I had a conversation recently with a fellow author about keeping track of all the versions of ourselves floating around. Specifically, we were talking about pen names and social media and the like. It got me thinking, though about all the different identities we put out into the world.

Even without different names, there can be a lot to keep track of. There’s day-job me, the dean, who maneuvers in a business school with disconcerting ease. There’s the writer, who feels the most like the most...