Snap exec on the ‘impersonal email’ mistake that changed his leadership journey

• Snap president Ronan Harris transformed his leadership approach after his father challenged him to replace impersonal thank-you emails with handwritten notes and face-to-face recognition. The simple act of personal gratitude left a lasting impression on employees—many of whom still remember it years later.

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.

Years ago, Harris was leading a large, fast-growing team at Google and wanted to show appreciation to top performers.

“Every performance cycle I’d look for the top 5, 10% of people, and I’d send them a little email and go, thanks for all the hard work,” he recalled during an exclusive panel discussion hosted by Fortune at Cannes Lions. It was a well-intentioned gesture—but one that, in hindsight, missed the mark.

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.

“Thank you so much for your hard work. I know you did this, this and this, and you’ve gone above and beyond,” he would say. It became a ritual, one that followed him through the rest of his career, from nearly 18 years at Google to his current role at Snap.

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.

Mars President Anton Vincent spoke of the importance of leading with compassion, especially in moments of change and uncertainty.

“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.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com