This week, I had the honor of delivering a keynote at a leadership conference in Indiana.
Our session focused on a topic I’ve spent years researching and developing, the Elasticity of Identity, a theory grounded in the belief that our identity is not fixed or rigid, but elastic, dynamic, and capable of profound transformation.
We spoke about how we often inherit or accept labels and categories that don’t reflect our full capacity. How systems, expectations, trauma, or even early success can calcify us into a version of ourselves that’s no longer evolving. And how the pathway to personal mastery and fulfillment requires us to stretch, bend, and expand beyond those limitations, from Rigid Identity to what I describe as a MAGNUS Identity: an identity that is activated, integrated, and becoming.
After the talk, a Chief Executive Officer approached me. His words have stayed with me the last 24 hours.
“Your talk reminded me of Secretariat,” he said.
Secretariat, the legendary racehorse.
I paused. I’d studied identity through the lens of psychology, neurobiology, and leadership development… but I hadn’t considered Secretariat. Not yet.
He went on to explain. And as he did, the dots connected.
A Horse That Transcended His Category
Secretariat didn’t just win races, he redefined them. His performance in the 1973 Belmont Stakes is the stuff of legend: a 31-length victory that wasn’t simply domination; it was liberation. He ran not to beat others, he ran to become more of what he already was. He ran his own race, in his own rhythm, on his own terms.
Secretariat wasn’t confined by the identity of a racehorse. He expanded the entire definition of what it meant to be one.
That is Elasticity of Identity in motion.
Secretariat represents something deeply human, something I teach often: that greatness is not merely about performance, but about transcending the narrow spaces we’ve been told to occupy.
Identity in Motion: From Fixed to Free
In that conversation, Secretariat came alive for me in a new way, not just as a champion, but as a metaphor for the very theory I had just shared.
- He wasn’t trapped in the Rigid Identity of pedigree or prediction.
- His team, his owner, trainer, and jockey, activated his Proxy and Collective Agency, believing in something the world couldn’t yet see.
- He ran with Personal Agency so fierce, he stretched the world’s imagination.
That’s exactly what we believe we all have the capacity to do.
The Deeper Realization: I Was the Student
Standing there, I realized something humbling: we had just given a talk about identity, but now I was learning from someone else’s lens. I wasn’t the teacher in that moment, I was the learner.
It reminded me that this work, this pursuit of understanding identity, performance, and potential, is never done. We must remain open to being surprised by how truth finds us. Even in a hallway. Even through the story of a horse.
Secretariat helped me see the Elasticity of Identity through a new frame:
- Identity is not defined by outcome, it is activated by belief.
- Identity is not confirmed by others, it is revealed through becoming.
- Identity is not limited by category, it can, and must, transcend it.
Living Legacy: The Future Carries His DNA
As our conversation about Secretariat came to a close, the gentleman shared one final detail, one that sent chills through me:
“You know… many of today’s thoroughbred champions still carry his bloodline. Secretariat’s legacy didn’t stop at the finish line, it reproduced itself, literally. His genetic imprint continues to shape the future of racing.”
That struck a deep chord.
Elasticity of Identity isn’t just about expanding who we are now. It’s about creating the conditions for others to stretch, grow, and evolve after us. It’s about living and leading in such a way that the essence of who we are continues to influence others, even generations later.
Secretariat didn’t just win. He became a lineage.
And that is the highest level of elastic identity:
- An identity that transcends performance.
- An identity that multiplies itself.
- An identity that becomes a living legacy.
Final Reflection
As I reflect on that moment in Indiana, I’m reminded that we’re all running our own version of the Belmont Stakes. Some of us are still finding our stride. Others are just stepping into the starting gate. But what matters most isn’t just how we run, it’s what we leave behind in the race’s wake.
We’re not just here to lead.
We’re here to expand identity so that others can become more.
And if Secretariat, a horse, can leave such a mark on generations to come, imagine what each of us can do when we stretch beyond our limits and live fully into our MAGNUS identity.
What legacy are you leaving in motion?