Teaming Up For Success
At work, In life… you will come across these 4 archetypes.
When I first heard Nikos Mourkogiannis on Business Week’s “climbing the ladder” podcast titled “The Team’s Archetypes”, a thoughtful and inspiring talk on building the perfect team for a project, it was in 2008 and it is still relevant today.
(Update: The podcast is no longer available but Nikos blogpost on the topic is here. Read it, you must.)
In the podcast, Nikos talks about the need for having 4 types of people for every team — the Magicians, the Lovers, the Sovereigns and the Warriors — each with their own unique characteristics and strengths to attain success.
The Magicians are the dreamers, the innovators and the great communicators of ideas.
The Lovers are those who master the art of engagement, spread their love of the idea and get others to love and believe in the idea.
The Sovereigns are those independent rulers, the likes of kings and queens, who will show us the path to realizing that idea and who will inspire us to keep us going.
The Warriors are those who will take us through that path, who will lead the way through thick and thin, and will make the idea a reality.
So the obvious question is “Who am I?”.
The answer to this question may or may not be as obvious to you depending on the state of work-life you are passing through, how you fit it in, what you want to be and where you are headed.
When I asked this question 7 years ago, I was easily able to identify myself as the Warrior archetype aspiring to be a Sovereign. I was learning new tricks from a Magician, inspired by some Sovereigns and associated with many Lovers. We were all part of one team. We were all leaders in our own right.
Today, I am a Sovereign with the soul of a Warrior in transition, entering a new realm, an uncharted territory where new battles will be fought and won.
What’s your archetype?
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