

What Got You There with Sean DeLaney
Sean DeLaney
What Got You There with Sean DeLaney: Beneath the Surface
A podcast for high performers, deep thinkers, and those who refuse to live on autopilot.
Every week, Sean DeLaney explores the ideas that don’t just make you better at what you do — but more connected to who you are.
Through solo episodes and long-form conversations with world-class performers, thinkers, and creators, we go beneath the surface of success to ask the questions most people avoid:
What if the version of you the world rewards… isn’t the version that makes you feel alive?
Can ambition and inner peace coexist?
How do you perform at your best — without abandoning yourself in the process?
This show is a space to get honest. To let go of old scripts. To reconnect with what actually matters. And to explore how we live, create, lead, and perform — from the inside out.
Not just for more success. But for deeper presence. Greater freedom. And a life that breathes.
🎧 Subscribe to join the journey.
📬 Connect at whatgotyouthere.com
A podcast for high performers, deep thinkers, and those who refuse to live on autopilot.
Every week, Sean DeLaney explores the ideas that don’t just make you better at what you do — but more connected to who you are.
Through solo episodes and long-form conversations with world-class performers, thinkers, and creators, we go beneath the surface of success to ask the questions most people avoid:
What if the version of you the world rewards… isn’t the version that makes you feel alive?
Can ambition and inner peace coexist?
How do you perform at your best — without abandoning yourself in the process?
This show is a space to get honest. To let go of old scripts. To reconnect with what actually matters. And to explore how we live, create, lead, and perform — from the inside out.
Not just for more success. But for deeper presence. Greater freedom. And a life that breathes.
🎧 Subscribe to join the journey.
📬 Connect at whatgotyouthere.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 17, 2021 • 1h 1min
#267 Liz Wiseman- A Leader’s Guide to Taking Action, Adapting & Multiplying Your Impact
Today Sean is joined by Liz Wiseman was first on episode #56 of What Got You There. Liz is A former executive at Oracle, she worked over the course of 17 years as the Vice President of Oracle University. Currently Liz is the President of The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm with clients including -Apple, Disney, Facebook, Nike, Salesforce.com, and Twitter. Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named as one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world. On this episode she talks about her new book IMPACT PLAYERS: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact. IMPACT PLAYERS will provide a much-needed playbook that will give rise to important conversations this fall about how to recognize and develop talent—within oneself, a team, and across an entire company culture. Watch on YouTube Transcript Subscribe to my Momentum Monday Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

5 snips
Oct 10, 2021 • 49min
#266- Toto Wolff Distilled - CEO, Team Principal & co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team
Toto Wolff is the CEO, Team Principal and co-owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team. With Toto as Team Principal, the Mercedes Formula One team has achieved an unprecedented seven consecutive World Championship doubles to become the most successful team in F1 history and most successful sports team in the world based on consecutive world championships. Beyond Formula One, Toto is also a partner with Mercedes in the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team and continues to invest in start-up technology companies. This episode I dive into my Distillation of Toto Wolff which is a monthly feature I do on someone who's greatly impacted my thinking. You can see past Distillations of Josh Waitzkin, Nick Kokonas and Yen Liow - HERE. Watch on YouTube Read The Distillation of Toto Wolff Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere NuSkool Snacks Healthy Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Oct 3, 2021 • 1h 27min
#265 Chris Sparks - Poker is a Sandbox for Understanding Human Behavior
Chris Sparks is a professional poker player and peak performance expert who coaches executives on high performance and decision making. Chris is exceptional at teaching people how to think like a poker player which is applicable to everyone no matter what domain you’re performing in. This is a fascinating and wide ranging conversation covering strategy, mindsets, pursuing mastery and high performance. Episode Transcript Watch on YouTube Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere NuSkool Snacks Healthy Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Sep 26, 2021 • 1h 3min
#264 Kevin Kelly- The Winding Path of a Curious Mind
Kevin Kelly is the person Tim Ferriss called The Real Most Interesting Man in the World and on this episode we’re going to dive deep into the curious mind of Kevin Kelly! Keven co-founded Wired Magazine in 1993. He also co-founded the All Species Foundation, a non-profit aimed at cataloging and identifying every living species on earth. He serves of on the board of Long Now Foundation is a non-profit group dedicated to fostering long-term responsibility as an antidote to the extremely short-term horizon of most contemporary organizations. His written multiple best selling books, has been an artist, a photographer and has been sharing his most insightful wisdom and cool finds for years. "Don't be the best, be the only." Watch on YouTube Transcript & Show Notes Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Sep 19, 2021 • 1h 27min
#263 Kenny Werner: The Path of Effortless Mastery
Kenny Werner has been a world-class pianist and composer for over forty years. In 1996 he wrote his landmark book, Effortless Mastery, Liberating The Master Musician Within. Kenny uses his own life story and experiences to explore the barriers to creativity and mastery of music, and in the process reveals that “Mastery is available to everyone,” providing practical, detailed ways to move towards greater confidence and proficiency in any endeavor. While Werner is a musician, the concepts presented are for every profession or life-style where there is a need for free-flowing, effortless thinking. Effortless Mastery has had a profound impact on how Sean views any path to mastery whether it be in sports, art or business. This conversation doesn’t just focus on Mastery but about life. Episode Transcript Watch on YouTube Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Sep 12, 2021 • 1h 26min
#262 Dr. Lia DiBello -CEO & Cognitive Scientist Accelerating Expertise & High Performance for Business
Dr. Lia DiBello is the CEO, President, and Director of Research of WTRI (Workplace Technology Research Inc). She has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and has been a pioneer in understanding and speeding up learning in the workplace! DiBello is best known for the development of a particular kind of activity-based “strategic rehearsal” approach that has been shown to greatly accelerate learning through cognitive reorganization. Studies of over 7000 people at all levels exposed to Dr. DiBello’s methods indicate that learning was accelerated by several months in all cases. Dr. DiBello has been the recipient of 17 basic research funding awards from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and The Russell Sage Foundation. On this episode we uncover how anyone can accelerate their learning, what big mistakes leaders make when trying to improve, and so much more! Watch on YouTube Show Notes & Transcript Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

