For Ronan Harris, Snap’s EMEA president, the lesson that changed how he led teams didn’t come from a boardroom or a business book. It came from his father.
When he told his father about his approach, the elder Harris didn’t mince words. “You’re a f—ing idiot,” his dad said. “Go and talk to them and tell them why.”
That blunt critique sparked a change. Harris ditched the emails.
Instead, he began writing handwritten notes, delivering them in person, and spending a few minutes sitting with each employee to explain exactly what they had done that mattered.
Years later, Harris still runs into people who kept those notes. Some are now in senior leadership roles.
“They absolutely remember it,” he said. “They remember the fact that some boss, several layers up, actually gave enough of a hoot to actually come and sit down and thank them for the thing that they did.”
The experience left Harris with a lasting conviction: “Never underestimate the power of gratitude and recognition that you have, and go out of your way to make it count.”
It was a fitting final thought in a discussion that had also touched on empathy and intentionality in leadership.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to ask people to do really big things,” he said.
“Get great results, do some transformation, so if you don’t really have personal leadership credibility, it’s going to be hard to ask other people to do big things.”
