🤸 The hero’s journey, 5 types of leaders people will follow, & taking a little walk

Hey — it’s Cristina & Jenni.

Each week, we share leadership reflections, resources, and laughs to help you excel in your role (+ have fun along the way).

As two tech leaders, we’re here to “lead in public” by sharing what we’re learning in our day-to-day roles, encouraging others to do the same, and learning and growing as leaders together.

Enjoy!

What we’re reflecting on this week

A few weeks ago, I was at a pub watching a soccer game with some friends.

At half-time, one of my friends started raving about the latest animated Spiderman film, and we got into a full-blown conversation about Marvel, the multiverse, etc… you know how it goes.

Naturally, I had to go watch the movie at a theater, and (on top of it being a great experience - highly recommend!) it got me thinking about heroes.

Does the name Joseph Campbell ring a bell?

Campbell was an American writer born in the early 1900s who - among other things - is famous for his book, The Hero's Journey.

Whether we're talkin' Disney or Dr. Seuss, Paramount or Paulo Coelho, we've seen the hero's journey a million times.

And we love it. We soak it up - seeing a bit of ourselves in the hero who’s called to adventure, faces various obstacles, fights their way through the challenges, and ends up on a path to success.

While we all want a taste of that hero glory, when it comes to leadership, heroism can be problematic.

The mistake leaders often make is that they see THEMSELVES as the hero in their team’s story.

Have you ever seen a leader:

🔴 take full credit for a great sales quarter?

🔴 talk 80% of the time during your 1:1?

🔴 make decisions that will benefit them more than the team?

🔴 use "I" way more than "we"?

(Yes to all of the above? I’d believe you 🙃)

Now, you also have your own career in mind and your own hopes and dreams - don’t get me wrong. But the point is that, in the context of your team, the better you can position your team members for success (at work and in life), the better off your team (and you!) will be.

Another way to look at this is transitioning from an "I" centered approach to a "we" centered approach, where you focus on finding ways to support and celebrate the team both as individuals and as a collective.

As a leader, ask yourself the following…

How can I:

🟢 support each team member as their mentor?

🟢 cheer them on as their sidekick?

🟢 remove obstacles as their guardian?

True leadership is helping others along their hero's journey.

→ Reflect on your past week. Were there moments you stepped into the hero role when you could’ve been the mentor? Sidekick? Guardian? How can you center your team members as the heroes in your team’s story?

What we’re learning this week

• ✍️ LI post: The 5 types of leaders people will follow – This post by Dave Kline pairs perfectly with our reflections this week. Have you ever worked for a leader who was all five?

• 🎙️ Podcast: The Knowledge Project Insights: Philosophy – In this roundup episode, Shane curates segments from six previous guests revolving around the topic of philosophy. These convos contain nuggets about controlling anger, achieving your goals, increasing happiness through gratitude, and more.

• 🖼️ Visual: Liz Fosslien map vs. compass – As always, Liz perfectly distills an important topic into a simple image. With change management frequently top-of-mind for many leaders, this is a nice reminder that sometimes what we need is just a general direction to get moving the right way.

What we’re enjoying this week

This is our new anthem for WFH happiness.

That’s it for this week — thanks for reading.

See you next Thursday! 🤸‍♀️