Not every resignation is loud. Some happen quietly, over time, when a leader realizes the work they are meant to do has moved beyond the role they currently hold.
In this episode of Why I Left, Brian Aquart sits down with Chike Aguh, Head of Innovation and Strategy at the Kapor Center, for a conversation about service, ambition, leadership, and career resilience. Chike has worked across government, workforce development, advisory, and innovation spaces, but his story is not about chasing bigger titles. It is about building a career around the problems he feels responsible for helping solve.
Chike shares how his family’s immigrant story shaped his sense of duty, why he thinks leaders should stop defining ambition by job titles, and what it really means to leave without certainty. He also unpacks how organizations misunderstand change, why proximity became a crutch for poor leadership during the pandemic, and why the future of work requires a deeper belief that talent is everywhere.
This is a conversation for anyone trying to decide whether they are running from something or going toward something.
Enjoy!
Stay connected with Chike Aguh
Website: https://www.kaporcenter.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chike-aguh/
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