There are people who teach you about leadership by giving speeches, writing books or standing at the front of the room.
And then there are people like Roger Diaz.
I met Roger nearly 50 years ago, and when I joined the Clarksburg City Council in 1985, he was already an experienced councilmember. I was the youngest member of council, with plenty of enthusiasm but still a lot to learn about how local government really worked.
Roger helped show me the ropes.
He answered my questions, counseled me on the ins and outs of city government and, perhaps most importantly, demonstrated how a public official could disagree with someone without becoming disagreeable.
Roger was friendly to everyone. He had the respect of his fellow councilmembers and of the employees who worked for the city. I cannot remember him raising his voice or allowing anger or ego to get in the way of accomplishing something.
He simply knew how to lead.
Roger also introduced me to a larger world of municipal government. I still remember attending my first West Virginia Municipal League Summer Conference and playing golf with him at Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown.
Later, I traveled with him to a National League of Cities conference in Washington, D.C. Once again, Roger was my guide. He answered my questions and introduced me to people he had come to know through years of involvement.
We would sometimes have dinner at Cafe Petitto, a Washington restaurant owned by former Clarksburgers.
I was learning more than I probably realized at the time.
Roger had mastered something that isn’t taught in any government textbook: how to carefully navigate the minefield of local politics while keeping your relationships and your reputation intact.
I thought about all of that recently when the North Central West Virginia Airport celebrated the grand opening of its beautiful new terminal.
Roger has served on the Airport Authority for many years, working largely behind the scenes as the airport grew and its leaders developed a vision for what it could become.
When the ribbon was cut, Roger was standing among the dignitaries.
I looked at him and could see the pride in his eyes.
He had every reason to be proud.
Buildings like that terminal don’t simply appear. They happen because people spend years building relationships, finding funding, assembling good teams and believing in a vision long before everyone else can see it.
That has always been Roger’s kind of leadership.
Quiet. Persistent. Effective.
Roger is also not someone who merely accepts a position and becomes a bystander.
Several years ago, I was posting on Facebook about one of my frequent consulting trips and mentioned flying out of the Pittsburgh airport. Roger sent me a message.
Had I considered flying from North Central West Virginia Airport?
I told him that I had, but I worried about delays or cancellations. When you are traveling for business, a missed flight can wreck an entire schedule.
Roger didn’t argue with me. He simply made his point.
But the message stayed in my head.
Within a month or two, my wife and I were boarding a flight to Florida from our hometown airport.
Roger had made another sale.
That’s Roger.
He knows how to make his case without hitting you over the head with it.
His political career in Harrison County is legendary, including service on both Clarksburg City Council and the Harrison County Commission. But what has always impressed me most has never been the titles he held.
It has been the way he held them.
No theatrics. No need to dominate the room. No obsession with who received the credit.
Just steady, thoughtful public service.
Throughout my own career, Roger has been a friend, mentor and role model. I have told him many times that some of whatever success I have enjoyed can be traced back to lessons I learned watching him.
Communities need leaders with big ideas and bold visions.
But they also need people who quietly show up year after year, do the work, build trust and leave things better than they found them.
Roger Diaz has done that for a lifetime.
Someday soon, I expect to walk into that new airport terminal and board another flight from North Central West Virginia.
When I do, I will think about my old friend Roger.
And I will be reminded that some of the greatest monuments to leadership don’t have anyone’s name written on them.