Greg Brisco 🙏🏾
CEO & Board Advisor | Engineering Leadership Models for the AI Era
April 1, 2025
“You closed the door to your new corner office, sat down, and felt it; the quiet tremor of doubt. ‘Can I truly lead here?’ What if that question isn’t a weakness, but the first step toward becoming the leader you’re meant to be?”
Let’s start here: Imposter syndrome isn’t a flaw. It’s a signal. A signal that you care deeply about your impact, your team, and the legacy you’re here to build. As a new executive, you’re standing at the intersection of immense opportunity and equally immense pressure.
The expectations are clear: deliver results, inspire innovation, and elevate your organization, all while navigating the unspoken weight of “proving yourself.”
But what if the key to unlocking your confidence lies not in working harder, but in seeing yourself (and your team) with radical clarity?
The Silent Struggle Every Leader Faces (And Why It Matters)
Imposter syndrome thrives in isolation. When you’re tasked with steering a Fortune 500 team, admitting vulnerability can feel like admitting failure. But consider this: A study by the Harvard Business Review found that 68% of C-suite leaders experience persistent self-doubt, often masking it with overwork or perfectionism.
The cost?
Burnout, stifled creativity, and teams that mirror uncertainty rather than ambition.
Your role isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to create an ecosystem where answers emerge through the collective genius of your people. This is where leadership transforms from a title to a legacy.
The Science of Seeing Yourself Clearly: How the ISPI™ Illuminates Hidden Strengths
At Humanize Innovation, we partner with executives to tackle this exact challenge. One tool has repeatedly proven effective: the Innovation Strengths Preference Indicator® (ISPI™), developed over 34 years of research, and is the world's only tool that asses the hidden traits of innovation.
The ISPI™ isn’t a personality test. It’s a mirror. A mirror that reflects the cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions of how you and your team innovate, collaborate, and solve problems. With 14 dimensions, from Ideation (your capacity to generate breakthroughs) to Flow (how you sustain momentum amid complexity); it reveals patterns called “totems.” These totems are the behavioral DNA of your leadership.
Imagine this: You’re leading a critical product launch, but your team feels fragmented. Deadlines slip. Ideas stall. The voice in your head whispers, “This is on you.” Now, imagine instead:
You understand that your “Process” strength (executing flawlessly) is clashing with your team’s “Risk” orientation (exploring bold ideas).
You restructure meetings to honor both styles: ideation sessions first, process mapping second.
The launch succeeds, not because you “fixed” yourself, but because you aligned with your team’s innate strengths.
This is the power of the ISPI™. It doesn’t just diagnose gaps; it reveals pathways to synergy.
Innovation as Your Leadership Language: Building a Platform That Lasts
Innovation isn’t a department. It’s a mindset; one that starts with understanding how people think, not just what they think. As founder Bob Rosenfeld writes, innovation is “the human principles for sustaining growth.”
For you, this means:
Your “Ideation” Strength: Channel it to ask disruptive questions. “What if we redefined our industry’s status quo?”
Your Team’s “Relationship” Totem: Leverage it to build psychological safety. “Your perspectives matter, even when they challenge mine.”
Your Organization’s “Energy”: Align it with a vision that fuels momentum. “We’re not just hitting targets; we’re redefining what’s possible.”
When you lead through this lens, innovation stops being a buzzword. It becomes the rhythm of your leadership, and a rhythm that turns imposter syndrome into fuel for growth.
The Journey Ahead: What Awaits on the Other Side of Self-Doubt
Let’s pause and paint the picture of what’s possible.
Six months from now:
You walk into board meetings not with anxiety, but with curiosity. You know your “Control” orientation helps you spot risks, while your CFO’s “Networking” strength ensures stakeholder buy-in. Together, you’re unstoppable.
Your team debates fiercely but trusts deeply. They’ve seen their ISPI™ totems, how Maria’s “Passion” fuels late-night brainstorming, and James’ “Output” turns ideas into action. They no longer compete; they complete each other.
Innovation isn’t a “initiative,” it’s the oxygen of your organization. A junior engineer pitches a moonshot idea because they know you’ll listen. A veteran manager mentors cross-functional teams because they feel valued, not vulnerable.
This is the ripple effect of leading with clarity.
You stop asking, “Do I belong here?” and start thinking, “This is where I’m meant to be!”
Your Roadmap: Turning Insight into Action
How do you get there? Let’s break it down:
Map Your Totem
Decode Your Team’s DNA
Align Culture with Strategy
Lead with Vulnerable Authority
Why This Works: The Proof in the Patterns
The ISPI™’s power is rooted in its legacy. Over 29,000 leaders across multipole industries, including Lockheed Martin, NASA, and Johns Hopkins, all have used it to:
Reduce team conflict by 57% by clarifying communication styles.
Accelerate decision-making by aligning “Conative” (action-driven) strengths with strategic goals.
Increase retention by 33% by showing employees how their work connects to their innate talents.
But the deepest impact is intangible: the moment a leader realizes their doubt wasn’t a liability, but the birth of self-awareness
.
A Letter to Your Future Self
Picture this: It’s 18 months from today. You’re at an industry summit, surrounded by peers. Someone asks, “How did you turn around that struggling division?”
You smile. “I stopped trying to be perfect and started leading with intention. I learned my team’s language, how they think, create, and thrive. And when I doubted myself, I leaned into their strengths, not my fears.”
That’s the leader YOU are becoming!
Your Invitation to Begin The journey from self-doubt to unshakable leadership starts with a single step: curiosity.
Reflect: Where does imposter syndrome show up most? In boardrooms? During tough decisions?
Act: Partner with us to uncover your ISPI™ totem. We’ll help you translate data into strategy.
Lead: Share the journey with your team. Innovation thrives in transparency.
You didn’t earn this role by accident. You earned it because you’re capable of this work, the work of leading not just with your mind, but with your humanity.
Closing Thought: “The greatest leaders aren’t those who never doubt. They’re those who use doubt to deepen their resolve, and in doing so, inspire others to rise.”
The ISPI™ is your answer. Let us prove it.
With passion & purpose,
— Greg Brisco 🙏🏾 CEO, Humanize Generative AI Partnering with Executives to Lead with Clarity, Courage, and Conviction
P.S. If you’re ready to replace “Am I enough?” with “This is how we’ll change the game,” let’s start the conversation. Together, we’ll turn your hidden strengths into your leadership signature.
Greg Brisco is a leading voice in human-centric AI implementation and organizational innovation. He helps organizations bridge the gap between technological capability and human potential.
#HumanizeGenerativeAI #ISPI #HeartMindedLeadership #LeadWithHumanity #IntelligentTransformation #InnovationReadiness
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