Leadership Training

Jay Scherotter is the Director of Learning Resources and Organizational Effectiveness for the Scottsdale Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. This property/casualty insurer specializes in excess and surplus insurance lines (E&S) — insurance coverage for higher-risk individuals and businesses. Scottsdale Insurance was founded in 1982, and currently employs over 1,400 associates and in 2007 recorded annual sales of more than $2 billion in premium.

Jay will be a featured presenter at the upcoming Training Leadership Summit in San Diego on May 5th. The topic of his seminar will be “Implementing a Knowledge Continuity Management Process”.

• “Can you please give us an overview of you professional background?”

I’ve been in the Human Resources and Learning and Development field for over 26 years now, with 8 of those years spent as the Director of Learning Resources and Organizational Effectiveness for the Scottsdale Insurance Company. Prior to my time here (and oddly enough), I directed the training function for an international private fire and ambulance company. Before that, I provided learning and development consulting services for commercial and consumer banks. I have also served as the director of the Quality University for American Express.

The origins of all this began with my time as a trained social worker. But early on I became very attracted to the human development opportunities that a corporate environment provided.

• “What brought you to your current role as Director Learning Resources and Organizational Effectiveness for the Scottsdale Insurance Company?”

For me, it was a combination of wanting to stay in this area and also have a position that serves a meaningful purpose and is also very satisfying from a personal perspective.

We have over 1,400 associates that work on one campus, so from a learning and development standpoint, it’s a dream scenario! Also, insurance is really about creating and assembling people lives, and I really feel that makes this a very noble business. Finally, Scottsdale Insurance has always been ranked very highly as a top organization to work for, both by the community and by publications such as Training Magazine. It’s probably why our retention rate is currently at 93%.

The anchor to all of this really comes down to our culture, which is expressed in the integrity of our intent. It’s all about doing what we say we are going to do.

• “Is there a specific person or mentor from your past who was instrumental in leading you down your current career path? What was it about this person that resonated with you?”

Here’s a story that just recently was able to weave together on it’s own. Back when I was in graduate school in 1978, I took a class in Organizational Development that was taught by Jack Dauber. Somehow I was magnetized by Jack, as well as by the content of the class. We had conversations after class where I asked him more and more about this OD field that seemed very different and unique to me.

Fast forward now to this past May, when I went to a ceremony at this school where my friend was given an honorary doctorate. I hadn’t been back there since ’78, but the moment I walked back through the halls I realized that it smelled just the same as it did nearly 30 years ago! On one of the walls there was a picture of Jack Dower. When I asked someone how he was doing, I learned that he had passed away about 7 years ago. In that moment, it really hit me just how influential Jack had been to me, and how he had led me down the career path that I had chosen.

After my visit, I wrote a letter to the Dean of the College to let him know just how much Jack’s class had meant to me. I wrote that the experience had led me to take on a career that I had devoted my life to, and I asked the Dean if there was anything I could do to honor Jack’s memory. Here replied and told me that there was: I could teach his class at the university. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do for a week this summer.

(more…)

“We cannot be what we want to be by remaining what we are.”

– Max DePree, author of Leadership is an Art

(painting: Landscape with Merchants by Claude Lorrain)

Next month from May 4th to 7th, the Rancho Bernardo Inn in sunny San Diego will play host to Training magazine’s 2008 Training Leadership Summit. This event (which builds on the success of last year’s inaugural Summit), will provide senior level learning executives from around the globe an opportunity to connect, spend time away from the interruptions of the office, and focus on some of the major issues and challenges they are faced with in the professional learning industry today.

Some of the highlights from this year’s agenda:

- Leadership Excellence, Disney Style

On Wednesday, May 7th from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., join the Disney Institute and discover how by providing a compelling vision and setting goals, as well as encouraging involvement and accountability, you can create magic too! The Disney approach embraces an open leadership style—originating from Walt Disney’s own innovative methods and unique vision that have played a major role in Disney’s success story throughout Disney Destinations worldwide.

- Using Blended Learning, Web 2.0, Virtual Worlds and Social Collaboration

Join Virginia Crockett, the Senior Director of Learning Technology at Qualcomm on Monday, May 5th from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m., to learn how her organization engages learners, promotes discussion and idea sharing, and gathers collective intelligence using Web 2.0 technologies. Plus, hear how they are testing virtual worlds for experiential learning, and how technology has improved employee onboarding for domestic and global employees.

- Implementing a Knowledge Continuity Management Process

Scottsdale Insurance quickly developed its knowledge management process by using an “extreme project” model. Explore how this process has led to quicker proficiency of those assuming new jobs and quicker transfer of both tacit and explicit knowledge with Jay Scherotter, the Director Learning Resources and Organizational Effectiveness, on Monday, May 5th from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. (Jay will also be featured in a upcoming interview here on Leadership Training Skills)

The Summit will also feature several receptions, networking luncheons, and a Young Trainer Awards ceremony. All to be held on-site at the gorgeous Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego’s Legendary Golf Resort and Spa.

If you are interested in attending, visit the Training Leadership Summit website for additional information. This writer will be attending, and I hope to see some of my readers there!