Our Cast of Characters

Archetypes can hold deep meaning, whether they are individual symbols (such as images of fire, earth, and water) or linear narratives (such as the narrative archetypes we explored in Chapter 3, “Capturing Fire,” or Joseph Campbell's monomyth in Chapter 12).

In this exercise we will explore archetypes as a cast of characters. Jung proposed that these universal characters live inside each of us, occupying the ground floor of our constructed identities and defining who we are. Somewhere deep in your subconscious you are a little bit of King Arthur (the hero archetype). You also have a little bit of the Big Bad Wolf (the shapeshifter/predator archetype). Although there are nearly limitless archetypal symbols to draw from, branding experts such as Margaret Mark, Carol S. Pearson, and Jim Signorelli have proposed a more limited and manageable lineup of the most common archetypes for leadership and branding purposes.¹

For our exercise, I propose a lineup of 16 archetypes that I find most helpful for identifying leadership and brand voice. They are:

Let's take a closer look at these characters and get to know them a little better before we start inviting them to draw meaning from our stories.

You'll see that each of the archetypes on the following pages includes these details:

• Examples. Personalities (both real and fictitious) and organizations or brands that are representative of the archetype. Note that these are my own interpretations, and they are informed by my American experience. I expect and hope my examples would lead to disagreement and discussion.
• The Quest. Every archetype is on a journey to accomplish something. This is the goal that the archetype (and you, your team, and your brand) seeks.
• Response to the Dragon. Every archetype encounters trials and setbacks on its journey. And every archetype has its own way of dealing with the dragon. This suggests your team's or your brand's unique source of strength and growth.
• The Gift (or Elixir). At the end of his or her journey, the character has a hard-won gift to bring back to the ordinary world. In Joseph Campbell's construct, this would be called “the elixir,” the potion or truth that holds powerful properties. In terms of your story or brand, this is at the heart of the value you offer to your stakeholders and marketplace.
• The Shadow Side. Every strength is also a liability, and your archetype has an Achilles' heel that may be the source of its downfall. These vulnerabilities in your team or brand strategy are a potent topic for self-analysis.

Soon we will explore the process for bringing this exercise to life in your team. But first, spend a few minutes getting to know the 16 archetypes. As you review these, notice how quickly you are able to connect with them and think of examples! You'll find it easy to start putting them to work immediately:

See whether you can think of additional examples from the archetype-rich stories Star Wars, Harry Potter, or The Lord of the Rings. (I've provided a few to get you started.)

As you review these the first time, which archetypes does your intuition gravitate toward? Which ones do you think are most descriptive of you? (For example, in much of my own career journey, I might describe myself as a creator/rebel.)

Identify the Frame for Conversation

As is usually the case with story work, you need to define the frame first. When you and your team get together, what exactly is the subject for your analysis? Options can be:

Our brand. Invite team members to think broadly about the brand—recognizing that the brand is much more than just the logo and tagline of your product or organization, but rather it is the full range of stories and experiences that your customer associates with your brand. (It is sobering to remember that the brand is not what we say it is in our communications; it is what our customer perceives it to be!)

Our story (or stories). It may be that you have a story or a group of stories that you have generated using other processes in Circle of the 9 Muses. Select a small handful of those stories to analyze for deeper understanding using the archetypes.

Our offering. Whatever you are responsible for delivering in your work (either to internal customers or to external customers) is, in effect, its own brand. For example, I was on a project team to create a training program, and we used this exercise to better articulate the identity and personality of the learning experience we were developing.

Me. (Or us.) The archetypes are a great way to think about yourself or your team! If you choose to go this way, you'll want to define this specifically. “We are talking about our identity as a team since we formed eight months ago.” “We are talking about our lives together since we were married in 1996.” “Think of your identity as a leader in your current role.” I even did this exercise in the kitchen with my 12-year-old son, Ollie, and instructed him to think about his experience as a middle schooler. (And we had an unexpectedly powerful conversation!)

