GC Corner: An interview with Ruth Murphy

Ruth is Head of Legal for Google in Ireland. Prior to joining Google in 2021 she was General Counsel of BT’s Enterprise division (UK & Ireland). She is an accomplished lawyer and business leader with over 20 years experience in the multinational tech sector. Ruth is a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams; with strong communication, change and people management skills; and a reputation for pragmatism and getting things done. Ruth studied law at Trinity College Dublin and lives in Dublin.

What’s the biggest priority for you in your role today?

Ireland is home to Google’s EU headquarters. A key focus area for me therefore is the alphabet soup of EU regulation applying to tech platforms (DSA, DMA, AVMS2, NIS2, DORA and so on); then throw AI into the mix, which isn’t a single new legal field, it’s new technology that sits at the centre of all our existing legal fields, such as copyright, privacy and liability, and the EU’s AI Act.

Aside from the sheer scale of these new obligations, many of the regulations overlap in subject matters and themes, and in a number of cases platforms will be regulated across these themes by different regulators, creating a complex web of governance, safety and transparency requirements.

How has your approach to leadership evolved over time?

My leadership style has always been collaborative. My goal is to create a space where people feel trusted, challenged, empowered and supported to step out of their comfort zones, learn and shine. I love that line (often attributed to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google), “hire great people and get out of their way".

I do adapt my leadership style depending on the team, the circumstances, the timing; but I always focus on asking good questions and—most importantly—listening more than I speak!

What advice would you give to a lawyer moving out of private practice into an in-house role?

Be someone who gets stuff done. Lawyers are really good at describing problems, explaining why something went wrong, why something won’t work, why it isn’t the right option—instead be the lawyer who takes ownership of something and moves it forward.

When you go in-house you become part of a multi disciplinary team—all charged with running a business—so your role is not to explain the ‘why not’, it’s coming up with the what, the how, the options, the risk assessment or trade-offs, and then—and this is critical—communicating clearly and concisely. I always keep in mind the brilliant quote, “I would have written a shorter letter, but did not have the time”.

Also, when you move in-house from private practice you’re no longer billing anyone for an hour of your time, so you need to be really intentional about your own time—you’re the only person who can decide where and how it is best spent. Ask yourself whether a meeting is really needed; if so, is there an agenda and a clear goal? is the decision-maker attending? would a pre-read help make the meeting more productive or expedite decision-making? would a quick 1:1 phone call help close out a long email exchange; etc?

Finally, invest time in understanding the business, the people, the culture and how things really work.

One leadership habit you swear by under pressure?

I’ve learned over time to trust my gut. I’m usually dealing with imperfect information in those moments of pressure, so I try to calmly work with that information, ask useful questions to get to the heart of the issue quickly, layer on my experience and judgement … and then critically make a decision and be accountable for it.

How do you personally recharge when things get intense?

I used to try to quickly ‘repair myself’ when I came up for air after an intense period of work, whether it was getting a deal over the line or a tough change programme. I’d lick my wounds, treat myself to that lie-in, downtime on the couch with carbs, or night out with friends. But that short sharp burst of self-care, followed by then just jumping straight back in again to the next deal or project, was not sustainable.

I’ve now realised that, for me, building in consistent exercise, sleep and good nutrition—day in, day out—is essential. Obviously there are days, and even weeks, when it all goes out the window given the nature of our jobs, but I do ensure balance across a rolling  2 -3 month period.

What wellbeing practice has stuck for you?

I started yoga about 2 years ago and it has been a game changer for me. Unlike gruelling gym sessions which I often dread, I actually look forward to my hour of yoga. Maybe it’s because I spend most of the time in Mountain Pose with the noise in my head switched off. Namaste!

If you had to give your younger self a tip to avoid burnout, what would it be?

Understand and accept that only you can set your own boundaries: your employer, your boss, your team, your leadership team, your family … they’re not mind readers, they don’t know what energises you and what drains you.

Establish a way of working that is sustainable for you—which may also depend on the stage of life you’re at, what your current priorities are, whether you have caring responsibilities; and then ask for help when you need it.

Best book, podcast or film you’ve discovered recently?

I’m currently reading The Race by David Gillick. Gillick grew up near me in Dublin, and is one of Ireland's most successful 400m runners. The book dives into the brutal training, pressure to perform, scarce funding, sky-high expectations and David’s constant fight to stay in the game, mentally and physically.

David describes his burnout and being forced to retire early from athletics which was all he had ever known. There are so many learnings from the journeys of elite sports people—the importance of turning up every day; the need for grit, resilience and an end goal with a clear plan to achieve it; negotiating highs and lows; and how to shush those saboteurs in our heads.

One thing your team would be surprised to know about you?

When I was 9 years old I bought—with my own pocket money—a can of coke which when I opened it, was flat. I was really annoyed, so I hand-wrote a stern letter to The Coca-Cola Company. You can imagine my older sister slagging me and telling me I was such a loser! A week later a huge crate of 50 coke cans was left outside our front door. Needless to say she didn’t get one.

If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing today?

My success in getting compensation out of The Coca-Cola Company distracted me from originally wanting to be a journalist. I’m pretty sure this was sparked from watching the movie ‘All the President's Men’; I also loved English and writing and did a course in journalism in University College Dublin while studying law. I think there’s a lot of parallels between journalism and the law … your approach to drafting and the importance of words, the need to go really deep into a topic and understand the moving parts, the people-skills needed to source information and build a fact pattern, etc. Vanity Fair really lost out!

Your go-to guilty pleasure after a long week?

Easy—cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc.