In this episode of Your Path to CEO, Mike Dickson from [axr] Executive Search speaks with Leeson Brook, Regional Managing Director & CEO of STIHL Australia, about a career shaped by ambition, discipline, and deliberately broad experience across global FMCG and manufacturing leadership roles.

Leeson reflects on growing up in Adelaide and the formative experience of seeing financial pressure in his household at a young age - an early catalyst for his drive to build a career defined by growth and security. From the outset, he recognised a natural inclination toward leadership, finding motivation in influencing others and stepping into responsibility early through school and retail roles.

His corporate journey began in supermarkets before moving into Telstra and then a foundational development path at Kellogg's, where he built core commercial and sales capabilities. This was followed by a progression through senior roles at Johnson & Johnson, where Leeson made a deliberate decision to test himself beyond familiar support networks - moving into category, regional, and cross-functional leadership roles across Australia and Singapore.

A defining chapter was his move to Singapore in a regional shopper/category leadership role, where he managed influence across 16 countries and 180+ stakeholders without direct reporting lines—accelerating his ability to lead through influence, cultural nuance, and strategic clarity.

Leeson later stepped into enterprise leadership as General Manager of New Zealand, successfully transforming the business from underperforming to one of the strongest in the region, before returning to Australia in senior commercial and CEO-track roles, including Sales Director at GWA Group and ultimately into his current MD & CEO position with STIHL.

Key themes from the conversation include:

• The importance of broadening experience early to avoid being “typecast”
• Why reverse-engineering your career path creates direction without rigidity
• The reality of loneliness in CEO roles and the importance of mentors and peer networks
• How leadership success depends on clarity, repetition, and simplicity in communication
• The need to make timely people decisions while balancing empathy with performance
• Why strong leadership is built through doing the job exceptionally well before seeking the next step

A practical and honest conversation on what it really takes to move from functional leadership into enterprise CEO roles - and what changes once you get there.