Serving Yourself to Serve Others: A Heroic Leadership Journey
Today I published my Lead Positive Profile with Bonnie Marcus, women’s success coach and author of The Politics of Promotion on my Psychology Today blog. In the profile, we tracked the evolution of Bonnie’s heroic journey from kindergarten teacher, to corporate executive, to entrepreneur and successful business coach. Here are some of the most inspirational quotes from her interview....
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Reflection and Anticipation
I believe leaders must be willing to embark on heroic levels of adventure if they are to make significant positive change in an upside-down world that demands organizational transformation, innovation and culture change.
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Now is the time to share what you learned
Having engaged all of your allies and emerged triumphant from the Supreme Ordeal, you the leader have come to the place you had only imagined at the start. You find a new culture developing, a new bold innovative business approach in progress.
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After Success, Four Ways To Keep The Momentum Going
You did it. You and your team set out to create change—whether it be implementing a new process, launching a new product, or transforming your organization’s culture—and you did it. Congratulations! But now what? Now you must find new ways to build on what has been achieved and extend the impact of what has been...
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And then you’ll hit rock bottom …
The Supreme Ordeal is a critical moment in any legendary story — we hold our collective breath as the hero, whom we have become invested in, appears to die but then is born again.
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Here’s where the adventure really begins
In the early stages of the heroic journey, you as leader will form a group of committed followers and then embark with them on an adventurous course fraught with peril and setbacks, but also ripe with great leaps forward.
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Facing Up To Your Darkest Leadership Moment (And Coming Out On Top)
As a leader, you will likely face many dark moments. One will stand as the darkest, and it will take your supreme resolve to shift away from the fear of failure toward a place of knowing that change can successfully be achieved. The Supreme Ordeal is the fifth phase of the Heroic Journey of the Leader.* This is the time...
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Stepping toward your imagined future
In this third phase of your heroic journey, your game-changing vision has such a powerful pull on your mind, heart and spirit that you will muster the courage to begin your epic journey. As a leader, crossing the threshold means leaving behind the status quo and starting the process of creating the changes you know are needed.
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Resistance is natural … and futile!
In myths and legends, heroes fight resistance of some kind. Joseph Campbell reminds us that heroes often resist the Call because they are facing the greatest of all fears — fear of the unknown. Usually, at this point heroes encounter a mentor or sage who offers advice and encouragement to help them counter the resistance. As the leader, the work required to instigate transformational change can seem daunting.
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How You Will Grow on Your Heroic Leadership Journey
The Journey is the fourth phase of the Heroic Journey of the Leader.* As you can imagine, it encompasses the majority of your adventure in terms of time and effort. As the leader, the challenges you encounter on your Journey will be the best problems you have ever had. Each setback will be an opportunity to eliminate what is...
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