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LEADING HEROIC JOURNEYS:DRAWING ON THE WISDOM OF

CULTURES THROUGHOUT TIME

BY GORDON BARNHARTILLUSTRATIONS BY JIM BORGMAN

515 Terrace Avenue

Cincinnati, Ohio 45220

USA

513.221.0833

2008. Gordon Barnhart. All rights reserved

Leadership

Roles and

Strategies

Knowledge

of the

Heroic

Journey

HEALTHY

ORGANIZATIONS

AND COMMUNITIES

Answer

the

Call

Leadership

Web


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THE POWER OF SAYING YES

ANSWERING THE CALL TO LEAD

THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

THE FOUNDATION FOR LEADING

WITH CONFIDENCE

THE POWER OF CLEAR ROLES & STRATEGIES

THE WEB OF LEADERS & FOLLOWERS

Going Forth Together to Meet the Challenges of Our World

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4


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thePOWERoSAYING

YESANSWERING THE CALL TO LEAD

Gordon Barnhar

515 Terrace Avenue


USA

513.221.0833


Illustrations by Jim Borgman

Leadership

Roles and

Strategies

Knowledgeof the

Heroic

Journey

HEALTHY

ORGANIZATIONS

AND COMMUNITIES

Answer

the

Call

Leadership

Web


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THE POWER OF

SAYING YES

LIFES GREAT ADVENTURE

WHY ME? IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO

AND IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

THE LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE

IMPERATIVE

WHY THE HEROIC -A COMPLETE AND TRUSTWORTHY

MAP FOR LEADERS

WHY THE HEROIC

LIFE ENERGY AND ROLE MODELS

WHY THE HEROIC

VALUE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL

RECLAIMING OUR HEROISM

WHO ME YES, YOU.

SOMETIMES HEROIC

AND SOMETIMES NOT

THE HEROIC JOURNEY

THREE PARTS OF THE JOURNEY

WARNING THE THREEBARRIERS TO ACCEPTING

THE HEROIC CHALLENGE

THE HEROIC CHALLENGE

THE FOUR FORMS OF COURAGE

REQUIRED OF HEROIC LEADERS

LOSING HEART

ANSWERING THE CALL

SAYING YES

33

4

5

6

7

8

10

1112

13

16

18

20

21


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?

ANSWERING THE

CALL TO LEAD

GETTING IN THE GAME

We are called to do things o importance as well

as things o necessity. We are called to lead

and we are called to ollow. The calls are many,

they occur in dierent parts o our lives, they

are complex, they are dicult, and they are usu-

ally beyond the abilities o any one person. It is

very easy to reuse the call. The inherent ques-

tions are:

Will we answer the call?

What will we encounter?

What qualities will be required o us and

will we be ready and capable?

What roles must we play and what

strategies can we have condence in?

With whom will we lead and ollow?

On what oundation can we rely to see

us through?

LIFES GREAT ADVENTURE

For us as individuals, the heroic journey is the

great adventure o lie. Although usually told

on a larger than lie scale, it really is our story

The organizational and community journeys

o change in which we are involved join with

our personal and amily changes to provide

the opportunities or us to grow and discove

our , become more whole, wiser, more resilien

and truly alive. The heroic journey provides the

guidance or us as individuals just as it does o

our organizations and communities. We jus

have to say yes to the journeys.

The value o the heroic journey or leaders and

ollowers who are called to lead major change

is that it provides extraordinary guidance innding the answers

to these questions.

It provides guidance

in both understand-

ing what to expect

and why things hap-

pen as they do on the

journey. It also pro-

vides a ramework

or planning what to

do as well as how to

respond to events asthey unold.

WHY ME? IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO?

IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

I you are reading this you are probably experi

encing one or more o the ollowing:

You are heeding a call to go orth and do

something that is o major importance to you

and that will lead through signicant change

The call may have been your own internal voice

or an external voice or messenger to whom

you listened and responded. Regardless o

the voice, you are standing on the threshold

or have already embarked on a journey.

