Behind the Scenes: Meet Josh DeRocco

Executive Vice President of SparrowHawk Group

• Is there a book (or books) that left a lasting impact on you? How did it shape your outlook?

  There are two books that have been so simplistic, yet so profound that they have infiltrated how I view life, not just business.
  The first one, is the Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. The book redefined what success looked like to me, and offers five laws (Laws of Value, Compensation, Influence, Authenticity, and Receptivity) and how they reframe what the main character, Joe, defines personal success as. The book reinforced that self-serving business behaviors an behaviors akin to that in life in general often hamstring the opportunity to live a deeper, richer, more fulfilling life.

  It's a short read (132 pages), and immediately flipped my perspective on what it means to serve and do business with other’s success as the emphasis, inevitably leading to greater success of your own.

  The other is The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

  Steven’s Writing is poetic, and powerful. He spends almost the entirety of his book digging into every crevice that “resistance”, the thing that keeps you from accomplishing your purpose, hides in, and why we allow it to. The book encourages the reader to embrace the fear of failure, the indistinguishable things in the back of your mind that tell you to avoid pain, seek comfort, and live a small, safe life. And by identifying what your personal “resistance” looks like, you can then learn to combat and conquer it.

  Another short read (190 pages), that I have read multiple times now and gained new perspective each time.

• What’s a small, budget-friendly purchase that’s surprisingly improved your life lately?

  Tile – It’s a tracking app that you can attach to your keys, valuables, and even has a wallet device that’s as thin as a credit card. The number of times I’ve walked out of the house without a wallet or misplaced my keys in the last decade has probably statistically saved me days, not hours a year.

  The app will notify you if you leave proximity from marked devices (wallet, kindle, keys, whatever you slap a device on), and even offer a music tone to assist in finding the lost item. The trackers are typically $20-30 a piece, and come with item insurance with the premium app subscription as well.

• Do you have any unusual habits or quirks that your friends and family find amusing?

  I’m a tactical dishwasher loader. There’s a method and strategy to optimally loading the dishwasher, that also allows you to unload it as fast and efficiently as possible as well. My wife finds it amusing. I’m fairly “laissez-faire” with most things in our home, but it’s an almost uncontrollable urge to feng shui the dishwasher (… and the refrigerator) when its my turn.

• When things get stressful, what’s your go-to method to refocus and recharge?

  The gym. We have a fantastic gym in town with an incredible community of people who have become close friends. We have also invested in a garage gym setup that allows spontaneous workouts to blow off steam or squeeze in a session between meetings. A while back, I heard a statement about “moving your body, moves your mind,” That has rung true, and many of my creative breakthroughs have resulted from a hard workout that allows me to shift perspectives while I meditate on something I’m working through.

• If you could share one piece of wisdom with your younger self, what would it be?

  • Embrace Responsibility. Responsibility = Response Ability.

  • Everyone has something to teach you. Live authentically, inquisitively, and without ego.

  • Buy Bitcoin.

• Are there any words, quotes, or ideas that you turn to for guidance or motivation?

  One of my all-time favorite quotes, is by Isaac Asimov- “The Day you stop learning, is the day you begin to decay” .

  It’s actually spurred curiosity and appreciation for one of my other favorite quotes via Michel de Montagne’s study, and support beams, in which he inscribed a handful of quotes from Sextus Impericus. I’ve read some of Montagne’s essays, as well as history, and in his study, he etched dozens of quotes on the walls and ceilings. Of which, my favorites are:

  • Οὐ καταλαμβάνω ("I do not understand")

  • Ἐπέχω ("I suspend judgment") – A

  • Σκέπτομαι ("I examine") – Another from Sextus Empiricus.

  • More duce et sensu ("I take for my guide the ways of the world and the experiences of the senses").

  It’s reinforced that preconceived notions are the death of curiosity, and prevent personal understanding. Suspending judgement is one of the most impactful ways to slow down and observe the world around you. It reminds me to look at everything with fresh sight, and ensure that I’m not missing fine details that could provide invaluable insight.

• What’s one misconception about the outsourcing industry you wish people understood?

  Outsourcing is an incredible opportunity. One of the largest misconceptions that I experienced early on was a preconceived notion that outsourcing was an employee displacement model. While there may be organizations out there that practice that, I’ve always taken a personal stance that outsourcing is to supplement and enhance pre-existing team structures and allow them to accomplish more without having to accelerate in-office hiring to support it. If done correctly, this results in higher profit margins, greater revenue per employee metrics, and faster growth.

  We often also forget that there are people on the other end of that email at times. I have met some of the most incredible people I never would have had the opportunity to get to know through outsourcing. Knowing that the work being managed by the teams in other parts of the world is not only beneficial to US business but supporting local communities they’re a part of is something truly unique and special.

• What's an unique aspect about SparrowHawk that you appreciate or are thankful for?

  Outsourcing is often about process execution at a base level. Whether it’s for insurance, IT support, or industry xyz, the job often comes down to a process understanding and mapping.

  While SparrowHawk has a similar methodology, the Processing team that’s led by Nevena has an insurance understanding deeper than I have ever seen in the industry. It’s one thing to be able to follow a mapped-out plan for each potential variable in a task, but to actually and fluidly understand the intricacies and inner workings of the insurance lifecycle and why things happen when they do is a next-level value for our team. There’s something special here. And I’m excited to be a part of it and bring this value to the industry.