For Snap’s EMEA president Ronan Harris, this is the way he leads the team and doesn’t come from the board or business books. It comes from his father.
A few years ago, Harris led a large, fast-growing team Google And want to express gratitude to the people who performed best.
“Every performance cycle I would look for the top 5, 10% of them, I would send them an email and go and thank all the hard work,” he recalled during one period. Exclusive panel discussion by wealth Lions in Cannes. It was a gesture of kindness, but in hindsight, it was a regret.
Elder Harris didn’t laugh at him when he told his father about his method. His father said, “You’re an idiot.” “Go talk to them and tell them why.”
Blunt criticism triggered changes. Harris abandoned the email.
Instead, he began writing handwritten notes, delivering them in person, and sitting with each employee for a few minutes to explain exactly what they were doing.
He would say, “Thank you so much for your hard work. I know you did it, it’s so, and you’ve surpassed it.” It became a ritual from the ritual he followed throughout his career, from his nearly 18 years at Google to his current role Break.
Years later, Harris still meets people who keep these notes. Some people now hold senior leadership positions.
“They definitely remember,” he said. “They remember the fact that some bosses, a few layers, actually gave enough hot feet to actually sit down and thank them for what they did.”
This experience lasted Harris a belief: “Never underestimate the power of gratitude and recognition you have and do your best to make it count.”
This is a suitable final idea in the discussion, which also involves empathy and intentionality in leadership.
President of Mars Anton Vincent Talking about the importance of compassion, especially in moments of change and uncertainty.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to ask people to do real big things,” he said.
“Get great results, make some transformations, so if you really don’t have the credibility of a personal leader, it’s hard to ask others to do big things.”