3

The challenge

will be to fnd

your call oropportunity even

in the midst o

having been

thrown into

change.

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You are fnding that you have been lured

intoa much bigger change than you at rst

thought and the journey is appearing to be

o a much more challenging nature than an-

ticipated. What may have looked like a small

change is much more challenging than it rst

appeared to be, is requiring more o you, andwill involve more endings and new beginnings

than at rst thought.

You have been thrown into a major change

by another person, a group, an organization,

or a community. It may not eel like your

choice, even i the envisioned outcomes are

desirable, but you are on a journey o major

change nonetheless. The challenge will be

to nd your call or opportunity even in the

midst o having been thrown into change.

You have blundered into a major change

challenge. This is an instance where a jour-

ney or going orth was really necessary,

but strongly resisted. The theory is that in

such cases, when the conscious sel will not

respond, the unconscious causes a person or

group to mess up, ail, start something unan-

ticipated, end up in crisis, or even be injured.

In some orm a blunder occurs to begin the

necessary journey or change process.

These are the our classic ways to begin a he-

roic journey (a major change). The changes

may be personal, amily, group, or-

ganizational or community in ocus

or they may be a combination. The

story ollows the same pattern in

each case and the key questions are

the same: Whats going on? and

What are we going to do about

it?

Your role or roles may also vary. At

times or in certain settings you may

be in a leadership role and at other

times or in other settings you may

be in the role o a ollower. Even in

the same change setting your role may shit

over time, although the qualities and charac-

teristics required or success in each role may

be surprisingly similar. Regardless o the par

ticular role, the heroic journey will t. It wil

provide a ramework or understanding wha

to expect on the journey as well as what to do

to successully lead or ollow.

THE LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE

IMPERATIVE

The challenges presented us by our world keep

changing. What worked beore in meeting

those challenges oten no longer works. Old

ways must be let behind and new

ways must be ound. We must con

sistently nd new levels o peror

mance in our organizations or risk

corporate decline or death. This is

not a new scenario, although it is one

that appears to be broader in scope

and more rapid than in the past. This

has always been true o our organizations as well as our communities

The degree o impermanence now

however, is changing the game dra

matically.

More people are called to lead (together). We

are being asked to perorm at high levels in

4

The heroic is the

level to which weneed to go to fnd

sufcient strength,

energy, wisdom,

and courage to

successully dealwith the amount

and rate o

change we ace

4

5

3

2


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5THE POWER OF SAYING YES

rapidly changing environments characterized

by shiting requirements. And we are usually

asked to do that in groups ranging rom a single

team to extraordinarily complex organizations

or communities.

Not only are the perormance demands risingor leaders, but more and more people are be-

ing called to lead. The challenges we ace re-

quire increasingly sophisticated webs o leaders

and eective ollowers.

We are Cheated o the Heroic. The truth is that

the heroic journey is whats required in cases

o major individual, group, organizational or

community change. Unortunately, the truth is

usually not told. The complexity and diculty

o change is undersold. People and what is re-quired o them are underestimated and, in re-

turn, people underestimate themselves and the

challenges and opportunities they ace. We are

thus cheated o the truth and cheated o our

possibilities.

The heroic is the level to which we need to go

to nd sucient strength, energy, wisdom, and

courage to successully deal with the amount

and rate o change we ace; socio-political

change, technological change, demographic

change, the globalization o the economy, envi-ronmental change, and the resulting corporate

and community changes.

Its our world our choice. Both the health o

the economy and the health o our social ab-

ric (rom local to world) are going to require a

signicantly dierent quality and quantity o

leadership and ollowership than we have yet

witnessed. The challenge is not or larger than

lie heroics, but the reclaiming o the heroic

journey as our story, the story o what is re-

quired o us in change. The heroic journey must

be embraced not only individually, but also col-

lectively and it must become the norm rather

than the exception.

We are, however, usually let with the impres-

sion that less will be sucient. We are also let

to go orth without adequate guidelines about

what to expect and what to do. We are let with

out the truth that would help us understand the

experience, choose how to deal with it, and be

come more complete human beings in the pro

cess.

