This article is part of our partnership with Northwestern Mutual’s Downtown Milwaukee office. Over the next few months, I’ll sit down with Managing Partner Frank Di Meglio for real conversations about Milwaukee, the city’s business scene, and the people behind both.
As a refresher, is a bit more on my friend, Frank Di Meglio:
Born Francesco, he goes by Frank, and moved to Milwaukee from New Jersey three years ago with his wife and daughters.
His office covers Ozaukee County to Kenosha County and has about 250 advisors and associates.
He started with Northwestern Mutual (NM) as a college intern 16 years before he moved to Milwaukee.
This isn’t a conversation about tech.
I know.
But it’s equally important.
And the timing couldn’t be better.
Kind business conversations, the type that make us smile, are needed now more than ever.
And this is a good one.
I believe kindness isn’t just good for smiles, it’s good for business.
I also believe Frank Di Meglio, Managing Partner of Northwestern Mutual Downtown Milwaukee, would agree.
And here’s why.
Frank’s dad used to flip a plastic cup in the air and catch it.
Customers came back just to watch.
Why does that matter to my second conversation with Frank?
It maters because Frank learned as a kid what it meant to create meaningful, memorable experiences for people (customers). And he’s carried that here to Milwaukee.
I’m not going to recap our entire conversation in words because you should really listen here at the end of the article (or on Spotify).
But let me just say this: our talk made me super happy.
The wisdom around us.
Frank’s dad ran pizzerias. His mom was an educator. His grandfather ran school districts. He grew up watching people who put others first.
Particularly with his dad’s pizzeria, Frank noticed people weren’t coming back just for the food (which was amazing, by the way).
“What they really kept coming back for was the way my dad made them feel,” Frank shared.
So much of how we treat people comes from watching how the people who matter most to us treat others.
It’s more important to be interested than interesting.
When he arrived in Milwaukee a few years ago, Frank spent his first 100 days asking questions. And they all start with what matters to the person he’s talking to.
Here’s the secret to his process: he actually remembers what people say.
Then, he takes action. He makes it memorable.
He’ll call the restaurant and send a surprise round of drinks to the table of a client or an employee celebrating a special occasion.
He’ll work with his team to have a new hire’s favorite coffee waiting with a welcoming team member when they arrive on their first day. Before they get on the elevator.
Most of his examples don’t cost much. But they matter so much that people remember.
We need more of this.
Frank is a leader of a very successful, growing financial services firm. And it’s a firm that’s also part of a huge organization called Northwestern Mutual.
He and I could have talked numbers and business and money all day.
But we didn’t.
Instead, we talked about treating people with kindness.
I’ve been thinking about the above since Frank and I talked. Milwaukee has plenty of people in corporate leadership positions who carry tremendous influence on the business and the people who work there.
If you add kindness to influence, you have a killer duo for positive, memorable impact.
Frank does this and I think more leaders should, too.
Want to learn how? Listen to the entire conversation here (or on Spotify).
Love you, Milwaukee.