsorship trends and the integration of content into all manner of deals;

- Rights holders as brands, and the effort to have brand partners singing the same tune but with different voices;

- GDPR and what a new era of data protection and sensitivity means for the sports industry;

- The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia: the positioning challenges associated with hosting the tournament in the country; how to activate partnerships in a range of categories; and what Wimbledon does to respond to a World Cup year;

Nominations for the Leaders Under 40 Class of 2018 close on 25 May. Go on - get yourself a gong.