WHY THE HEROIC?

A COMPLETE AND TRUSTWORTHY

MAP FOR LEADERS

What the heroic journey provides is a call to go

orth to do things worth doing, quests worth ou

eort and sacrice. It also provides guidance

about the path required, a path known by al

most all cultures throughout history. It provides

guidance, a sense o hope and anticipation, asks

or our best and it is ennobling by its very na

ture. It also provides common ground or col

lective action even among people with very di

verse backgrounds, styles, capabilities, gender

race or ethnicity. The path is known and others

have gone beore. The experience, however, i

dierent or each person and each challenge. I

is thus both universal and intensely personal.

The story o the heroic journey provides us with

the knowledge o what to expect as we go orth

as well as dening the leadership roles we need

to play and the strategies we need to execute. Ialso naturally calls or our best in playing those

roles. It provides us with the oundation blocks

on which to base our leadership. It shows us

what to expect, what the experience is likely to

be or us as leaders as well as or those who wil

ollow us.

1What We Can Expect

The Realities o Change

We can plan our journeys eectively.

We can prepare people to be successul.

We will rarely be surprised by events as

the journey unolds and can respond


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quickly to unoreseen events and needs.

We can act with condence and sureness

because we can see how our actions

match the requirements o the journey.

2 What We Can Do The Leadership Roles There are six leadership roles to be

played (Visionary, Architect, Catalyst,

Guide, Builder and Integrator)

Each role has three core strategies.

The Visionary and Architect roles are

played in the beginning (Act I o the

journey)

The Catalyst, Guide, and Builder roles

are played on the path (Act II)

The Integrator role is played in

completing the journey (Act II)

These roles can be played by people at

any level corporate, division,department, team and provide a

coherent common model around which

people can align.

3 How We Can Do It How to Play the Roles Leadership Webs.

In the heroic myths, heroes who go alone

ail. This is also true in corporate or

community change, which is why the

roles are played by an array o leaders

and leadership teams throughout the

organization. This leadership web

provides the reach, power and resilience

to complete the journey.

Our Signicance.

The heroic naturally calls us to lead and

ollow with a sense o our own purpose

and signicance not boasting, but

understanding that our actions make a

dierence.

Our Integrity.

The heroic also calls or us to lead and

ollow with integrity. Integrity that can

have two denitions: either (a) matching

our actions and our words and belies or

(b) being whole, complete or unbroken.

Beyond Sel.

In playing these roles we need to look

beyond ourselves, particularly to the

mission and our ollowers. We need to bewilling to sacrice or others - not being

reckless or sel destructive, but rom a

posture o seeing leadership as service,

not privilege.

Our Courage.

The leadership roles and strategies rely

on our orms o leadership courage the

courage to:

See and speak the truth

Create and champion a clear andspecic vision o the desired uture

Persevere and hold the course

Rely on others along the path

WHY THE HEROIC?

LIFE ENERGY AND ROLE MODELS

People in communities and organizations who

come alive through living heroically bring lieto the community or organization. That has

been one o the classic unctions o the hero, to

reinvest the community with lie energy or the

divine. For individuals whose lie energy is re

stricted and bound up in living inauthentic lives

healing and release can be triggered by those

living truly authentic lives, people living hero


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ically and truly being the authors o their lives.

Heroes may also be ounders or creators, per-

haps o grand things or perhaps o small ones.

The challenge in either case is the same; to

leave the known and comortable world and go

in search o the seed or germinal idea that canproduce that which is needed by the community

or organization. In

the classic journey it

is a matter o nding

the source o lie and

allowing the old to

die in order to be re-

born to a richer uller

way o being.

This is a more lyricaldescription than nor-

mal or organization-

al and community change, but it is completely

applicable. And more lyricism would probably

result in better outcomes.

The eect o a successul heroic journey is the

unblocking and release o the fow o lie or

creativity into the community or organization.

Even a journey that is disappointing in specic

outcomes can reinvigorate an organization or

community and bring it more ully alive.

