Spotlight: Scott Allender

1 - Where are you from, and how did you choose to live in Middle Tennessee?

I’m originally from the Pasadena, California area. I lived in Long Beach, CA for 12 years prior to moving to middle Tennessee in 2014 to start a new role as Senior Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development.

2 - What is your professional background, and why did you become a coach?

My professional background is in HR business partnering and senior HR leadership. In those roles, I did my best to focus on and develop organizational leadership capabilities to create engaged, high-performance, sustainable cultures optimized for business profitability. I found that I was most effective when sitting with individuals and asking them thought-provoking questions to help resolve their challenging situations. Over time, my passion for coaching grew. 

3 - How did you choose your specialty area?

I thoroughly enjoy working with teams and individuals across all levels of an organization. In 2014 I was given the opportunity to build the Talent organization from the ground-up, and I jumped at the chance. In this role, I was able to co-create a multiple-award-winning Leadership Development Program and build a broad curriculum of custom people-development workshops and initiatives that individual and improve organizational performance. 

During that time, I also became certified in Myers Briggs, Hogan, and EQ-i 2.0, and have since been spending progressively more time doing one-to-one emotional intelligence coaching with leaders using these resources. In the spring of 2020, I will also become a certified teacher and coach of the Enneagram, and have already started coaching folks through this lens, with tremendous results.  

4 - What are the greatest challenges and greatest rewards of your career?

My greatest challenge is also my greatest reward. And that is, to move the needle for someone in a meaningful way. As they say, information is not transformation. Many people want more information about themselves, but not everyone is willing to do the difficult work of going beyond the data to walking a road of transformative change. Because, to do so is truly difficult. However, when someone is willing to get really uncomfortable, then I know they’re going to get where they want to go! 

5 - What is something that most ICFTN members would be surprised to learn about you?

I used to have a full head of long, blonde rocker hair!

6 - How do you enjoy spending your free time?

I don’t know if I enjoy it, but I do try to spend some of my free time exercising. The bulk of my free time, though, is best enjoyed hanging out with my wonderful wife, my amazing kids, and my annoying dogs.