This week, I’m joined by an old friend of the podcast, Wilson Lawrence, an executive behaviour and leadership coach based in Nevis in the Caribbean.
Wilson and I have known each other for around ten years, and whenever we get together, I know the conversation will go somewhere interesting. We started this episode intending to talk about identity, which we did, but along the way we wandered into leadership, self-doubt, psycho-cybernetics, communication, perception, religion, shaved heads, Jocko Willink and quite a few other unexpected places.
But the big question running through the entire conversation was simple:
Who are you when you’re not being a podiatrist?
When Your Profession Becomes Your Identity
Wilson introduced the concept of being “identity locked.”
This happens when we become so attached to a particular role that we struggle to know who we are outside of it.
Ask someone, “Who are you?” and they’ll usually give you their name. Ask again, and they’ll often tell you what they do for work.
But neither answer necessarily tells you who they really are.
I think this is particularly relevant to podiatrists and business owners. We spend years studying podiatry, building our clinical skills, developing businesses and establishing our professional reputations. Without realising it, being a podiatrist can slowly become our entire identity.
But podiatry is what you do. It doesn’t have to be everything you are.
Are You Operating Within Your True Identity?
Wilson shared a simple exercise that I really liked.
Choose three or four adjectives that genuinely describe your personality and character.
Are you funny? Passionate? Professional? Curious? Committed? Consistent? Adventurous?
Then ask yourself whether those descriptions are actually true.
And importantly, what evidence do you have that they’re true?
Once you understand those characteristics, you can start asking yourself another useful question when you’re in an uncomfortable or uncertain situation:
Am I operating within my true identity right now?
If you’re not, what could you do to bring yourself back into alignment?
Self-Doubt, Imposter Syndrome and Evidence
We also talked about imposter syndrome, something I hear about regularly from podiatrists.
Wilson prefers to think about it as self-doubt.
I shared the example of a podiatrist who told me she knew nothing about biomechanics because she hadn’t used those skills for some time. But when I started asking her biomechanical questions, she knew the answers.
The knowledge hadn’t disappeared. She had simply convinced herself that she didn’t know it.
That’s why Wilson talks so much about evidence.
Instead of automatically believing the negative story running through your head, look for evidence. What have you done before? What do you already know? What have other people told you?
Sometimes your confidence doesn’t need rebuilding from scratch. It simply needs reminding.
Leadership Is More Than a Job Title
Another part of our conversation focused on leadership.
Wilson’s view is that you shouldn’t necessarily call yourself a leader simply because the word appears in your job title. Leadership is demonstrated by your ability to create followership through your character, personality and behaviour.
We also discussed what happens when someone is excellent at their job and is promoted into leadership without any leadership training.
Being an excellent clinician doesn’t automatically make someone an excellent clinic owner, manager or team leader. These are different skills, and they need development.
Being Yourself Doesn’t Mean Behaving the Same Everywhere
One question I asked Wilson towards the end was whether there are situations where you shouldn’t completely be yourself.
As a podiatrist, I could usually work out fairly quickly how I needed to communicate with a particular patient. Some patients enjoyed humour and a relaxed conversation. Others wanted me to be serious, concise and get straight to the facts.
Was I being inauthentic by changing my communication style?
Not at all.
Wilson explained that being secure in your identity doesn’t mean behaving the same way in every situation. You can adjust your communication to suit the person in front of you without changing who you fundamentally are.
That’s an important skill for every podiatrist.
Observation Versus Perception
We finished by discussing the difference between simply observing someone and viewing them through our own perceptive lens.
The moment we start adding assumptions, opinions, and biases to what we’re seeing, we can change how we communicate with that person.
This has obvious implications in healthcare.
A patient’s clothes, age, appearance, background or perceived financial situation shouldn’t determine what treatment options we discuss with them.
Observe first. Don’t let assumptions make decisions for your patient.
So, Who Are You?
After listening to this episode, spend a few minutes thinking about Wilson’s exercise.
Choose three adjectives that describe your personality and character.
Ask yourself:
Are they really true?
What evidence proves they’re true?
And then perhaps the biggest question of all:
If being a podiatrist disappeared tomorrow, would you still know who you are?
That’s a question worth thinking about.
Connect with Wilson Lawrence
Wilson has generously offered Podiatry Legends listeners a complimentary 30-minute Blueprint Call during September to talk about identity, personal effectiveness or efficiency.
Email wil_39@me.com and put “Tyson Blueprint” in your message.
There is no obligation to take things further.
Thanks again to Wilson for coming back on the podcast and for another entertaining, unpredictable and thought-provoking conversation.
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