Archetypes are power centers in the psyche of every male and female. There are four archetypes; The King, The Warrior, The Magician and the Lover. Each of these archetypes have a positive “healthy” side and a negative “unhealthy” side.
These power centers are “hard wired” into the psyche of every human being, whether male or female, that largely control or provide channels for our thought, speech and behavior.
A person who is aware of these archetypes is better able to relate to others. To lead, and follow leadership.

Archetypes manifest all around us. We are far more familiar with them than we might initially think. The King archetype, although seemingly archaic in a modern democracy, manifests itself in any position of authority over others, whether as President, chief executive officer, general, prime minister, or pope. The Warrior archetype can be seen in the soldier, police officer, martial arts master, or football hero. The Magician archetype is personified in the dazzling movie star or rock star.
Every healthy King, Warrior, Magician and Lover unfortunately has it's dark shadow sides, which are characterized by either total possession, or total dispossession, by the archetype. We all probably have personal experience with, or knowledge of a leader who is a tyrant or weakling (King/Queen shadows), Sadist/Terrorist or Masochist/Victim (Warrior Shadows), Manipulator or denying “Innocent” leader (Magician Shadows) and Addict or Impotent leader (Lover Shadows). It should be noted that the Shadow can be both positive and negative, that is, it can be about either our good qualities or our bad qualities that we hide, deny, and repress. The “golden shadow” is about our excellence that we refuse to acknowledge. However, for our purposes, the Shadow will only be considered in it's negative aspects.

If the King/Queen, Warrior, Magician and Lover are hardwired into our nervous systems, we are better off to be aware of them and to consciously develop them in their positive manifestations, than to deny, ignore or repress them and so let their Shadow forms unconsciously take over. In either case, the archetypes, like instincts are not going to go away.
A healthy person not only manifests all the archetypes in their positive form, she/he also keeps an appropriate balance between the King/Queen, Warrior, Magician and Lover so that they complement and fulfill each other. Qualities that one lacks are made up for by the other archetypes.

In these classes we will explore this balance.


Warrior  Week One

The leader holding the Warrior energy is a model of courage, discipline, and self control. She/He is not afraid to take risks. She/He is also a master of tactics and strategy, and so the risks are not uncalculated. She/He can easily size up a situation and assess both the strengths and weaknesses of his opponent and himself. His/Her self discipline and self control keep him going through every difficulty. She/He has endurance and does not tire easily. She/He inspires courage and discipline in those around him/her.
The Warrior leader keeps his/her mind alert. Alertness is a key trait of the Warrior. Nothing escapes his/her awareness. She/He notices every detail. She/He is assertive and yet adaptable. She/He knows when to attack and when to retreat.
In general, she/he tries to win by creating win-win situations or at least to sake the face of his/her opponent. She/He knows how to do healthy confrontation and aims at conflict resolution rather than going to war. She/he only goes into battle as a last resort and only cuts off and destroys what no longer serves the organization and the people it impacts.

The sadist leader on the other hand is cruel and merciless. She/He comprises every ethical principal in order to “win”. This may backfire for him/her in the long run, resulting in even greater aggression in the opponent, but he/she foolishly ignores the consequences.
He/she is completely possessed by the emotional detachment of the Warrior and so completely ignores the pain of others. The Sadist achieves this by objectifying others as “the enemy”. She/He consciously chooses to overlook any goodness in his/her enemy or any short coming in his/herself. She/he has no ideals, no vision and no cause other than his/her own gain. The Sadist loves torturing others as a sign of his/her power over them, and revels in unnecessary violence and destruction. She/he is constantly embattled and sees the world in simplistic black and white terms of “winners” and “losers”, “us” and “them”.

 Magician Week Two

In our culture, we think of a Magician as someone who entertains people with various tricks. However, it is not always so. Traditionally The Magician was next to the chief or ruler of the tribe in terms of power. In fact, he was often more powerful than the King, since he had the King's ear, the King trusted his wisdom and went to him for advice. Things were governed the way the Magician wanted them to be. The Magician aligned himself with the Higher Power/God/the Cosmos/The Eternal Order.

