Kevin Delaney: Life, Death & Leadership. A Daring Adventure Or Nothing At All.

May 3

Written By Jayson Krause

Kevin Delaney

Author, Former VP of Learning & Development
at LinkedIn

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Spotify | RSS

The Executive Commute Podcast with Jayson Krause: Show Notes

Life, Death & Leadership. A Daring Adventure Or Nothing At All.

Bio: Kevin Delaney

Kevin Delaney is the author of A Life Worth Living - Finding Your Purpose and Daring to Live the Life You've Imagined. He is the former VP of Learning & Development at LinkedIn and lives in San Jose with his wife, a dozen guitars and a baby grand piano.

Part 1: The Early Days

Quotes

“Things don’t go as planned fairly frequently.”
“Choice plays deeply into the type of existence you get to have.”
“Fear can be debilitating, but curiosity is fear managed.”

Summary

Kevin Delaney described his experience growing up in Cambell, California as an American kid with Irish parents. The key lessons he learned from his parents were discipline and work ethic, which he experienced firsthand from them. He witnessed his immigrant parents experience very challenging circumstances but they were never ones to complain.

Kevin recalled the unfortunate tragedies that happened in his community growing up and the impact they had on him. These unfortunate events led him to the realization that life doesn’t necessarily go as planned.

Kevin explained how he shifted from a rock ‘n’ roll musician to a human resource expert, which launched him into to a decades-long career in corporate America. He remembered how and where he learned the habit of saying “yes” as an industrial painter and took it with him to corporate.

“If you can figure out how to keep fear in the corner and build that catalyst for you to go research more, talk to more people, and get your hands dirty so that you don’t become an abysmal failure.” He explained how he overcame fear and impostor syndrome by developing curiosity to learn business.

He described his role working as a VP at LinkedIn and how he’s currently reimagining his life after stepping away from the tech company.

Timeline

[3:33] Kevin described his magical childhood in Cabo, California.
[5:35] The hard work and discipline lessons he experienced firsthand from his parents.
[7:44] The unfortunate events Kevin experienced growing up and how they shaped him.
[12:48] How he shifted from a rock ‘n’ roll musician to a decades-long corporate career.
[17:59] Learning the habit of saying yes and learning on the job.
[20:53] How to build your curiosity and overcome impostor syndrome and fear to be successful.
[24:31] He talked about his role as a VP at LinkedIn.

Part 2: Hitting Rock Bottom+ Finding Purpose

Quotes:

“Half the things we think are failures are actually the foundation or the catalyst to go do bigger better things.”
“There’s a ton of opportunities for purpose, and life is better when filled with purpose.”
“Most of the misery we have in our lives is self-inflicted.”
“You have to choose today’s perspective today; there’s no living off of what was a good perspective a day ago.”

Summary

Kevin explained career moments when he felt like a failure hating his job as he sat at the same desk in five different companies and leaving Microsoft. He has, however, realized that those moments served as bigger lessons and opportunities to push him to even better positions.

He described when he discovered his purpose by investing in the people he worked with to make the workplace interesting. Another time was when life gave him a second chance after being given only 24-hours to live.

Life is full of choices and you’re probably the reason why you’re miserable. “It’s not the what, it’s how you interpret the what.” You have to change your mindset and not perceive what happens to you as judgment but as a block to overcome.

We discussed why you have to change your perspective to find your purpose. Kevin has developed the exercise of going through what didn’t go wrong to find what’s good and his purpose.

Be excited about things to be great at developing them!

Episode Timeline:

[2:26] The moments when Kevin felt like a failure in his career.
[7:27] Kevin described the defining moments when he discovered purpose.
[10:59] The importance of choosing a good mindset to live a good life.
[16:39] How to develop the exercise of going through what’s not wrong to be grateful.
[21:23] How to be excited about things to be great at developing them.

Part 3: Excitement Vs. Energy+ The Necessity of No+ Family Adventures

Quotes:

“Energy is what sustains you, especially when working with the tedious.”
“Prioritization is happening whether you’re participating or not.”
“Don’t expect everything to resonate with everybody, but expect everybody to walk away with something having resonated.”

Summary

Kevin explained how he keeps his energy when writing and communicating to sustain the tedious when he can’t find excitement. He left LinkedIn after learning the value of time and wanting to live a life of purpose. His goal is to write and speak more in this new chapter of his life where he’s experimenting with new endeavors.

It is important to focus on the consequences of saying no and realizing that prioritization happens whether you participate or not. Kevin shared some of his top elements in creating powerful and successful workshops. When leading a workshop, expect that everyone walks away having resonated with something.

Kevin described his energy as a strength and sometimes as a weakness, especially when dealing with people. It took him a while to be able to work through it.

He talked about the Delaney family adventure that he, his wife, and children undertook to create memories.

In the end, Kevin answered my rapid-fire questions. Here he answered questions with one sentence and intelligent answers. Thank you for listening to this 3-part life-changing interview!

Episode Timeline:

[2:38] How to sustain the tedious with energy when you can’t find excitement.
[4:02] Kevin’s new chapter of life only weeks after leaving LinkedIn.
[9:19] How to shift the conversation, to the consequences of saying no.
[12:08] Tips on how to create a powerful and successful workshop.
[14:20] Kevin described his strength and weakness as his high-energy personality.
[16:24] The Delaney family all-year-long adventures.
[19:50] How Kevin is inspired by the small good deeds of the world.
[22:00] Kevin answers some rapid-fire questions.