Inner Board of Directors (Parts Work for the Inner Critic)
Externalize your inner critic as a named board member you can appreciate, then ask to step aside.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
To handle imposter feelings and self-sabotage, treat your inner voices not as 'you' but as distinct parts, like members of a board of directors, with you in the chairperson's seat. When a critical voice tries to take over, you notice it, name it, understand its protective intent, and consciously ask it to step aside so the real you can keep leading.
Origin
Norton attributes this to Internal Family Systems ('parts work'), developed by psychologist Richard Schwartz, and references the Pixar film Inside Out as an accessible illustration of parts showing up as characters.
Core principles
- 01Your inner critics are parts of you, not the whole of you; the real self sits in the chairperson seat.
- 02Saboteur voices usually have good intentions, they are trying to protect you in outdated ways.
- 03Naming and self-distancing from a voice creates power and lets you notice when it is happening.
- 04Imposter feelings are near-universal and are often an inner critic comparing you to others.
How to run it
- 1
Catch and label the voice as a part
When a critical voice fires ('you're not qualified, you'll embarrass yourself'), recognize it as an inner critic rather than the truth. Self-distance: 'That's my inner critic saying that,' not 'I am an idiot.'
Watch out Beware weaponizing imposter framing against yourself or others; systemic bias and microaggressions (especially against women and people of color) are real external causes, not just internal voices to 'deal with.'
- 2
Give the part a name and character
Personify it, name it, even imagine what it looks like, so it becomes clearly separate from you. Norton names his 'Larry the loser'; a listener names theirs 'Jim.'
Pro tip A name lets you address it directly: 'Jim, not right now, I don't need you,' which defuses its grip.
- 3
Understand its intent, then reassign it
Ask what the part is trying to protect you from. 'Larry always shows up when I do something new because Larry doesn't want me to challenge myself.' Appreciate the intent, then ask it to step aside, befriend it, or give it a new job on the board.
Pro tip Sit in the chairperson seat: 'I've heard from Larry, I'm going to ask Larry to step aside, let's go.'
In the wild
Mid-interview, Norton noticed his own voice saying 'you're not a trained psychologist, what are you talking about.' He narrated it live as an inner critic rather than treating it as fact.
→ By labeling the voice instead of obeying it, he kept speaking with authority while openly acknowledging the feeling.
Common mistakes
Treating every inner voice as the objective truth about yourself
If the voices are all 'me,' you simply believe 'I'm a clown, unqualified to be in this room.' Failing to externalize them hands them the chairperson's seat.
Weaponizing imposter syndrome to dismiss systemic causes
Telling someone (or yourself) 'that's just your imposter syndrome, deal with it' shifts the obligation onto the individual and ignores real bias and microaggressions feeding the feeling; leaders have a duty to fix the environment too.
Is it for you?
Best for
High performers and product leaders who experience imposter feelings or a loud inner critic, especially in cross-functional roles where someone is always more expert than you.
Not ideal for
Situations where the self-doubt is driven mainly by genuine external bias or a toxic environment, which require changing conditions, not just inner reframing.
From the transcript
“And there's some, you know, noisy chatty voices that every so often sort of sit in the chairman's chairperson seat and start taking over.”
“give your inner critic a name, like Jim. And you be like, Jim, not right now.”
“That's you know, that's that's Larry the loser, my my big, you know, angry, irritating judge”
From the episode
How to unlock your product leadership skills
Ken Norton, Ex-Google