Present the Archetypes

Verbally spend a few minutes explaining what an archetype is. This can be a very basic explanation, much like the one that I provide at the beginning of this tool. You are welcome to borrow my words if you wish.

Next, share the 16 archetypes. You are welcome to copy the text from this book for use within your meeting. If you do, please include a statement that says “Copyright 2015, David Hutchens.”

I have also developed a deck of 9 Muse Archetype Cards, which are available for purchase on my website. (Note that the cards are my preferred way to go! They make the exercise kinesthetic and introduce an element of fun, which makes it easier for people to think creatively.)

Place Participants in Groups

The exact number of participants isn't very sensitive for this exercise. You can group people in pairs (like my son and I did at the kitchen table) or in teams of five or six. Note that everyone will take turns sharing his or her perspective, so to keep the conversation manageable you might wish to keep the groups to six members or fewer.

Have Participants Each Identify Three Archetypes and Write Them on Sticky Notes or Index Cards

Each member should spend a few minutes individually reviewing the archetypes on the handouts (or on the 9 Muse Archetype Cards). Tell each person to identify three archetypes that best represent the brand, story, or offering. Lay them on the table in order of importance. That is, which archetype is the primary character of the brand? Which one is secondary? Which is the tertiary archetype?

The primary and secondary types are the most informative, especially when combined. For example, many health-care professionals may predictably identify themselves as the caregiver. The nuance comes with the addition of secondary archetypes: Are they caregiver/prophets, or perhaps caregiver/rebels? This becomes quite a rich conversation—especially when identifying possible marketplace positioning for brands. (See Mark and Pearson's The Hero and the Outlaw.)

People often use the third type for reoccurring characteristics. The third card allows you to say things like “But there have been a couple of special times when we operated as the innocent . . .”

Write your three archetypes on sticky notes or index cards. If you are using the 9 Muse Archetype Cards deck, simply take those three cards from your deck.

Present Your Cards

Take turns. Have the first participant visually lay the sticky notes or cards on the table, in sequence. Participants should explain why they chose the primary archetype and then the secondary and tertiary types. They are free to expound on this a bit and provide their reasons, examples, and stories.

Repeat until all members have presented their archetypes.

Analyze and Discuss What Just Happened

You may wish to use these questions or come up with some of your own:

• Which archetype(s) came up most consistently?
• What did you hear that you expected to hear?
• What did you hear that surprised you?
• Look at the “Gift” or need state that your primary archetypes offer to your customers. Does this give you any new ways of thinking about the value that you deliver?
• Look at the “Responses to the Dragon” and at “The Shadow Side.” How well do these match your experiences? What stories do you have that support this?
• Look at your communications that describe your offering. (Perhaps these are marketing materials or the “About Us” page of your website.) Is the current language consistent with the archetypal identity you identified? How might you update the way you describe your offering so that it better connects to archetypal images?

Taking It into the Future: The Transformational Question

Remember that the theory of archetypes says that our subconscious selves are a home to all of these identities. Some just show up more often in our daily world while others are buried a little more deeply. I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the celebration of Mardi Gras provides an annual opportunity for revelers to put on masks and become someone else during the season of carnival. This has become widely misunderstood as an act of debauchery, but its roots are sacred. It's a way of acknowledging that we contain multitudes. I'm a business person and a leader, but I'm also a spoiled child, a laughing fool, a free-spirited artist, and a lusty drunkard. I contain all of these identities, both light and dark, and rather than attempt to banish them—a fool's mission that is a path to dysfunction—I will reveal them and embrace them. (And in the process, I rob the shadow archetypes of much of their power over me.)²

In your organization and in your leadership, it is the beginning of transformation and liberation to say, “We are not bound to our current identities. Who shall we become?”

So, as you and your teammates face one another, draw cards (or post sticky notes) in answer to these questions:

• What does our context demand of us? Which identity is missing? Which part of myself (or ourselves) do we need to summon and exercise? Who do I (we) need to become?
• How? What will it look like behaviorally when I begin exercising those different identities? What actions must we take to call forth and embody this identity?
• What resources, opportunities, and accountabilities do I need to bring that identity to life?

