Drew Leitch - Managing Director
What happens when you spend twenty years climbing the career ladder, travelling the world, and 'have it all', but something just doesn't feel right any more?
Terrifying as it may seem, sometimes the end really is just the beginning!
Hear about Drew's inspirational career journey to date, his insights for those who find themselves in a similar position, and the passion behind what drives him.
Upon graduating from RGU in 1984 with a Business Management Studies degree, I secured a job as Junior Accountant with an Oil & Gas service company.
The company was Atlantic Power & Gas (APG). There was never a dull moment at APG. On Monday my focus might be Accounts Payable, Tuesday – Management Accounts, Wednesday – Payroll, Thursday – Accounts Receivable .etc.
After +4 happy years, I decided it was time to seek out ‘Big Oil’ … and applied for a job (via Fridays P&J job adverts) with Amerada Hess. I started with Hess on 28th November 1988 … guess what … as a Junior Accountant … progress is not always reflected in the job title 😊
Spent a total of 16 years with Hess, working in Aberdeen, London, Copenhagen, Rio de Janeiro plus short terms assignments in Gabon and in Norway. On average I moved into a new job every 2-years with Hess.
As mentioned above, my starting point with Hess was as a Junior Accountant in the G&A department. My last job with Hess was as Country Manager for the Brazil business where we were exploring for oil.
In between times, I worked as a Drilling Accountant (Aberdeen plus short-term assignment in Gabon); in the Corporate Finance Team and then as a Supervisor of the G&A Team (both London).
Moved to Denmark as Finance Manager, then when the oil price fell below $10/bbl towards end of 1998, transferred back to Aberdeen to head up the team looking after G&A for the North West Europe business unit. On way back to Aberdeen, completed a 3-month assignment in Norway. After that Aberdeen stint, went to Brazil as the Finance Manager but quickly took on the Country Manager role alongside my Finance responsibilities.
I’ve summarized below my key learnings from those 16 years.
Within an organization, take any/all opportunities to broaden your knowledge and experience. Be ready to move out of your comfort zone – it may feel difficult and challenging at the time but will be beneficial in the long run.
Ensure that for each role, you have a clear understanding of the performance indicators by which you will be measured. Then, work hard to ensure that you not only achieve those performance goals but bring additional value to the table.
Always fight against the ‘can’t change, because we’ve always don’t it this way’ mentality. Be inquisitive, ask questions, challenge current work practices and be ready to offer alternatives.
You will not be successful on your own – you need the help and support of others. Therefore, build rapport, get on with your colleagues. Consciously build your professional network. In doing so your colleagues and professional contacts will be much more inclined to help when required.
Prior to moving on from my Hess years, I leave you with one last tale:
In 2002, I moved to Rio de Janeiro as Finance Manager. By the time that I arrived in Rio, Hess had drilled 8 exploration wells offshore Brazil … and found … nada!
The forthcoming 9th well was billed as the do or die well. No sooner had I arrived than Mr Hess (the CEO) decided that he wasn’t ready to approve the 9th well – he wanted to cut the costs of the Brazil office and effectively go into a holding pattern. That was bad news for every expat … apart from one. Lucky Drew was asked to stay and oversee a period of ‘greater cost awareness’. I took on the Country Manager role.
Apart from luck, I’m convinced that the Country Manager opportunity came my way for two main reasons. By that time in my career, I had demonstrated a strong understanding of the underlying E&P business. Plus, I was seen as someone who got on with others. My approach to moving overseas was to change my style to fit the culture of the host country.
The 9th well never did get drilled and after 2 fantastic years it was time for me and my family to depart Brazil. It was at this point that I had my ‘light bulb’ career moment.
I had loved running a small business on behalf of Hess in Brazil ... I was honestly struggling with the thought of going back into a mainstream finance role. I started to consider the idea of big change of direction – perhaps setting up as a consultant or joining a much smaller / start up type organization. Note: you can torture yourself to death with thoughts about your future ... but … sometimes fate / lady luck intervenes.
Enter stage right - MDT International. I knew the founder / owner of MDT – he was part of my professional network. He was aware that my time with Hess in Brazil was coming to an end and approached me with the idea of joining MDT as a trainer. He did also mention longer term succession planning. The decision to join MDT was a big one … it felt risky. However, I decided to give it my best shot.
I joined MDT in 2004, took on the MD role in 2006 and enjoyed it so much that I bought the company in 2011. 2024 marks my 20-year anniversary with MDT. Last week I delivered my 357th MDT course. I can honestly say that I got the same buzz and job satisfaction from course no. 357 as I did from course no. 1.
The opportunity that it provides to meet and work with young professionals from all over the world. It’s such a pleasure and a privilege. Much of the training that I personally deliver is focused on Oil & Gas (E&P) Finance & Accounting. Obviously, we cover the debit and credit part of the learning. We cover IFRS. We offer insight to specific accounting methodology / calculations. But we are also able to offer practical and hopefully insightful real-world E&P industry commentary.
