Identity-Level Leadership

The Identity Debt Diagnostic

You are successful on the outside. So why don’t you feel like yourself anymore?

Identity Debt accumulates when the adaptive identity grows faster than the authentic identity of the person carrying the role.

Begin the diagnostic 26 statements · 5 minutes · confidential

The hidden dynamic

The role grew.
The adaptive identity grew with it.
The authentic self did not.

Adaptive Leadership Identity

The version of ourselves we build to succeed.

Mask · Suit · Shadow · Role

Authentic Identity

The self beneath the role. Identity · Values · Character.

At first, the role and the person are one. As responsibility, complexity, pressure and visibility grow, the distance between them can grow too. That distance is Identity Debt.

The journey

Six stages, from success through Identity Debt toward sovereignty.

  1. 01

    Alignment

  2. 02

    Success

  3. 03

    Adaptation

  4. 04

    Identity Debt

  5. 05

    Internal Dissonance

  6. 06

    Internal Sovereignty

“How did I get here?”

Fatigue. Over-functioning. Anxiety. Reactivity. Disconnection. Loss of self. The moment many leaders begin asking a different question.

“Burnout is the symptom.
Identity Debt may be the cause.”Paul Sansom · The Identity Debt framework
Most leadership development helps people grow into bigger roles.

Internal Sovereignty helps leaders remain themselves while carrying them.

Internal Sovereignty means maintaining sovereignty over your identity while inhabiting increasingly demanding roles. The ongoing development of the self beneath the role.

Created by Paul Sansom, former international CEO and executive coach, the Identity Debt Diagnostic explores where you are in the distance between your Adaptive Leadership Identity and your Authentic Identity.

Not a measure of leadership capability. Not a diagnosis. A moment to recognise what carrying the role may be costing you.

Explore your Identity Debt