I have seen you listen like you have nothing else to do for the day. Amazing skill. Well done!
-Nnamdi Azodo
If you’ve read most of my pieces, you’d know I continually point out that I have seen time and time again when leaders express their displeasure without being brash, uncultured and loud-mouthed. Well, RigoArcher was always the primary inspiration behind this statement. Although being human, I know a few times he was pushed to the wall and had to react; you knew it was well deserved (sorry but not sorry.) I have a strong and high regard for Rigo because I strongly believe that we need to hold our leaders by the balls. I do not think you get to rest on your oars and just send “approved” emails and sign off documents all day long as a leader. I believe you must heed the call to adventure and/or the call to action. You must strive to do better (whatever better means, in your space). If you are in charge of people, there are clear expectations that you must live up to. If you cannot meet these expectations, then I believe you are duty-bound to relinquish your position. It’s a beautiful thing that life doesn’t play out the way we generally think.
In my time working with Rigo, the only thing I ever knew irked him was late submissions which came after deadlines had been exceeded and no communication had been made to say there’d be delays. I also embraced this mindset and it inspired one of my articles on the planning fallacy. We underestimate how long it will take to complete tasks (myself included), and even when the deadline draws near, we somehow feel that the “Spirit of the deadline” will come upon us and we will still meet the deadline. We fail to manage our eagerly expecting stakeholders by saying, “Hi! You know that thing I promised that I would finish in xx time which was unrealistic because I didn’t anticipate that life would happen? I won’t be able to deliver as promised and I need more time.” But then, the planning fallacy isn’t the focus of this piece.
The opening quote of this piece is a comment on one of Rigo’s articles (I learnt the art of article writing from him too) by an ex-colleague who also worked closely with him and it perfectly captures how he listened when you come around with an issue, a query or just to have a random conversation. Irrespective of level or appearance, he always treated colleagues with respect and openness. Rigo had created and still encourages an environment of open communication. I remember he mentioned in an article:
“Speak up, don’t act out. I’m not your parent or your shrink, I cannot look into a crystal ball to see what’s bugging you. I understand that you’d rather keep somethings personal, and I’m ok with the boundaries. But if it impacts the work, we need to find a way to deal with it.”
I was impressed by this statement which clearly spelt out publicly that there are external factors which hamper career performance instead of the usual “I don’t care, just get it done” feedback. It is one thing for Mummy HR to say “We try to build a culture of openness” and another entirely for Big Daddy Corporate (BDC) and his henchmen to encourage and embody openness and two-way dialogue.
While we worked together, I never knew I was taking a subconscious masterclass on “Character” which will come in handy much later. As I switch through organisations and roles, I keep seeing character gaps on unacceptable levels. Now, before you come for my neck on people being imperfect and all, I get it. However, you might also agree that there are leaders who are completely poor in character and those with whom we will gladly march into battle with banners raised high. Rigo is one of those guys. As odd as it might sound, I can almost count on one hand the number of times we ever discussed actual work deliverables. Still, I can confidently say that the “unrelated” conversations were the most life life-changing for me. Sometimes, when I am in certain situations at work, I subtly ask myself, “What would he have done or said in this situation?” and it becomes much easier to deal with the task or conversation in front of me.
To an extent, I’d say Rigo is so super that he somewhat spoilt those who worked with him and he still spoils those who continue to work with him with his leadership style, in a good way. He always switched between the caps of leadership, mentorship and coaching within the same interaction or instance. He never took things personally (as far as I knew); he never shared the dirt with his team, which he sometimes received when he dealt with BDC.
I have had my fair share of working with other leaders and to be honest, I have been chronically disappointed with what I have experienced and continue to experience. I cannot help but mentally, continually compare him with everyone else I work with, like some partner in a relationship who constantly makes comparisons with an ex. Not in the category of competence — anyone can pick up skills along the way — but in character. Building skills is super easy, super easy. You can see the benefits and almost equate it in monetary value (because it’s what drives a lot of us, to an extent). Character, on the other hand, is more difficult. You almost see no benefit to building character and you may not get any trophies for building character, but I have seen Rigo continue to be the poster boy for good character. I have moved on to work with constant face-palm-inducing bosses and also worked with seemingly nice people who are masters of corporate gaslighting. But if you ever came close to Rigo you always knew that his intentions were pure even when he had no vested interest other than seeing someone else do better.
I shared my grievances with him during a recent conversation, explaining my frustrations with leaders not being able to get it right, from a character standpoint. He explained how “People Development” was a crucial part of performance assessment in a previous place he had worked. It made so much sense if the level to which I develop others is a significant part of my self-assessment, then I am literally duty-bound to do better and be more intentional above the growth and development of others. He also chipped in some bonus points about how people often wrongly assume that leadership character is a prerequisite of good organisational performance. There are too many factors to comprehend that ensure the success of an organisation. I had a “Yeah…Hmm…True.” moment after hearing this and I have continued to ponder on my character expectations from leadership and how it might be somewhat flawed. It also made sense as I remembered an analogy from The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, where the author talked about peacetime CEOs and wartime CEOs.
I largely consider myself a product of Rigo’s leadership. Back then, even as a deeply conflicted young trainee with a lot of questions about life in general; I’d walk into his office severally seeking answers like a troubled man going to see a seer to know what the “gods” had in store for me. He’d listen intently, sometimes pulling out a notepad, as I’d ramble on. In response most times, he’d start with a burst of laughter and say “This is probably not what you are hoping to hear, but…” He always had a fresh and different perspective which was always insightful, practical and thoughtful. Even as I continue to chronicle various snapshots of my career musings and observations, I will also continually use him as a standard of leadership.
By the way, it’s RigoArcher’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Rigo!