Using Archetypes as a Directed Listening Framework

This is something I've been experimenting with and the results are intriguing. Archetypes have a unique ability to lead people deep into their stories. Here's a process that, when I tried it, caught me off guard with its power:

1. Identify your three personal archetypes as described above.
2. Place people in groups of three or four members.
3. Have all participants lay their three archetype cards in front of them facing the others (so that the cards are probably upside-down to the teller.)
4. Now invite them to mentally set aside the archetypes. Ask them a framing question for a story. (I often use a “Tell me about a time you were at your best in your work” kind of question. See the Story Prompts in Chapter 3 for additional ideas.) Specifically say to participants, “I know you just spent a lot of time thinking about your three archetypes. But set those ideas aside in your mind for now. You do not need to try to weave archetype language into your story. Just tell your story the way you normally would.”
5. Prepare the audience to listen to the story. The listeners' job is to give the storyteller feedback based on the teller's archetypes. So for example, if the teller has earlier identified herself as a creator/caregiver/jester, the audience should listen for any elements in the story consistent with that. Tell them that the content may be in the actual words that the storyteller uses—but it may also be in the style, presence, or nonverbals of the storyteller. It may even be revealed in the negative space of the things the teller didn't say.
6. Thus, everyone will take turns. One will tell a story and then receive surprising feedback from colleagues on how they heard the archetypal elements within the story. Then continue to the next person until everyone has had a turn.

The instruction to mentally set aside the archetypes is important and has some fascinating results. Frequently (though not always) the teller will tell a story that perfectly illustrates the three archetypes he or she chose. There's a bit of power of suggestion happening here, sometimes at a subconscious level. Some tellers will even say that they actively tried to avoid any archetypal elements in their story, and they were astounded at the ways the audience drew out the archetypes anyway. “I didn't think my story was about being a seeker, but you convinced me that's exactly what my story was about!” One debrief point here is that your identity is woven into your stories in very deep ways, whether you are aware of it or not, and it can be fascinating to have colleagues say, “Yep, that story is so uniquely you!”

Where Do I Go Next?

Archetypal language is a rich foundation for marketing and branding. Your thoughts about the deep archetypes of your offering will be especially valuable to your marketing and branding partners. Share the outcomes of your dialogue with them. (Even better, invite them along to be a part of this experience!)

Use the archetypes as a prompt for mining the team's stories. So, for example, write the three top archetypes your group identified on a whiteboard, and prompt team members to tell stories about them. (“So, we think of ourselves as a caregiver/jester type. Tell me about a time that we operated at our very best as a caregiver/jester. What happened?”)

If there is consensus, you may wish to adopt an archetypal identity for your offering. This may be especially valuable in a marketing and branding context. (“Our next national developers' meeting is going to shock people from their complacency by having a rebel/king identity!”)

Review your current key communications—especially those that brand your offering. (These may include the “About” page of the website or key presentations). Where do you see archetypal language? What archetypes do you see being communicated? Where have you missed opportunities to reinforce your brand? Do you agree that the correct personality has been applied?

Chapter 15 introduces a “strategy storyboarding” exercise that can be brought to life even more using these 16 archetypal characters.

Use this for feedback and team building. Have team members present their three cards for their personal archetypes to one another; then give team members an opportunity to respond. “You see yourself as a jester/companion/prophet? That's funny, because I would have said you are a jester/prophet/seeker, and here's why . . .”

If you do choose to do this exercise with your kids like I did, please be mindful. Archetypal identities connect to us deeply. Be certain that any conversations that you have with your kids using archetypes are only positive, supportive, and appreciative. There must be no shame of any kind associated with this exercise. Identity and self-perception are tender, tender things for children. Please proceed on this sacred ground with dignity and love.

This exercise works even better with cards! Go to www.DavidHutchens.com to order a set of 9 Muse Archetype Cards. It is a deck of cards that contains the 16 archetypes along with all of the descriptive text featured in this chapter. Instead of using sticky notes, participants can take turns drawing from the decks and laying their cards.