For Scott DeRue, the climb to the C-suite has mirrored the literal peaks he’s summited alongside the way in which.
As CEO of The Ironman Group, he oversees almost 250 endurance occasions worldwide. However his profession path has been something however linear—spanning roles as a professor, dean of the College of Michigan’s Ross Faculty of Enterprise, and president of Equinox. He’s additionally climbed the Seven Summits, together with Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro. The thread connecting all of it hasn’t been a single trade or a straight-line path; it’s been intention.
“I have my family, The Ironman Group, and my passions of endurance sports and mountaineering,” DeRue instructed Fortune. “Every hour of every day is spent with one of those three things—and nothing else.”
That degree of focus has formed each his skilled trajectory and private ambitions. It dates again to when he was 13, unloading semi-trucks crammed with upholstery cloth—an expertise that taught him about laborious work, paying taxes, and a lesson that might stick: no function needs to be everlasting.
However as he labored his approach up, DeRue mentioned success didn’t hinge on conventional networking—the truth is, he believes the idea is commonly misunderstood.
“One of the terms that I think is most dangerous is the idea of ‘networking,’” the 48-year-old mentioned. “Because it’s about relationships, not networking. You want to develop relationships built on mutual value and before you need them, and I think that’s an art that is lost on many.”
DeRue’s recommendation is straightforward: ditch the transactional mindset.
Somewhat than treating connections as one-off exchanges—swapping enterprise playing cards or including somebody on LinkedIn—he emphasizes constant, real engagement. Which will imply checking in usually, sharing updates, and providing assist with out anticipating something in return.
It’s a philosophy rooted in recommendation he obtained early in his profession: consider relationships like a checking account: “There are debits and credits,” he mentioned. “You always want to have a positive balance.”
That message probably resonates with Gen Z, a lot of whom battle with easy methods to method skilled connections. About 38% of younger staff say networking makes them anxious, in keeping with a survey carried out by Strand Companions for LinkedIn, with many avoiding it altogether as a result of they don’t know the place to start out.
Right now, DeRue oversees a workforce that swells to about 1,000 workers all over the world throughout peak race season. Ironman—greatest recognized for its grueling triathlons—was bought by Advance, the father or mother firm of Condé Nast, in 2020 for an undisclosed quantity. Previous to that, the corporate was bought in 2015 for $650 million.
Gen Z desires objective of their careers. DeRue as soon as took a complete month off work to attempt to discover his
For Gen Z, a paycheck is more and more not sufficient to really feel glad in careers—objective is a precedence. Greater than half of Gen Zers and millennials say significant work is a key issue when evaluating employers, and 89% of Gen Z say objective is crucial to their job satisfaction and well-being, in keeping with Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey.
As entry-level roles develop extra aggressive, discovering that steadiness might be difficult. And it’s a stress DeRue is aware of effectively.
After graduating from the College of North Carolina in 1999, he started his profession at consulting agency Monitor Group (later acquired by Deloitte). Whereas the function provided a robust begin, it lacked the sense of path he was looking for.
So, he took a month off to mirror and interview folks in his life about their careers—till he recognized what he calls his “North Star.”
“Since the age of 25, I’ve had one single through-line, North Star purpose: to create experiences for people that help them unlock their potential,” he mentioned.
That readability, he added, is what permits folks to navigate uncertainty and construct careers that really feel significant over time. And searching again, even together with his expansive resume, the most important recommendation he would give himself is to “be bolder.”
And simply as necessary is adopting what he calls a “no regrets” mindset.
“Even when things don’t work out, did you make a principled decision? Were you thoughtful about it?” DeRue mentioned. “You can’t always control the outcome—but you can control how you approach it.”