There are millions of competent accountants in the world. If you want to add value to your employer (and to yourself), I encourage you to develop an understanding of the underlying business activity for which you are accounting. Then bring the accounting and business skills together with strong inter-personal qualities. A win-win-win!
Setting the obvious professional footballer to one side, I toyed with a very diverse range of ideas e.g. criminology and forensic science, teacher, chef. The one thing I can say with authority is that I never wanted to be an accountant! I fell into to it because of the generic business studies degree and the fact that I was numerate. Oh…and not forgetting the available jobs at that time in Aberdeen were in oil & gas in finance and accounting.
Nothing stands still. Technology, especially the ability to analyse huge amounts of data quickly is already changing the role of the accountant.
But…understanding the underlying activity for which you are accounting will continue to be a highly valued skill. One thing is generating a management report highlighting variances to budget / forecast. Another thing is having the ability to understand and explain the why in a clear and concise manner.
In a world where automation is ever increasing, I believe that the ability to get on with your colleagues and be respected for your professional knowledge will be more important than ever.
Yes. At MDT, prior to March 2020, 100% of our training was delivered in-person.
Once the pandemic took hold, we were staring down the barrel of closing the business. It’s amazing what can be done when needs must. Now, ‘live online’ accounts for approx. 25% of our business.
Above said, the ‘lockdown’ experience has re-enforced the importance of human connection, particularly for young professionals.
When I reflect on my own career, so much of the powerful learning came from building rapport and talking to my colleagues. Not impossible to do ‘online’ but much easier and more powerful face-to-face.
It’s really important to do a job that you enjoy and that you find rewarding. If accounting is not delivering for you then you should seek out something new.
But…I’d caution against acting on the spur of the moment e.g. don’t write off accounting (pun intended) because of a difficult boss. A change of discipline should be a considered decision. Think about your own strengths and weaknesses. How might these fit with your new area.
But…if you’ve weighed up the pros and cons, and are determined to try something else, to borrow a phrase from Nike…Just Do It!
Chill…you don’t need to have it all sorted by the age of 18.
After that, the advice that I would give is actually ‘stuff’ that I think I did fairly well e.g. work hard; earn the professional respect of your colleagues; get on with people; never stop asking questions; always look for opportunities to make improvements to ‘how it’s always been done’; be willing to move job…get out of your comfort zone.
Now that I’ve thought about it, I’d tell the 18-year-old me to have more self-belief.
That’s an interesting question.
My response to that one has changed over the years. Back in the day, I had set very ambitious growth plans for MDT International. Those plans were underpinned by a detailed strategic review of the business…which we had peer reviewed and sense checked. To achieve the targets demanded additional resources. Those additional resources needed to be managed – which in turn meant that I needed a big pack of ibuprofen close to hand at all times. As it turned out, the world economy / oil price had its own agenda. In summary, I’ve enjoyed running MDT as a smaller business than I did when we had many more staff.
Now, our absolute focus is to deliver training that inspires and motivates our course participants to want to learn more.
Ideally, we’ll deliver more training days than last year. But the priority will be on ensuring that the days that we do deliver are of the highest quality.
I want to continue to support our preferred charity – The Gathimba Edwards Foundation (GEF) https://gathimbaedwardsfoundat... One of the best things I’ve ever done was to meet co-founder Myles Edwards for a coffee during the early part of 2015. Myles often comments on how much myself and my wife and MDT have done for GEF. I always respond by saying that it’s a 2-way street. Being involved with a small charity that makes a massive difference to those in need is hugely rewarding.
Throughout 2024, I want my combined walking and running miles to be al least 2024…while raising at least £2,024 for GEF.
Finally, I want to be in the stadium (again) when St.Mirren lift a major trophy. What is life if you can’t dream?
I’m a family man, married to Helen for 33 years (she deserves a gold medal), with two grown up kids – Amy & Callu …and two dogs (Mylo & Maggie), more on them below. Also, a very proud Grandad to the gorgeous Alice Drew – who will be 2 later this year.
I love to travel – just as well given my career history and my job.
I’m a big fan of the great outdoors, both as a runner and a regular walker – often with our two Westies, Mylo & Maggie. I also love sport, particularly football. Although born and brought up in Aberdeen, my Mum & Dad were from Paisley, which resulted in me being ‘encouraged’ to be a St.Mirren fan. I’m a season ticket holder and proud to be one of approx. 1,300 to have successfully played our part in The Buddies being a majority fan owned club. I also support Fluminense from my time living in Rio de Janeiro. I’d watch them regularly at the Maracanã and still follow their results.
My conversational Portuguese is half decent…although I did take formal language lessons while living in Brazil, most of my most valuable learning took place in either the Maracanã or the Pub. Very useful Portuguese for the streets but not so good for professional purposes.