Garry Connolly, Founder and President, Host in Ireland
Garry Connolly is the President and Founder of award-winning Host in Ireland, a strategic global initiative created to increase awareness of the benefits of hosting digital assets in Ireland, and the capabilities of Irish companies.
A much sought-after keynote speaker, panellist and moderator at global industry events, Garry regularly appears in conferences throughout the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dublin, London, Monaco and Costa Rica.
Garry has over 30 years’ experience in assisting Foreign Direct investment into Europe and demonstrates a pragmatic and common-sense approach.
In addition to providing leadership at the award-winning Host in Ireland initiative, Garry has also been recognised as one of ’the world’s most influential data economy leaders’ in 2019 by Data Economy, top 50 EMEA Influencers in Cloud and Data Centres 2018 by Data Economy, and was runner up in the 2017 DCS Awards’ ‘Data Centre Individual of Year’ category.
Who do you most admire in business?
The two guys I most admire right now are Richard Branson and Bill Gates. They are both working more on their business than “in” their business. Gates is using his accumulated wealth to make a difference. Branson is using his notoriety to make a difference in issues that we might have neglected in the past.
What companies or brands do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I’m liking Microsoft at the moment. They have gone through a change of ethos and vibe of the company with a change of CEO. The current leadership is more about collaboration and I think they are getting it right. They have transitioned through so many iterations of the digitisation of the planet and they seem to have a really focused group of people who are smart, clever and holistic in their thinking.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The very best advice I received early on in my career was with my first mentor. He said to me, it’s not clear what the last thing you will do or say on this earth, but you can be sure it won’t be “I wonder how my stocks are doing” and “I should have spent more time in the office.” I think it says a lot about keeping materialistic goods in perspective and what’s really important in life - friendships, family, and the people you interact with each day.
What drives or motivates you each day?
The ability to identify and work with people that are better at a certain task than I am. We find a way to make a difference by combining the best of all our skill sets. It’s not easy for someone like myself to let go, but I think ultimately, identifying people with better skills and letting them flourish is a magical moment that motivates me.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social media is such a fantastic thing. I think it will eventually become just “media” as distinct to “social”. There will be new tools and as we get to know how to better use it, respect it and understand it, it will be interesting to see how it emerges in the era of data privacy, data protection, sovereignty, compliance. I think people are now getting a sense of don't’ give away a lot of stuff if you don’t want people to use it. If you are using it, be respectful to the compliance rules and regulations.
Do you have a mentor or do you mentor anyone?
Not one individual person at the moment. I believe the idea is to teach others so they don't repeat our mistakes of the past. I try to get in front of university audiences as much as possible. Teaching people to be innovative, take risks and collaborate is probably the best thing I can teach others.
How do you network?
I have always either attended or created as many "Gatherings" as possible and using my voice and a welcoming hand to connect with people. I, of course, also use the digital version, but I believe, by far, the "In-Person" physical meetings are the most effective for establishing long-term business relationships.
How did you get into this line of work and What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same line of work?
I qualified 30+ years ago as a very poor computer programmer. I learned through that experience that the most brilliant computer programmers tended to have a communications gap. They could speak to computers, but they couldn’t effectively communicate with human beings. They were able to use the computer as a tool to figure out solutions to very complex problems, but the client ended up unclear on the risk and threat that the computer was trying to solve. They spent too much time on “how” we were solving problems and not the “why” we were doing in the first place. I got into this business of setting up initiatives and companies because I had the ability to understand the technology and communicate why the problem was being solved.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
You sometimes think that when people have a status, stature or title, they know more than the rest of us. A lot of the time, they probably just know the people who know more and collaborate. I wish I had known the power of collaboration - or co-opetition (competitive cooperation) as we like to call it - and about the power of bringing people together to work on something collectively. Sport taught me a lot of those things when I was younger. I just wish I had brought that analogy into the business world sooner because I now realize it’s all about teams and collaboration.
What’s the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Not having a well thought through idea in the first place. Start-ups fail because there is no market need. Too many start-ups think they are the beginning, middle and the end and forget about the need to collaborate both internally and externally. In reality, you need to embrace other people with other skills as quickly as you can.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Having an impact on others in the industry. When someone comes up to me at a conference or an event and says they remember what I said to them and the impact that had, I think that is a really wonderful thing. People appreciate what you said for the betterment of the collective more often than not.
How do you define success?
Peace of mind. To me, that comes from knowing we did the right things in the right order with an optimum result. That allows you to wake up the next day with the peace of mind knowing nothing is going to come back at you.
The other sign of success is developing other people’s skills and developing the next wave. If you can bring everybody along and maximizing everyone’s potential, you are going to see amazing results.
What do you think your unique skill(s) is that has helped you become successful?
I realized I was getting to my correct level of incompetence and never wanted to be the smartest guy in the room. I’d rather surround myself with people who I feel are smarter than I in different areas. Their skills augment around my skills. If I can bring those people together and then get myself out of the way, great work can be accomplished.
What valuable lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
It’s not about you; it’s about the collective. Empathizing with the other side and why they do what they do. They have an internal set of masters that have to be met just like you do.
I’m also learning from my own children about emotional intelligence. This is something that I’d love to have learned it in earlier in my life. Now that we are becoming more connected via different mediums, we are becoming less connected as human beings. We are going to have to work harder each day to be empathetic towards each other, so we don’t let technology be the barrier for what we do really well as humans - make connections.
Is there anything new you are working on that you would like to share?
Looking locally, there is a problem with bees. They are really integral to how we feed ourselves as a society and enjoy our countryside. They are responsible for 70% of the food we ingest, but 30% at any one time are at risk of being extinct. I’m going to give some more thought about how to ensure they are a part of the future world and reversing the challenges we’ve created for the planet.
I'm looking forward to getting a beekeepers suit on - it seems like a fun thing to do.
Where’s your favourite place?
Without question, my favourite place is home surrounded by my kids, wife and dogs. I get inspired and taught by them every day. A lot of inspiration in what I do comes from listening to my kids and hearing their perspective and learning what their norms are as a generation, particularly in terms of how they adopt the technology.
What is your hobby?
Teaching and giving back to the local community
Most embarrassing experience?
I’m not easily embarrassed, but there have been a few occasions when I’ve walked around an auditorium still connected the microphone inside the room. You go to the bathroom, and people can all hear what is happening back in the room. It’s rather embarrassing.
What are you not very good at and What are you good at?
I’m not very good at saying no, but I am getting better at that. It’s hard when you are being asked to do so many different things by so many people across the different facets of an industry. I’m improving because I’m surrounding myself with people I trust to give the best guidance possible.
Which words do you overuse?
Collaboration or co-opetition, but that’s because it’s what is most important. Ignorance is an option these days, so bringing people together to figure out how we use all the knowledge we have at our fingertips to solve problems makes a real difference in the world.
Your social media platform of choice?
LinkedIn for industry information. Twitter for a bit of gossip. And of course, Instagram to keep up with the trendies.
When are you happiest?
I’m happiest when I am at home with my family and my dogs.
Your favourite artist(s)?
Current favourite artist is Khalid. All-time favourite artist is Stevie Wonder. He is a child prodigy that took on the social challenges of his time and was creative and relentless in his songs which have traversed over the generations.
What living person do you most admire?
I admire movements that are going on more than people. Greta Thunberg’s message is right on point to raise people’s awareness of the planet and give that the appropriate attention it deserves.
A positive phrase you like to share with people.
When all is said and done, let’s get more done than said. It’s all about the execution of the idea.