EO 360° Podcast: Todd Herman on Alter Egos, Identity, and Elite Performance

Performance coach Todd Herman has spent decades working with world-class athletes, executives, and entrepreneurs, helping them perform under pressure. A longtime coach to elite competitors like Kobe Bryant, Rafael Nadal, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Todd is best known for his work on mindset transformations and the strategic use of alter egos to unlock peak performance.

On the latest episode of the EO 360° podcast, hosted by Dave Will (EO Boston), the two explore how identity shapes behavior, why alter egos are not inauthentic, and how entrepreneurs can use these tools to navigate their fears, pressures, and ambitions. Excerpts from their conversation follow: 

Dave Will: I am really excited to talk about this concept of alter egos.

Todd Herman: I have been doing performance coaching since 1997, and this was a golden thread that started revealing itself amongst my best clients. They would use a persona or a character or an identity to help them be more intentional with how they wanted to show up on whatever their field of play was … and I just found it fascinating.

Dave Will: So, you have multiple alter egos for different components of your life?

Todd Herman: We do not have just one identity. There is not one Dave; there are many versions of you. So, if we think about our lives in the context of roles, we play many roles.

Dave Will: Can you talk about Kobe and the Black Mamba alter ego?

Todd Herman: Several years into his career, he said, “I feel like I am losing my edge.” And I said, “No, you are not losing your edge — you are going through an ego death.” The longer that you try to cling to this identity, it is going to keep you in a purgatory. There is an opportunity for you to invent something new on the court. I am not here to help you with personal brand stuff — that is for other people — but I can help you with isolating how you need to think and approach the game on the court now and build a specific identity for that. Back then, I did not call it an “alter ego.” I called it, basically, crafting the character.

Dave Will: How can entrepreneurs get started with this? Can you give us the abridged version? What are the steps to build one?

Todd Herman: We always start with: What is the role or the area of your life that you do not like about the way that you are showing up right now? And what are the traits that you do want? That is why I talk about totems, artifacts, uniforms, something specific that you can create a ritual around, because the item holds the story of the identity. Rituals are far more powerful than habits — far more powerful than a routine — because ritual is story plus behavior mixed together, and our brain is very much wired for that.

That said, alter egos could end up just like any identity ruling you, especially when your motivation is an outside-in motivation. When you are doing it to try to impress the girl when you are on a date? Now that is very performative … I am all about character building through the lens of people you are already inspired by.

If you always act through ego, you are going to get a certain result, but it is not going to be the one that is going to be transformative.

Listen to the full EO 360° interview with Todd Herman on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.