Identity & Values Interview
A guided conversation to reconnect with who you are underneath the role. When your identity becomes your title and your values become whatever serves the business, this interview is a reset.
45-60 minutes Annual or major transitions
Answer each question from your gut, not your head. The first answer is usually the truest.
Part 1: The Core
Who are you when no one is watching?
When you're alone, not performing, not optimizing — who is that person?
What were you like as a child?
Before the world shaped you, what were your natural tendencies? What did you love? How did you spend your time?
What do people misunderstand about you?
What do others get wrong? What do you wish they knew?
What do you know to be true about yourself that you sometimes doubt?
What truth about you do you occasionally lose faith in?
Part 2: The Values
If you could only teach your children (or a young person you care about) three things about how to live, what would they be?
What values do you hold that would NOT change even if they became unpopular or costly?
What would you stand by even if it hurt?
When have you felt most in integrity — most aligned with your values?
Describe a specific moment or period.
When have you felt most out of integrity — most misaligned with your values?
Describe a specific moment or period.
What values have you inherited that you want to keep?
From family, culture, mentors — what do you want to carry forward?
What values have you inherited that you want to release?
What did you absorb that no longer serves you?
Part 3: The Roles
What roles do you play in your life?
List them all — professional, personal, relational.
Which role do you most identify with?
Which role do you feel most competent in?
Which role do you feel most uncertain in?
Is there a role you play that doesn't feel like you?
A role that feels forced, performative, or draining?
If you had to give up all but one role, which would you keep?
Part 4: The Deeper Questions
What are you afraid of?
Not surface fears — the deeper ones. What keeps you up at night? What do you avoid thinking about?
What do you secretly desire that you haven't admitted?
What do you want that you're afraid to say out loud?
What do you feel you should want but don't actually want?
What expectations do you carry that aren't truly yours?
What do you need to be happy?
Not achieve — need. What are the essential ingredients of your well-being?
What question are you avoiding?
What question, if you really sat with it, might change everything?
Part 5: Meaning and Legacy
Why are you here?
What is your sense of purpose? Why do you exist?
What do you want your life to be about?
When you zoom out, what is the throughline?
How do you want to be remembered?
By your family? Your colleagues? Your community?
What would you do if you weren't afraid?
Part 6: The Integration
Complete this sentence: "I am someone who..."
Write at least 5 completions. These are your identity statements.
Complete this sentence: "I am NOT someone who..."
Write at least 5 completions. These are your boundaries.
Your Core Values
Based on everything above, identify your 5-7 core values:
| Value | What It Means to Me |
|---|---|
Closing Reflection
What did this interview reveal or confirm?
Is there anything you need to say to yourself?
This is who you are — beneath the title, beneath the roles, beneath the performance. Return to this document when you feel lost.