Jerry Colonna is the founder and CEO of Reboot.IO, an executive coaching and leadership development firm whose coaches are committed to the notion that better humans make better leaders. Previously he was a successful venture capitalist with JPMorgan Partners and Flatiron Partners focused on technology startups. His new book is titled Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up.  He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Some interesting insights from this episode:

• Growing up in a chaotic environment with an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother drove his associating money with safety.

• There was a dissonance between the way he felt internally and the way he was perceived in the world which led to a deep depression.

• You can’t be a better leader without being a better human and you can’t be a better human without going through radical self-inquiry.

• Radical self-inquiry is the process by which self-deception becomes so skillfully and compassionately exposed that no mask can hide us anymore.

• We all have psychological baggage – our inner demons – which hold us back as leaders and we must confront those demons in order to grow.

• It is a fallacy to think that leadership is all about having all the answers and not having any fear or any doubt. Authentic leadership is about accepting your imperfections.

• Learn about the important difference between grit and stubbornness.

• “We have to be willing to accept life as it is, not as we wish it might become. To live in the reality of what is today, not what might be in the future.”

Links:

Book: Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up

Reboot Website: www.reboot.io

Jerry Colonna Bio: www.reboot.io/team/jerry-colonna