I'm Mora Aronsmeli, and this is the Anxious Achiever.

Each episode, we look at stories from business leaders who have dealt with anxiety, depression,

or other mental health challenges, how they fell down, how they pick themselves up, and how

they hope workplaces can change in the future.

For the next two episodes, we're going to focus on managing anxiety through career transitions, whether it means quitting, getting fired, getting promoted, or leaving a job you love

because it's time. And that means looking at the tough work you should do before the big transition.

The hard art of learning to understand your feelings, because doing that will help you manage

through whatever transition

comes your way. More on taking time off work next week when we speak to Alyssa Master Monaco,

who was a veteran of the Obama administration. But first this week, we have Jerry Colonna,

who is a sort of legendary CEO coach, former venture capitalist, and a very

wise person. There's a little voice in our head that says, we know that this is coming from

this shadow place. We know that this is coming from this sort of place of unresolved business,

but we pretend it's not.

Jerry argues that a lot of the adult, leadership, management, career problems that we face,

anxiety, avoidance, impulsivity, denial, and sometimes things like drinking or drug abuse, anger, and toxic work

relationships spring from our fundamental childhood experiences. And that while we might be able

to build powerful careers while engaging in these bad actions, and we've all known people

who've done it, understanding how your childhood shaped the adult you became

and facing your demons is vital for anyone who truly wants to thrive

in the next step of their career.

He calls it growing up.

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