Archetypes Exposed

After taking the PMAI, I discovered that my top 4 archetypes were: Lover, Destroyer, Caregiver, Seeker, and Magician.  My shadow archetype is Warrior.  I determined that there wasn’t a significant gap between my highest and lowest scores (28-17).  This helped me realize that I am a well-rounded individual.  I have pretty high scores in all areas of the archetypes.  I noticed that because I have Lover, Destroyer, and Seeker; I am more likely to help myself and others find ourselves and express our gifts.  Because I am categorized under these archetypes, I possess gifts such as: Commitment, Enthusiasm, Autonomy, Ambition, Identity, Community, Compassion, Generosity, Revolution, Metamorphosis, Catalytic, and Transformative. 

I find this assessment to be fairly accurate.  There have been times in my life where I have dealt with change and it has transformed my life for the better.  I show great compassion towards others and am in search of finding my own identity.  I love serving others and have ambitions to make changes in this world.  One quote that really stuck out to me under the “Lover” archetype was that I like and live in stories of “spiritual love in which the object is union with the divine as the Beloved.”  As a Christian serving at my Church, I thought this was really inspiring to know that my leadership qualities overlap with my religious beliefs.  As I had noted in one of my past blogs, I believe in standing up for what you believe in and fighting for what is right.  This quality is demonstrated in the “Destroyer” archetype because they “notice the injustice of a situation and try to figure out ways to remedy this unfairness, either through compensation or revolution.”  My “Caregiver” archetype has come into play in the past few years of my life as I am able to read people pretty well.  I can tell when someone is having a good or bad day and this quality will help me in my future career as a leader.  As a “Seeker”, I tend to strive to improve myself, everyday becoming more “me”.  I had also mentioned before how I admired leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.  I thought it was interesting how he was an example of a “Magician” archetype, just like me! 

All of these characteristics shape who I have been in the past, who I am today, and who I am going to be as a leader in the future.  I’ve learned a lot from this assessment and can’t wait to see these archetypes play a role in my daily life from now on. 

Archetypes Overall

For our assignment, we were to take the PMAI Assessment.  This assessment helps a person discover their own unique personality archetypes.  They break down each different archetype and determine which archetypes are your strongest and which are your weakest.  The stronger archetypes are generally exposed in your everyday life and define the stories you are living in.  They are a part of who you are as a person and what you believe in.  The weakest archetype is considered your shadow archetype in that it represents qualities that are generally repressed.  This archetype may also influence your unconscious behaviors, as well.  Although the characters within us are may be universal, each of us expresses them differently because we all have different styles, traits and mannerisms.

Each of the archetypes represents a personality trait you have experienced or will experience at some point in time in your life.  They help tell your life story.  If you think about it, everyone has their own unique story.  Each story has helped shape us into who we are today and who we will become in the future.  In relation to our leadership abilities, it gives us a better understanding as to what leadership characteristics we possess and which ones we need to work on to become successful leaders in our future careers.  For example, the book explains people in three different main categories.  Those who have archetypes such as: Innocent, Orphan, Caregiver, and Warrior will help you, others, and the species to survive.  Those who are a: Seeker, Lover, Destroyer, and Creator help you and others find yourselves and express your gifts.  Finally, those who possess qualities of a: Ruler, Magician, Sage, or Jester help you and others live authentically, making a positive contribution to the world while also experiencing personal fulfillment. 

Pros & Cons of Trait-Based Leadership Theories

There are many positive and negative views on trait-based leadership.  Some feel that establishing specific traits to define leadership can provide a clear direction of where leadership should be going.  It can give a person a foundation in their leadership journey and provide them with something to strive towards.  On the other hand, defining leadership through specific traits can keep a person "locked in" on only those certain traits and doesn't allow their unique leadership traits to come out.  It can hold someone back from their true leadership potential and put them down for not having all of those specific traits.  Some people feel that traits are obtained at birth and may be harder to learn than others if they don't already possess that specific quality.

Admirable Leadership Traits

Leaders of all types possess certain traits that make them stand out among other people.  According to "Leadership: do traits matter?" by Kirkpatrick and Locke, key leader traits include: drive (achievement, ambition, energy, tenacity, initiative), leadership motivation (personalized vs. socialized), honesty and integrity, self confidence (including emotional stability), cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business.   Although I agree that most of these are important traits to have in leaders, I do not feel that a leader needs all of these traits to be successful.

Of these traits, I admire DRIVE most of all.  If a leader is driven, they have the energy and motivation to accomplish anything.  They will take initiative to get a project started and are able to see the big picture.  They aren't satisfied until they have achieved their goal and will do whatever it takes to reach it.  Driven leaders are inspiring and encouraging to others.

Me, Myself, and Leadership

Up until recently I didn't know who I was as a leader, what qualities I admired in a leader, and what my leadership style was.  After finding some examples of what I thought leadership meant to me through movies, famous leaders, quotes, and articles, I came up with this: 
 
My strongest area of leadership is in relationships.
I want to be a leader people can trust. 
I want my followers to know they will be cared for. 
I admire those who stay true to their word and stand up for what they believe in.   
I believe leaders should be able to think outside the box and get things done.
I believe leaders should be encouraging, inspirational and influence change.
I believe leaders should be about their people and be willing to not only lead, but serve.
I value service in leadership and strive to serve others.
I value a leader with strong character and beliefs.
I value transformation.

I admire leaders such as: Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Susan B. Anthony.  Those who stand up for what they believe in and fight for what is right are leaders worth looking up to.  Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" and Sandra Bullock in "The Blindside" both acquire excellent leadership traits.  They believe in something and go for it and don't let anyone or anything stand in their way.  Peter F. Drucker once said, "Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things."  Kenneth Hartley Blanchard said that "The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority." It's important to remember that people can change other people's lives.