Reboot

Executive coach Jerry Colonna, a former venture capitalist whom Gimlet Media called the CEO Whisperer, argues that leaders need radical self-inquiry to succeed at work and to keep their relationships healthy. He works with start-up CEOs on the psychological habits and behavior patterns that helped them succeed yet harmed their relationships and well-being. His method mixes Buddhism and Jungian therapy with blunt entrepreneurial talk to help leaders face emotional baggage and psychological trauma. Colonna asks leaders to use the raw material of their own lives to find meaning, build healthy bonds, become more compassionate and bold, and take responsibility for their choices. He holds that work need not destroy people and can instead be where they become their fullest selves.

Angela Duckworth praised it as an honest account of why a business cannot grow unless its leader grows too, and Adam Grant called it a raw look at how childhood shapes leadership. Brad Feld, who learned to be a venture capitalist alongside Colonna, endorsed it as well.