Most of us, perhaps even all of us, struggle with feelings of inadequacy, even though we've accomplished a lot. During a consulting meeting I was surprised to see these words written by a top-flight senior executive who had been president of several large companies:

"I have a large number of significant accomplishments, and people for whom I have a great deal of respect, note and comment favorably on these accomplishments, and also express confidence that I can continue this record in other areas. "Yet I was usually surprised when I achieved them (even though frequently I did it with ease). The circumstances were usually that these problems/opportunities simply became available to me in the course of my life or job, and it just seemed up to me to handle them. Very importantly, I did not aggressively seek them out (though I often did make myself noticeably available) and so made no promises about how well I might solve them.

"In the search for a new career, I feel that if I could bring myself to make these accomplishments more a part of my self-image, I would fare much better. The tangible evidence is there, but I seem to want the potential employer to interpret it and him place me in the new job, without my having to explicitly promise miracles.

"This is what has always happened in the past—and I have always had strong achievement in every new job. But I am still reluctant. I feel this behavior by me is not logical, and can result in my being underemployed (because I'm being rather passive in the selection of the new job). Just realizing that it's not logical doesn't seem to help that much. I really need some help on this one."