4 snips
Sep 5, 2021 • 1h 23min
#261 Gary Klein- Deconstructing How Experts Make Decisions
Gary Klein is a research psychologist famous for pioneering in the field of Naturalistic Decision Making. Klein developed a Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model to describe how people actually make decisions in natural settings. The RPD model has been incorporated into Army doctrine for command and control. He also developed methods of Cognitive Task Analysis for uncovering the tacit knowledge that goes into decision making. More recently, he has been investigating sense making, replanning, and anticipatory thinking. Klein has developed a PreMortem technique for helping organizations with risk management. This conversation explores how experts make informed decisions in the real world and ways we can all become better decision makers! Watch on YouTube Show Notes & Transcript Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Aug 29, 2021 • 1h 13min
#260 Dr. Michael Gervais- Winning Olympic Gold & Cultivating Human Flourishing
Dr. Michael Gervais is a high performance psychologist working in the trenches of high-stakes environments with some of the best in the world, training the mindset skills and practices essential to pursuing and revealing one’s potential. His clients include world record holders, Olympians, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians, MVPs from every major sport and Fortune 100 CEOs. His fresh off his work at the olympics with US Surfing which took home a gold medal and he dives into the lessons he learned there. This is a deep conversation covering the timeless principles Mike has uncovered if you want to be a high performer which if you’re listening to this podcast is you. Mike was originally a guest on Episode 187 which we recommend checking out. For listeners of What Got You There Dr. Gervais and Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, are giving away an all access pass to their Compete to Create course valued at $499 where you’ll learn how to find your best. Enter to Win Dr. Gervais Finding Your Best Course How to enter: Follow @michaelgervais, @findingmastery, and @seandelaney23 Like this post. Tag 3 other people in a comment on this post. Description of course: Finding Your Best is a true masterclass for your mind. In this online course curated by high-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais and NFL head coach Pete Carroll, you will learn how to craft your own personal philosophy, set a vision, and apply the skills of confidence, optimism, calm, and mindfulness in your everyday life - as well as 12 other essential mindset principles. This episode is brought to you by Admired Leadership. For the BEST course on Leadership I’ve ever taken checkout Admired Leadership . For more Leadership wisdom checkout their daily Admired Leadership Field Notes email and receive their 16 page PDF that will change the way you motivate and inspire others! Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. Watch on YouTube Show Notes & Transcript Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight Sleep: Get $150 off your new mattress by going to eightsleep.com/sean or use code “Sean” at checkout. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Aug 22, 2021 • 56min
#259 Dorie Clark - How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short Term World
Today's guest is Dorie Clark who is an expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives. Dorie Clark has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was recognized as the #1 Communication Coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards. Clark, a consultant and keynote speaker, teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and she is the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine. Dorie has a new book coming out September 21st called, The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World that Sean and her dive into on this episode! This episode is brought to you by Admired Leadership. For the BEST course on Leadership I’ve ever taken checkout Admired Leadership . For more Leadership wisdom checkout their daily Admired Leadership Field Notes email and receive their 16 page PDF that will change the way you motivate and inspire others! Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. Watch on YouTube Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight Sleep: Get $150 off your new mattress by going to eightsleep.com/sean or use code “Sean” at checkout. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/

Aug 15, 2021 • 1h 10min
#258 Nick Kokonas- Embracing Risk, Mastery in Multiple Domains & Intellectual Curiosity
Sean thinks todays guest is one of the most interesting people in the world and if you’re going to listen to one episode of What Got You There this could be it. Todays guest is Nick Kokonas. Nick Kokonas is co-owner and co-founder of Alinea, Next, Roister, and the Aviary. He manages the marketing, business development, and strategy for current and future operations. Alinea has been 3 times named the best restaurant in North America. Next was named best new restaurant in America. and The Aviary was named best bar in America. He is also the founder and CEO of Tock, Inc, a reservations and CRM system for restaurants with more than 2.5M diners and clients in more than 20 countries. If that wasn’t enough he has co authored three books including The Aviary Cocktail Book which has sold $2.5 million since November. Yes he has also completely disrupted the publishing industry. This episode is going to uncover Nick’s decision making framework, his creative process and so much more! Nick was originally on episode #119! This episode is brought to you by Admired Leadership. For the BEST course on Leadership I’ve ever taken checkout Admired Leadership . For more Leadership wisdom checkout their daily Admired Leadership Field Notes email and receive their 16 page PDF that will change the way you motivate and inspire others! Eight sleep is revolutionizing what a great night of sleep means. Receive $150 off by using code Sean at checkout or go to eightsleep.com/Sean. Watch on YouTube Subscribe to my Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere Eight Sleep: Get $150 off your new mattress by going to eightsleep.com/sean or use code “Sean” at checkout. NuSkool Snacks Collagen Protein Bars https://nuskoolsnacks.com/