Another critical unction o heroes is to provide

images or models around which people in the

community or organization can come togeth-

er. Heroes provide a pulling together orce

to counter the increasing orces pulling people

apart.

People acting heroically serve as role models,

modeling the best o the groups characteris-

tics, ideals to be pursued, and demonstrating

that the heroic is or us and not just or mythi-

cal gures. The weaknesses, mistakes, ailures,

and oibles o those acting heroically are oten

as instructive as their strengths and successes

and also serve to make the heroic human and

accessible.

WHY THE HEROIC?

THE VALUE FOR INDIVIDUALS

Adopting a heroic approach to lie provides a

path or ramework or exploring the basic chal

lenges o major change, whether individualgroup, organizational or community. Such an

approach is powerul because it is ennobling

and implicitly asks or our best, whatever tha

is at the time. This holds true or individuals

(or amilies) in the midst o a corporate or com

munity change or or the authorship o an indi

vidual lie.

Less than heroic dimin-

ishes the individual.

A less than heroic ap-

proach also asks too

little o the individual.

It does not digniy the

eort or give the mes-

sage that the individ-

ual can be ennobled

in the response. People oten nd too little o

themselves simply because they dont look o

enough - the usual messages blind them to the

possibilities.

The heroic journey is about searching or andmaniesting our best even i we dont know

what that might be until we stumble upon it. It

is about dening ourselves by how we relate to

external circumstances, the challenges we en

counter (What will I maniest today?). It does

not provide specic answers, but provides a

way to pursue those answers, including a way

to understand events and experiences and to

organize responses.

The structure o the heroic journey can provide

not only the proper perspective on the depth othe challenges, but also a ramework or think

ing about the experience, understanding wha

to expect, and choosing how to respond. It also

challenges the individual to avoid or reject being

a victim, even o imposed change, and choose

instead to take as much responsibility and ex

ercise as much infuence as possible in shaping

People oten

fnd too little

o themselvessimply because

they dont look

or enough

People in

communities and

organizationswho come alive

through living

heroically bring

lie to the

community ororganization


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?their experience. It is about reusing to be or

stay victimized.

The questions o lie. As individuals we all ace

a set o basic questions about our lives. We can

choose to answer or ignore them. The heroic

journey provides a setting or answering thesequestions as well as living out the answers. It

is always about what kind o a lie are we go-

ing to create. Contemplating these questions

is kind o like looking at the sun. You cant do

it or long and its oten best to look indirectly

you can clearly see the sun but dont get over-

whelmed.

Note: Sometimes a heroic journey

is about simple survival or getting

by. Other times it allows more direct

attention to these questions. Every

journey, however, will provide more

answers and lead to more maturity

and wholeness even the journeys

that dont bring the some o the out-

comes that are desired.

Who am I?

How should I lead my lie?

What is the nature o the universe and

what is my place in it?

What is my reason or being my purpose

in lie?

What are my gits and how do I bring

them to my amily, organizations or

communities?

The path is known. Throughout history in vir

tually every culture heroes have let known

worlds to venture into the unknown, ace trialsdiscover truths and revelations, experience var

ious deaths and rebirths and return bringing

something o value. Corporate and community

change requires the same venturing orth into

the unknown, the same trials and contests, the

death o certain things and the rebirth or birth o

others, and the return or arrival at a new state

o being. The heroic journey o the myths is

mirrored at the individual level in the midst o

corporate or community change and is the best

ramework or sel-management that we can

provide.

RECLAIMING OUR HEROISM

WHO ME? YES, YOU.

We are not strangers to the heroic journey, al

though it may seem strange to hea

that. The lie o each individual is

made up o many small (and some

times some very large) heroic jour

neys, each testing and developing us

in dierent ways. Throughout oulives we are called at various times

to go orth and do something o sig-

nicance that requires major change

o us.

