Why Success Feels Empty at the Top - Scott DeRue
About this episode
Scott DeRue discusses leadership lessons from climbing Mount Everest and navigating high-pressure situations as CEO of Ironman.
Scott DeRue has climbed Mount Everest, completed the Seven Summits, led global businesses through crisis and now serves as CEO of Ironman. In this episode of Going Mental, Scott shares the leadership lessons he learned on the world's highest mountain, why reaching the summit is often the easy part and how high performers navigate uncertainty, risk, and pressure. We dive into Scott's journey from a small town in North Carolina to becoming a professor, business leader, Everest climber and ultimately the CEO of Ironman. Along the way, we explore purpose, resilience, decision-making under extreme conditions and why the most meaningful growth happens outside your comfort zone. Scott also reflects on what it means to "go mental"— not as losing control, but as finding clarity and focus when everything around you feels chaotic. Enjoy this episode! PILLAR Performance provides science-backed, clinically dosed micronutrition designed specifically for endurance athletes. Their supplements focus on optimizing recovery, sleep, and immunity without unnecessary fillers. If you want to give it a try, use the code GOINGMENTAL at pillarperformance.shop — or, for North American listeners, at…
People in this episode
Host: Jan Frodeno
Guest: Scott DeRue
Topics covered
- leadership
- resilience
- high performance
- decision-making
- personal growth
- extreme conditions
Keywords
- leadership
- Everest
- Ironman
- resilience
- decision-making
- performance
- growth
Sponsors
PILLAR Performance
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ironman, TheFeed.com
Places: Mount Everest, North Carolina
More episodes of Frodeno Going Mental
- Enhanced Games CEO Max Martin: Paying for Performance and the Future of Elite Sport
- Francesco Puppi: Logic, Pain, and the Reality of Ultra Running
- The Day After HISTORY - Sam Laidlow on Breaking the World Record
- A Fighter’s Mind - Chris McCormack
- Pressure, Panic Attacks and One of Cycling's Greatest Comebacks - Demi Vollering
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Frodeno Going Mental podcast page.