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Ronan Harrington

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Resilience expert with an inspiring story of how to cope with adversity.

Summary:

Overnight, Ronan Harrington went from senior leadership positions at the British Foreign Office and Extinction Rebellion to being diagnosed with a debilitating lifetime chronic illness. He’s learned the hard way how to lead under pressure and stay strong in the face of adversity. Ronan now teaches on the KPMG Executive Leadership Programme and is a resilience specialist at Tough Cookie, advising leading organisations including Sky, Meta and Accenture on how to create healthy, high performing cultures.

Biography:

Ronan’s expertise comes from senior leadership positions at the British Foreign Office and Extinction Rebellion, and now as a Resilience Specialist at Tough Cookie, where he counsels leading organisations including Sky, Accenture, Meta and Sage.

In his talks, Ronan shares the hidden drivers of burnout and what neuroscience based tools and cutting edge team practices are best to manage stress, overwhelm and drama.

The result is a healthy, high performing culture where people are at the top of their game.

Part of the magic of his talks is that he speaks from direct experience. As a direct consequence of burnout, he went from being a political leader for a global movement to being diagnosed with a debilitating lifetime chronic illness. He’s had to learn, the hard way, how to be resilient when adversity doesn’t let up.

His story is an inspiring journey of hope, one that has taken him west to confront the tragic loss of his brother and east for a private audience with the Dalai Lama. Through his dramatic highs and lows, audiences reframe their understanding of adversity as an invitation to grow as leaders.

Now more than ever, people need guidance on how to perform under pressure and stress. This means real insights, the kind that can only come from deep expertise and genuine experience. Ronan brings both.

Speaking topics include:

From Burnout to Resilience
Mental health in the workplace
Well being in the workplace
Transformational leadership
Performing every day under pressure
How to have difficult conversations in the workplace
Deeper employee engagement through meaning, purpose and belonging
How to scale a healthy, high performance culture

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Testimonials:

I’ve told so many people about Ronan’s talk as it was one of the most thought provoking and poignant presentations I’ve ever had.

Dave Exall, Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer, Simply Health

Insightful, authentic and engaging. Ronan is a great presenter, taking a topic most are familiar with, but don’t really understand, unpacking the myths, laying out the systemic triggers and teaching some great scientifically backed techniques. His personal story is highly compelling and I would recommend anyone working in a high performance culture or role to spend time with Ronan.

Chris McBrayne, VP Technology, IBM

As with all of our events we take feedback from our attendees, Ronan received a 100% feedback score which is a first across our networks since I joined the company.

Joe Mullis, Programme Design Manager, KPMG

One of the most touching and inspiring speakers I know, he truly holds the audience in his hands.

Josef Lentsch, Managing Partner, Innovation in Politics Institute, Germany

I first met Ronan when he spoke at the Managing Partners’ Forum Strategy Summit in March 2019 and was I completely inspired by his amazing resilience and ability to bounce back. He imparted much food for thought surrounding mindfulness and useful techniques to prevent and overcome adversity. A very entertaining speaker and great guy to know.

Lee Pearce, Senior Relationship Manager, AIB

Ronan is one of the most inspiring and touching speakers I know. He truly holds the audience in his hands.

Josef Lentsch - Director, NEOS Political Innovation Lab