Man at the top
16
talking heads
WHAT'S News Issue 8 August 1996
Whether he's talking relationship management, the
new focus strategy, golf, country bleus or birds of
the feathered variety, for corporate banking's Robin
Bargmann 'the devil is in the detail'.
The mention of golf as one of
his hobbies seems rather
predictable. But only at first
sight. Before you know it,
Robin Bargmann is
expounding the origins of the
sport like a true authority. In
fact, that is what he is - a
widely recognized amateur
historian on the subject. And
whether you love the sport or
loathe it, you can't help being
drawn in by the entertaining
way he manages to prove
etymologically that the
Netherlands, and not Scotland,
was golf's birthplace.
His strong advocacy for
Holland as the origin of his
favourite sport has nothing to
do with national chauvinism.
He was bom in Singapore -
'which is why my parents
called me Robin and why I still
have dual nationality; British
and Dutch'. The family later
moved to East Africa, where
his father was Dutch trading
company Hagemeyer's man in
the region. 'I spoke English as
a first language until my early
teens,' he recalls. 'When we
finally came back to the
Netherlands, I could
understand Dutch, but
couldn't speak it. So I spent a
lot of my free time as a young
teenager picking up my
"native" language. Looking
back, I think it was a useful
experience because comparing
two languages helps you
develop analytical skills.'
At school, Bargmann also
spent a lot of his free time on
studying Chinese history and
culture. 'I was fascinated by it,'
he says, 'and in fact planned to
read Sinology at university. In
the end, I opted for a more
practical course - trade and
corporate tax law But
Bargmann was to acquire
another language after
finishing his degree - Russian.
'I did my national service in
the Royal Navy,' he says, then
begins to laugh. 'They called
my department the "Institute
for mathematics", which was
essentially an euphemism for
the intelligence service. I had
to monitor Soviet naval traffic.
So I suppose you'd say I was in
the spy business.'
Although Bargmann studied
law, he didn't intend it as a
career. 'It was very useful - I
still use it every day, but I
think I saw academie training
as a way to learn how to think
analytically, to solve problems
that way. I wanted to do
something international.
Maybe that desire was
prompted by the fact that I'd
spent my whole childhood
outside the Netherlands.' After
completing his national
service, he began looking
around. 'I asked a number of
my father's friends for advice
and one of them suggested
Bank Mees and Hope. At that
time, Morgan had an interest
in the bank and it seemed to
offer perspectives for working
internationally.'
Unfortunately, these
diminished after this bank was
acquired by ABN. 'So I went
to Amro,' he recalls. 'The bank
had established a strong
domestic base and was looking
for international expansion,
especially in important
commodities markets. I was
sent first to London and later
to New York, which is what I
had always wanted. In fact,
two of my four children were
born there.' Bargmann's
passion for bleus and rock 'n
roll didn't emerge during his
stint in the US. He already had
it. 'When I was a child, I
played guitar. My mother
wanted me to study the
classical side, but 1 managed to
convince her I couldn't read
notes because I had musical
dyslexia. It wasn't true, of
course,' he grins. 'But I much
preferred the blues. People likj^fl
Sunhouse, Leadbelly, authenti^
music. When 1 was in the
States I did get the chance to
go into the history of
American music. Rock and
country are a melting pot of
European influences that were
taken to the US by emigrants.
The blues evolved into rock 'n
roll with Chuck Berry as the
ultimate exponent. Elvis made
a kind of sanitized blues for
consumption by white kids in
America - he was the
acceptable face of rock 'n roll.'
There is that passion for detail
again, for the history of a
subject that interests him.
'Knowing how it emerged, M
where it came from, makes it -
and everything else - more
fun,' he says. 'It is the same
with bird watching. I love to
observe birds, to see how they
care for their young, to watch
the patterns of their lives. It is
something 1 do with my kids
and, you know, observing birds
in their natural habitat is more
than just looking at beautiful
creatures. There is an artistic,
esthetic element in there, too.
Before photography, artists
drew them and engraved them.
That makes you curious about
who those artists were, how
they worked, and so on. Which
I suppose brings me back to mv
fascination for the history, the fl
detail of things. Audubon's
Birds of America is an
unsurpassed monunental work
of art.'
This fascination for history,
for more than just a passing
knowledge of things is,
Bargmann believes, an
inherent part of his
personality. 'It is the same in
the way I work,' he admits. 'I
believe there is real meaning in
the saying: The devil is in the
detail. If you get the detail
right, the headlines will take
care of themselves. If you
want to make the right
decisions on the future, you
have to know the past and its
context. Knowledge is of the
utmost importance and I think
our new focus strategy
confirms that. I'm all for it.'