This is the real, reel story of Scott DiGiammarino:
Scott was once a financial advisor with American Express in Boston (now Ameriprise Financial). At a young age he was promoted and relocated to Washington, DC. Scott’s new role was to manage the region. It was a daunting task. He inherited a regional team of financial advisors that was ranked 173rd out of 176 branches nationwide. Within one year though, Scott took the region to the #1 ranking. Proving it wasn’t a fluke, the region stayed in the top spot for 10 of the next 16 years.
Was their something different about Scott or the region? The ascent to #1 and their staying power didn’t go unnoticed. Soon HQ sent in a team of consultants from McKinsey. What was the special sauce? Did they hire better? Were the employees inherently more motivated? Nothing really stood out.
How did he do it then? The consultants found only one thing that was unique and different. Scott used movie clips to drive home key concepts. The lessons created a deep engagement and likeability with his workers. The videos helped reinforce the mission of the company and motivated his team to give their best efforts personally. According to Rohit Bhargava of Influential Marketing Group,
“This simple focus allowed him to outperform every other office, not because his people were inherently smarter or better paid … but because they cared more about doing a great job every day and delivered on that passion.”
I came across Scott in Rohit Bhargava’s latest book, Likeonomics: The Unexpected Truth Behind Earning Trust, Influencing Behavior, and Inspiring Action. The book uncovers five key principles to win trust (or win it back)—and keep it. It breaks down TRUST into the five elements of Truth, Relevance, Unselfishness, Simplicity, and Timing.
Scott is now no longer with Ameriprise Financial. He recently started Reel Potential, a company that uses Hollywood movie clips to help business leaders communicate, engage and inspire their employees in a short, entertaining and memorable manner. Here is Scott giving a TEDx RockCreekPark talk about the power of movies and why they move us:
TAKEAWAY: Being likeable matters. Actions speak louder than words if you want your employees to care. According to Scott, “If you have a set of values and principles, that is shared from the top down, they could compel people to go above and beyond. If the leaders actions and decisions are in alignment with those compelling principles, then you’ll gain the respect and the loyalty you need to achieve unsurpassed heights.” Are your actions in line with your values?
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) – Rohit is an upcoming keynote speaker at the High Five Conference in Raleigh on February 26+27, 2014. Here is Rohit talking about the art and science of likeability. He mentions Scott about 11 minutes in:
