Understanding Your Archetypes and Leadership

I think knowing and understanding your archetypes gives you a huge advantage when working on your leadership skills. The archetype book quotes:  “Understanding their expression in our life myths or stories helps us gain access to unrealized potential, grasp the logic and importance of our lives, and increase our empathy for the stories that others live.” I strongly agree because the archetypes informs you of all possible situations, your personality at your best, at your worst, as a leader, the stories you like, why people may or may not be drawn to you, etc. It gives you a complete and up close vision and it really points things out to you that you may not have been able to see before. I think it’s hard to always see yourself while standing in your shoes, but the archetypes lets you see a broader possible story of yourself which will make you more aware of what you do well and what you need to work on. Leadership to me is about a transformation, bringing yourself and a group of people together to reach their full potential. If you know your story and self well, it can only make the path to leadership a stronger one.

My PMAI Results

I was very excited to take the PMAI test because I love to find out habits or personality traits that I may not have been aware of. The PMAI was right on when I was given my results, my three strongest archetypes are: Caregiver, Lover, and Jester. I knew from reading over the book about archetypes that my number one would be the caregiver. I worry about other people and how they are feeling, and I try to make everything right. This can be seen as a good thing in the way I am compassionate for people, but also has its drawbacks because I tend to focus on other’s needs before my own. When reading the stories I like and live it seemed to be right on. The caregiver likes stories that show a person’s generosity by helping others and really making a difference. This jumped out at me because one of my favorite movies is “Freedom Writers,” where Hillary Swank takes on the challenge of teaching inner city high school students and gives them the motivation they never received before in order to succeed.  My second top score was Lover which I thought was accurate as well. I am passionate towards life and the people in it. Lastly I am a jester which is the person who is happy and always wants to make a situation light hearted and fun. This can also be drawback because while reading the jester as a leader it states: “you may not be comfortable in thinking of yourself as a leader, and the acceptance of leadership is likely to be an important area of growth.” I found this to be something that I have been struggling with since starting my HTM curriculum, and that is that I really do want to be a leader, but I don’t think of myself as a natural leader. It has been something I have been working on and I think I’ve come a long way, but not quite there yet. I really enjoyed learning more about myself and if I were to choose which three archetypes I would be, I probably would’ve chosen the ones the PMAI results showed. I think for the most part, all three described my personality and I am happy with that. I want to be a caregiver, a lover, and the jester. I think life is about love, compassion, and happiness and the PMAI showed that.

Trait Based Theory

In short, the Trait Based Theory says that great leaders are born with the natural ability to lead. It says leadership is not something that can be made or learned, it is simply a trait you are born with. I am somewhere in the middle when it comes to this theory. I do believe some people are born with natural abilities, for example: some are born extroverts which makes it easier for the leader to come out as opposed to someone who is an introvert. I do believe those quiet introverts and people who may not have all of the traits you may think a leader should have are capable of being leaders. I think anyone can be a leader given the right situation and attitude. A leader doesn’t have to be someone who is in an authoritative position or leads a corporate team of 50. A leader can evolve from almost any situation and I think everyone can be a leader if they truly want to be. I wouldn’t consider myself a natural born leader, but I want to be a leader and throughout these classes have become more confident and able to possess leadership qualities. I think building confidence and believing in what you are doing can change how a person handles things. I am a leader in small ways and each time I’m put into the situation I feel more confident, so I think leadership can be learned as long as the person wants to lead.  Some pros to the trait based theory is that people have the natural ability to be a role model. People with this trait are trained to be confident, and it’s a possible way to sort people into two categories of the leaders vs. the non-leaders. On the other side the cons to this are that is discourages people who may not have the natural ability, it labels people into groups, and is too general, not specific to each individual.

Traits I Admire

Although there can be many traits associated with a good leader, the number one trait I admire is passion.  If you have the passion and have the drive to reach a particular goal I find it’s hard for someone to stop you. A leader must believe in what they are trying to accomplish or it will never work out because there heart is not in it. After passion, a leader must have strong confidence. People want a leader they can believe in, if confidence is shown in the leader and their work, that light will shine and people will want to follow.  A few other traits I admire and think are key to being a great leader is someone who is: honest, caring, respectful, loyal, charismatic, positive, and intelligent.

My Leadership Philosophy

To me leadership is someone who can inspire a group to do better, not because the leader asked them to, but because they want to.  A great leader is like a great coach, it is not someone who tells an order, but someone who inspires and motivates you to reach your full potential.  I believe leadership is a team effort not individual, if you are not in for the greater good of your team then you should not be leading. A good leader is someone who takes chances, takes risks, and thinks outside of the box.  When I think of great leadership I think of the movie “Freedom Writers” with Hillary Swank. It is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell who is a high school teacher in an inner city school. She went into this school with everyone against her, with students who did want to learn and teachers who did not believe in them. Erin was able to pave her own path. She did not let anyone bring her down even when everyone told her she was wasting her time with these kids. She found ways to motivate her kids by working a second job to afford new books for the kids, coming up with fundraisers to take them on field trips to places they have never been, and providing a safe open environment for the kids to feel like they belong somewhere.  Someone like Erin Gruwell who has so much passion and pushes everyone around to reach their fullest potential is what a great leader is to me. She created a trusting relationship with each student and I believe that is what a leader in a company needs to do as well. If trust and individual relationships are formed, it paves an open path to a great future with endless potential to keep growing.