At other times we are thrown into

journeys o change that we do not

The lie o each

individual is made

up o many small

(and sometimessome very large)

heroic journeys,

each testing and

developing us in

dierent ways


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choose. We may also be lured into journeys that

turn out to be much more challenging than we

could have anticipated. At still other times we

may blunder into a journey o change, making

some mistake or ailing at something that opens

surprising doors.

In our organizations we are called, and very

oten thrown, into major changes that all into

an impressive array o categories. Changes

include starting organizations, going through

rapid growth, downsizing or ending the lie o

organizations, merging with other organiza-

tions (including by acquiring them or being

acquired), and separating rom organizations.

The heroic journey can mean acing changes

in strategy, structure, roles, systems and tech-nologies, work processes, skills and compe-

tencies required, standards and expectations,

the nature o key relationships, career paths,

and even values and belies.

There are lots o people in a variety o roles

or whom the heroic journey has particular

importance. They may in leadership roles, ol-

lower roles or, most likely, in both roles. For

instance:

Executives senior managers

Middle managers and supervisors likely

to be caught in the middle o a change

Management teams

Project teams

Change managers

Change teams

And individuals in any position that may

be signicantly aected by a change

In our communities we are called to make a

dierence in an extraordinary range o issues.

For instance, we may be called to make a di-

erence in our educational system, the way we

govern ourselves, how we develop our youth

or how we maintain the health and well-being

o the people in our communities. We may

also be called to deal with issues o saety, jus

tice, economic health, neighborhood develop

ment, combating racism and other isms, o

caring or the environment.

As the denition o community gets larger

the issues become increasingly complex and

dicult, or instance the peaceul coexistence

among nations and groups and the develop

ment o a sustainable global economy.

There are many possible positions in com

munities that will call an individual to lead a

heroic journey. Some o the natural positions

are listed below.

People in positions o leadership within

government

People in positions o leadership in

community organizations

People who see a need and take action to

change something or create something

People involved in changes in service

provision that ends the identity or lie oorganizations, associations, ways o

doing things, etc.

People taking an activist role when

having no history o doing so

People conronting the norm(s) o a

group or community

Each o these roles could be expanded and

made much more specic, but these will serve

the purpose o illustration. They can range

rom local in scale to global. It will be eviden

that some o these roles or positions are or

mal leadership roles and some are not. They

all require the traversing o a heroic journey

sometimes in highly visible ways and some

times in almost anonymous ashion.

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Leadership atigue. As with most aspects o

major change, nothing is as simple as it looks.

Many people will look at the previous exam-

ples and say, Yes, but Im not only in one

o those roles, Im in our o those roles. It

is sae to expect a good deal o role overlap,

which is an increasingly common situation.Leadership atigue can set in i a person is in

too many leadership roles or an extended pe-

riod o time. This is another reason to ocus

on creating webs o leaders and ollowers,

so that the responsibility can be shared more

broadly.

SOMETIMES HEROIC

AND SOMETIMES NOT

Almost all o us, at various times in our lives,

have taken the risk to be heroic(we said yes

to the heroic journey). They were the times

when we were conronted by one o these chal-

lenges and responded in such a way that we

went orth rom our

known worlds or

comort zones into

unknown territory,

were tested, saw cer-

tain aspects o our

lives end and new

ones begin, and thus

came away signi-

cantly changed. We

also came away more mature and more whole

and with more to contribute, more to oer the

world, although some or many o the learnings

may have been bittersweet.

Those challenges may have been solely person

al or may have played out in amily, work, so

cial, or community settings. In many cases they

probably overlapped several o these settings.

At other times in our lives we were not heroic

Conronted by opportunities or major change

we did not respond by saying yes to the he

roic journey. We may have reused the oppor

tunity or the call, choosing to not take the risk o

leave our comort zone. We may have started

out strongly and been turned back by ears, de

spair, or mistakes or were simply worn down

beore completing the journey. I thrown into

a change, we may have taken the role o victimand made the best o it, which may or may no

have been very good.

