Dean Trout recently marked his 20th anniversary with North Shore Bank.
Before senior vice president and CIO Dean Trout joined North Shore Bank 20 years ago, he was working as an account executive for Fiserv, and before that as CIO for a multibillion-dollar bank in Ohio.
“Our retired chief operating officer, Dick Brophy, hired Dean away from Fiserv 20 years ago to head up our revamped IT department,” president and COO Jay McKenna recalls. “Since that time, the bank has expanded his managerial responsibilities to include most of the back-office operations. It has been my pleasure to work beside Dean for so many years and through so many critically important events as North Shore has evolved, grown, and flourished these last two decades. I’m sure Dean will credit his success to his managers Nicole, Dana, Jude, Pat, and their teams. Rightly so, but know that Dean’s vision, leadership, and skills have been integral to the success of the bank over the years.”
Dean took a few minutes to share some thoughts with Shorelines about his big anniversary.
What did you expect when you joined the bank? Would Dean from the year 2000 be surprised to learn you were still here?
My expectations were to make a difference — to take my technology and management skills and build a world-class IT department with exceptional customer service and integrate it into the business needs of North Shore Bank. North Shore was never a short-term proposition for me, and the culture here supports that goal.
How has your life changed since you started working here?
There have been too many changes to mention all of them, but divorce and remarriage are significant events. And I ran two marathons on a partial knee replacement.
What have you learned over the last 20 years?
North Shore Bank is filled with hardworking, optimistic people who stay here happily for a long time, so take the time to hire the best people possible. Also, I have learned the importance of continuously reading, learning, and working out every day, constantly trying to improve, because I’m not happy with the alternative.
And what do you have planned for the next 20 years?
When things open up, I really want to go see my mom and daughters — they are all out of state. Other than that, I try my very best to take ownership of every day, climb the mountain right in front of me, and pursue my purpose — and not to get COVID-19. And I expect to continue to live dangerously as long as I can by drinking diet pop and riding my bike on the road for at least the next 20 years.