In his new workbook Optimizing Self: A Guided Workbook to Elevate Your Impact as a Leader, Dr. Bill Dickinson strips leadership down to its core: knowing who you are, why you do what you do, and how you affect the people around you. Blending real-world experience with personal truth, this isn’t a book about fixing others, it’s about learning how to lead yourself first.
What Happens When You Stop Avoiding the Mirror?
Bill Dickinson’s journey from 25 years as a Catholic priest to an openly gay leadership coach and advisor, grounds this workbook in honesty, not theory. His turning point wasn’t professional; it was personal. “You can’t lead anyone well if you haven’t done your own inner work,” he writes early on. The book builds from that idea and remains there-focused, personal, and softly challenging.
Through guided reflections, the readers encounter what is often avoided: self-doubt, old habits, blind spots, and the stories we carry. But it is not therapy. It’s structured reflection with purpose, aimed at helping people grow in ways that actually last.
More than a Leadership Tool, It’s a Real-world Companion
Though the subtitle nods to leadership, this book reaches far beyond titles. It’s just as valuable for someone navigating career change as it is for someone managing a team.
Topics in the workbook include:
• Facing imposter syndrome with practical tools
• Understanding emotional intelligence beyond buzzwords
• Redefining your personal brand based on how others actually see you
• Making space for feedback without falling apart
• Clarifying your professional value in honest terms
• Finding language for your growth without faking confidence
This isn’t a workbook you read once and shelve. It’s something you return to, when you feel off track, when your team isn't responding, when your inner critic gets too loud.
Written for Those Who Feel Like They Should Have It All Figured Out by Now
What sets Optimizing Self apart is its tone. It doesn’t preach. It doesn’t sell a 10-step formula. Instead, it meets people where they are often mid-career, tired of performance talk, and quietly wondering, “Am I really doing this right?”
For people who manage others, feel responsible for team culture, or are quietly exhausted by leadership expectations, this book is a place to pause and regroup.
For those at the earlier stages of their career, it offers a way of leadership that does not allow one to lose themselves in the process.
For anyone else who has struggled with showing up full selves at work, it gives permission to stop pretending
Why This Workbook Feels Different
Most leadership books talk about outcomes. Dr. Bill Dickinson talks about getting to be who we are along the way.
There is little complexity to the book's structure, which is itself quite effective. I have eight chapters, each of which focuses on one dimension of self-awareness: strength and values, feedback, and knowing your way through the career. The activities go beyond the practical, with ample room for them to be lived with and not merely completed on the fly.
He invites you to really think about identity, background, emotional baggage, and societal privilege. He doesn't shy away from the dark stuff, and that's why it really lands.
Built for Coaches, Professionals, and Anyone Who’s Been Quietly Questioning Their Path
Whether you’re in HR, working in leadership development, part of a high-potential program, or just someone craving more clarity in how you show up, Optimizing Self has depth and range.
It’s especially valuable for:
• Executive coaches supporting clients in transition
• Managers developing emotional intelligence and people skills
• Individuals navigating self-doubt, career pivots, or burnout
• Organizations offering career advancement and personal development programs
About the Author
Dr. Bill Dickinson is the founder of C3 Leadership, a consulting practice focused on emotional intelligence, inclusive leadership, and self-awareness. Bill Dickinson received his doctorate in ministry and has worked with diverse people to help them evolve professionally and personally. In executive coaching or individual personal challenges, he has sought to further one goal - enabling people to lead themselves with honesty, courage, and intentionality.
Availability
Optimizing Self: A Guided Workbook to Elevate Your Impact as a Leader is available in paperback and digital formats. For media inquiries, speaking engagements, or organizational orders, contact Dr. Dickinson at bill.dickinson@c3leadership.org or visit www.C3Leadership.org.
Media Contact
Company Name: The Empire Publishers (USA)
Email: Send Email
State: Georgia
Country: United States
Website: https://www.theempirepublishers.com/
