Use the Hero Myth to create your leadership journey!

Many of us many a time might have realized that leadership is not about a position but an attitude. It is all about making a difference to one’s own self and others. It is an inner shift, a calling, an urge, a pull, a realization and a cause that kick starts the leadership or changes journey for many. Over the years I have looked for a story, pattern or a syntax that is embedded in an experience or chain of events that is life changing. In other words, I was looking for a pattern in transformational experiences of people, if there is any. I thought if I could decipher the code, the sequence and the pattern, it would be useful in creating transformational experiences.

For a change, I happened to be in Delhi the entire months of July and August, 2008 and took an additional responsibility of telling my six-year-old daughter a story every day. Within a week I had exhausted my supply of stories that would interest a six year old. Then I began creating my own new story each day. I noticed that all my stories had the same pattern and patter – the super Hero facing challenges, winning and returning to the village. It reminded me of a book Hero with Many Faces by Joseph Campbell which I read way back. Campbell explained the Hero Myth in this book. A myth is a universal story experienced by everyone in every culture. Campbell said that the Hero Myth always began with a man just living his humdrum life. Suddenly and unexpectedly, either by chance or by choice, man is either pulled out of his ordinary life or chooses to leave his ordinary life to launch into a great adventure, whose outcome is unknown at the beginning.

The Hero journey goes through several specified stages. First, there is the ordinary life of the Hero that changes when something triggers his journey to the unknown. This is his call for adventure forcing him to leave the known, comfortable life behind and move to the unknown, difficult future that might also offer great rewards. There could also be a wise man or a mentor at this stage advising and preparing the Hero for the journey. This mentor could come also as a teacher who gives him instructions in the new skills he will need to learn to successfully achieve his goal. In many cultures and stories the Hero may also have to fight an animal from water. Usually, water represents the unconscious mind and the creatures below the water are the personification of different fears we all have in our unconscious mind. Then comes the final fight of the Hero which is the most difficult one among all the obstacles he faced till now. Finally the battle is won and the whole journey has now transformed an ordinary person into an extraordinary one.

The Hero archetype in literature and cinema is pervasive. Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan and James Bond are some examples. Look at the movie Matrix and see how it is following the steps of the Hero Myth. Watch the Rajinikanth movie Shivaji to see the pattern of the Hero Myth. The fact that most of the popular movies are made in the same formula and pattern shows the power of this archetype deep within each one of us.

How could we then use the power of this universal myth to awaken the Hero, the leader within us? When we take a closer look at different stages of the Hero Myth, we could plot ourselves at various places of the journey. Remember the first stage is the routine, boring, mundane life and the next is a call to do something different, bigger where you will have to stretch and fight the unknown. Are you here, in this stage now? What is stopping you from starting the journey? What happens to individuals before they cross their Rubicon? Are you on a stage where you are fighting challenges and obstacles? What are the resources and mental states that would allow you to cope with this stage of constant challenge? What would be some of the unconscious fears that you need to tackle at this stage?

By being aware of the journey and the steps, we could look for resources and support that we need to move step by step in our leadership and transformational journey. At certain stage we need a wise man to tell us what to do and at another stage we need to fight our inner fear.

In a nutshell the universal Hero Myth is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and becoming transformational leaders. Each one of us could use this model, pattern and design to create our leadership journey.

Santhosh Babu heads OD Alternatives focusing on transformations related projects, leadership development and CEO coaching.