The leader holding the energy of the Magician is thus a highly spiritual man/woman. She/He considers his/her life work not as a “job” but more so as a “calling”. She/he practices the Tao of leadership. She/he seems to have some kind of secret knowledge or wisdom about the way things actually work, which is much deeper and more powerful than the average person's surface impression of things. The Magician leader is very right brained and intuitive. She/He listens to what his/her gut, instincts, and collective  unconscious is telling him/her. At times she/he cannot explain the rational basis for his/her decisions to his/her co workers, she/he simply has a feeling or intuition about what is the right thing to do.
The leader holding the magician energy is reflective and thoughtful. She/He has integrated his/her shadow (dark and light) into his/her psyche, so that she/he is aware when his/her ego, the false self rather than the true self, is starting to interfere with the healthy functioning of the organization. As with a Taoist, she/he also integrates the opposites, yin and yang, into himself and his leadership style. Like the Warrior, she/he knows the strengths and limits of himself and others. She/he knows when to act and when to “just be” and contemplate things. She/he can be soft or hard, depending upon what is appropriate to each situation. She/he is a healer, that is she/he brings about reconciliation between opposing sides. She/he strives for peace throughout the realm. The Magician is also a channel of energy and divine grace, restoring and transforming the health of that which has become corrupt or atrophied. She/He is thus seen as a miracle worker. She/He transforms the life of the organization and all who work for and are touched by it.

Lover Week Three

The Lover leader seeks emotional oneness with each person in the organization. She/He can be romantic and sensual with coworkers, but in a responsible and ethical way. She/He never violates anyone's physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual space. Although his/her sensual nature is evident, she/he puts appropriate boundaries around it. Everyone knows that she/he is committed to his/her spouse, or if she/he is single, she/he is involved with one person at a time. At the same time, with those she/he works with, she/he has a wonderful sense of humor, play, and enjoyment. She/He is fun to be around.

The leader holding the Lover energy also has a serious side. His/Her sensual nature and openness to everything and everyone may make him/her very sensitive and vulnerable. She/He senses the pain of the world and of others and embraces it. She/He is not interested in sympathy or pity toward others, since this is always a condescending stance, but rather the Lover feels with people, feels what they feel. Their pleasure, hurt, anger, fear or joy. She/He is compassionate. His/Her ability to feel what others feel motivates him/her to seek healing and justice for them. The Lover’s sensitivity also makes him/her very aware of the limitations of others, and so they are very forgiving if someone wrongs them. In general, she/he is very tolerant and accepting of the foibles of each human being, including his/herself.

The Addict leader on the other hand is characterized by unbounded sensuality. She/he is a sensual glutton, not knowing where to draw the line. She/he thus may become infatuated with co workers, seduce them and violate their physical, emotional, and moral boundaries. Even if she/he is not sexually involved, she/he tends to become emotionally enmeshed with those around him/her and is jealous or full of rage if his/her love object gives their attention to others. The Addict leader is insatiable for attention. Since there are no boundaries, there is a sense of “lost-ness” around him/her. The Addict leader may become financially irresponsible, using the organization’s money for his/her own luxurious living. Their sensual connection to everyone and everything without limits makes him/her fickle, undisciplined, narcissistic, and restless, and makes their life fragmented and chaotic. Life is a roller coaster ride of senses and emotions. Often she/he is addicted to food, alcohol, and/or drugs and does not take proper care of his/her body.

The Impotent Leader on the other hand, is emotionally sterile. His/Her disconnection from everything and everyone leaves him/her feeling isolated and lonely. His/her puritanical repression of all feeling results in a plat affect and sense of numbness. She/He lacks enthusiasm and imagination. Lack of engagement with life and lack of commitment to anything means that she/he is normally bored, listless and depressed.


King/Queen Week Four

The King/Queen leader rules with justice and fairness. The weak and the strong in the organization are given equal consideration by the King/Queen. She/He does not play favorites. Therefore, everyone in his/her realm feels protected and secure. The King is realistic about the social and economic pressures faced by the lowliest persons touched by his/her organization, and therefore feels compassion towards them.
The healthy King/Queen leader is physically, mentally and spiritually well, and prosperous in an ethical way, so creates ethical prosperity throughout the land/organization. The King/Queen's sovereignty is accepted throughout the Kingdom because although she/he is clearly in charge and the final authority, he is not authoritarian. She/He rules by respect and love rather than force.

The tyrant leader on the other hand is fearful and suspicious. She/He feels he must treat his/her subordinates in a condescending way, that is, she/he must constantly put them down, and rule by fear rather than love. She/He is disordered and un centered. His/Her priorities center around his/herself and his/her own prosperity, not that of the organization. She/He is threatened by the power of others and constantly fears a “palace coup” and so she/he must suppress, transfer, fire or otherwise “get rid of” all those who he perceives as a threat, She/He insensitively “right sizes” people. Thus he/she is death dealing rather than life giving.



Adapted from “The organization leader as king, warrior, magician and lover: How Jungian archetypes affect the way men lead organizations“, Article by Bruce Tallman