Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspiring Action

Chapter 2

Navigating the Likeability Gap: What Rwanda, Golf Courses, and Ocean’s Eleven Can Teach Us about the Decisions We Make

What Rwanda, Golf Courses, and Ocean’s Eleven Can Teach Us about the Decisions We Make

Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them toward a certain goal.

—Walt Disney

 

The first time you meet Scott DiGiammarino, you get the feeling he’d much rather give you a big hug instead of a handshake. Often he’ll do exactly that. As a former high school football star who grew up in the affluent Massachusetts sailing town of Marblehead, he had always been one of the least wealthy kids in his neighborhood. Growing up surrounded by wealth, though, gave him a healthy ambition to be a success. It was a drive that would lead him in 1993, at the age of 30, to accept a seemingly impossible job.

That year, he took over as the sales manager for the struggling Mid-Atlantic region of the American Express Financial Advisor Network. At that time, there were 176 individual regions across the United States, and every year they were ranked based on an internal formula that looked at all sorts of criteria such as assets under management, client satisfaction, investment performance, employee retention, and a mix of other metrics. The office he was about to take over was ranked 173rd out of 176.

He knew something drastic had to be done, and he wasted no time trying to take action. In his first month, he reviewed ...