How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Lead with Purpose | Dennis W. Pullin
Jul 07, 2025
One of the themes you’ll notice again and again on this podcast is that I’m a big fan of learning from people outside of the book world and publishing industry.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, if you spend all day talking to people who are basically like you, with the same set of concerns and issues, you will view the world through that lens. You will start to lack empathy and understanding for people who are different than you. And when you start to lack empathy and understanding, then you’re in real trouble.
And second, I believe your most creative ideas will come from sources outside your normal ecosystem. The very nature of creative thinking demands that we get outside our typical ways of thinking and doing our work, and instead step into another person’s shoes for a while.
This is a big reason why I do ghostwriting in the first place. It’s not only a fantastic career. It’s also one of the primary ways I get to interact with amazing business leaders and creative thinkers—it’s also a way to ensure that I keep getting exposed to new ideas and perspective.
Which leads me to our guest today!
I’m thrilled to share this conversation with Dennis Pullin. He is the President and CEO of Virtua Health, an academic health system in New Jersey which offers a full continuum of preventative, primary, ambulatory, acute and tertiary care across more than 400 locations. Virtua Health is a $3B organization with more than 16,000 employees.
As a recognized thought leader, published author, and advocate for health equity, Mr. Pullin was named one of the Top 10 Healthcare Leaders in the U.S. by Healthcare Digital in 2024. The year before, Modern Healthcare selected him as one of the 25 Top Innovators in Healthcare and one of the 100 Most Influential People in the industry nationwide. Prior to that, Modern Healthcare recognized him as one of the nation’s Top 25 Diversity Leaders in Healthcare on three occasions.
Since 2020, Mr. Pullin has hosted the award-winning Here for Good podcast, where he engages in meaningful conversations with transformational leaders and Virtua colleagues about how they create a positive impact on the world around them. Nearly 100 episodes have been recorded and released to date.
Today, Dennis joins me to talk about his new book, Suited for Leadership: How to Show Up with Purpose to Have a Lasting Impact. The book compiles two dozen of the important life lessons he has learned in his years of leadership. The book is not just for people in healthcare: every leader, at every level, will benefit from the book, which is a fun, practical read.
It was an absolute blast to collaborate with Dennis on his book, and I’m thrilled to share this conversation with you! We talk about several topics, which include:
- What Dennis’s day-to-day life looks like as a healthcare CEO
- How to deal with imposter syndrome
- How to reconnect with your purpose when you’re feeling stuck
- What he learned as a healthcare leader going through the Covid crisis
- His advice for writers who want to stand out as an expert in a crowded space
This conversation was an absolute blast, and I encourage you to check out his book, Suited for Leadership. There are lots of great lessons for writers and leaders of all kinds.
By the way, this is the first episode of our Summer Expert Series, which features three interview episodes per week through July and August. I’m super excited to bring you these life-changing conversations, and even more honored that Dennis Pullin is our very first interview in this series.
