newjerseynewsroom.com

BY WARREN BOROSON

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BOROSON ON MONEY

Lucia DiNapoli Gibbons of Jersey City – a top executive at Wells Fargo, the national bank – doesn’t hesitate in explaining why she has been so successful.

It was the influence of her father, Gaetano DiNapoli. And no, he wasn’t a banker. He was a barber. In central Jersey City – not exactly an “upscale” area then.

“He would talk with anyone,” recalled his daughter, “whether it was a janitor, the cashier in a grocery, or the head of a company. He was an extravert, and developed a rapport with everyone.” (His daughter seems to have acquired the same knack, and even pleasantly inquired about my own circumstances.)

“My father also taught me great core values,” she went on. “He was a role model for everyone.” His advice: “Work hard – hard work has its rewards. Don’t take the easy path. Do your best every day.

“Today I’m an open book. I just do my best every day.” Her father died 11 years ago.

And although a barber’s family doesn’t normally live like the Rockefellers, her father was generous. He cut hair, free of charge, in old-age homes and hospitals. One time, she saw a customer come in – shabby, smelly. The barber cut his hair, free. “He’s homeless,” he explained.

Not that her family was dirt poor. “We were lower middle to middle class, and never wanted for anything,” she said. “We lived simply, enjoying my mother’s great cooking and playing hopscotch and handball in the neighborhood. Vacations were day trips to the lake. My parents saved for important things like our education. We went to Catholic schools, where they were confident there would be discipline to learn and they also saved for our college educations. We all went to schools locally, as they were less expensive and my father would not dare to let his daughter’s go away to college!”

Today Gibbons is an executive vice president for Wells Fargo, and the Northern New Jersey president. She runs retail operatins in ten northern countries – Bergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren, along with Rockland County, N.Y. Overall, that’s embraces 157 retail stores and some 1,600 team members.

What does a good leader have to do? “Invest time in buildng relationships. And show that you trust people.”

Books she recommends:

“Good to Great” by Collins

“Leading Out Loud" by Pearce

“21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by Maxwell

“Extraordinary Leader” by Zenger and Folkman

“Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Buckingham and Clifton

“The Power of Now” by Tolle

After leaving home, for a while she lived in western New Jersey, but moved back to Jersey City some 10 years ago.

“I’m basically a city girl,” she explained. Her office is in Summit.

Is there anything about her that might surprise people – apart from learning so much from a barber? She had a hard time learning to speak in public. “I really had to work at it.”

Before joining Wells Fargo (then Wachovia) in 2002, Gibbons held several leadership positions at Fleet (now Bank of America). They included regional director of