Many o us have led changes where we have

called others to ollow or thrown them into a

journey. In some o those situations we have

probably ollowed our own heroic journey and

been able to guide others through the collective

journey, whether organizational or community

In other changes we probably did not choose

to ollow the heroic pattern and, consequently

could not truly guide others along the path.

Our experience as ollowers has probably been

similar. At times we have responded to a call o

chosen the heroic path even when thrown into

3

We are not talk-

ing about being

a grand hero,like the larger

than lie fgures

portrayed in the

classic myths


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the journey. We have actively supported (and

possibly challenged) those in leadership roles,

challenged and supported other ollowers, and

managed our own journey. At other times we

have also reused the call to go orth or perhaps

chosen to be more victim than author when

thrown or blundering into journeys.

Few, i any, o us can honestly say that we have

always lived heroically in our personal lives or

that we have always led collective change hero-

ically. The truth is probably that we have varied,

perhaps radically, in our approach to change,

whether in managing our own personal change,

ollowing others, or leading others.

THE HEROIC JOURNEY

Remember. We are not talking about being a

grand hero, like the larger than lie gures

portrayed in the classic myths. We are talking

about living and leading heroically, ollowing

the path o the heroic journey. We are talk-

ing about the little

h or daily heroism

that is required and

we have some very

powerul guides that

we can ollow.

The heroic journey

is the story o the

change or growth

process in its health-

iest orm. It is about

becoming increas-

ingly competent, mature, wise, resilient, and

able to meet the shiting challenges o the world.

Almost all cultures have their own versions o

the heroic journey to educate their members

about whats required or the health o the com-munity as well as individuals.

The Rewards. The rewards are many. In addi-

tion to increased competencies, wisdom, resil-

ience and condence, those ollowing the path

o the heroic journey serve as models or their

groups and inuse those groups with lie ener-

gy. Groups and communities become stronger

and better prepared or the next journey. Even

when journeys arent completely successul

most o the rewards can still be realized to a

large degree.

The Tests. The heroic journey is a time o end

ings and beginnings and o the dicult terrainin between (inbetweenity). We may nd tha

our tests are physical, intellectual, emotional, o

spiritual and that our changes are, consequent

ly, in one or more o those areas. Dierent jour

neys pose dierent challenges and opportuni

ties.

Some o the tests will be dealing with mistakes

and ailures; avoiding the seductive lure o tak

ing the easy way out; dealing with uncertainty

doubt, and perhaps despair; and nding sourceso energy and renewal along the way.

Heroes Dont Go Alone. Few (i any) people

who cross the threshold have to ace the trials

and tests alone, although the heroic journey is

ultimately an individual one. On almost all jour

neys there are helpers o various sorts who can

provide direction, tools, challenge, encourage

ment, and coaching in coping in the new envi-

ronment.

I alert, we may nd companions with whom we

can travel or parts o our journey. Other char

acterstricksters, jokers, allies, enemies, oppo

nents, and suchmay also be encountered.

It is about

becoming

increasingly

competent,

mature, wise,resilient, and able

to meet the shit-

ing challenges o

the world.


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THREE PARTS OF THE JOURNEY

The heroic journey plays out in three distinct

acts. Each act comes with its own challenges

and opportunities.

Act I Beginnings. The classic heroic journey

begins with the crossing o a threshold, leaving

a known world or comort zone. We may heeda call, be thrown into the journey, be lured in,

or blunder in. The rst challenge is getting past

the guardians o the threshold. The guard-

ians are inner doubts or external orces that try

to turn us back right at the beginning. They are

the rst test.

Many journeys are ailures because we neve

really leave the known world we leave a oo

on either side o the threshold. We never truly

let go and, thereore, can never really discove

the new truths, the revelations, and the new lie

that are possible.

Act II - On the Path. When we do cross the

threshold and move through the land that lies

on the other side we are aced with tests and

trials that usually require new or altered ways

o perceiving, thinking, relating and acting. For

our organizations and communities we also

see changes in structure, processes, roles,

technologies and even strategies or compet-

ing or lie or position. What worked beoreneeds to be honored, but may no longer be

eective and may even be counter-productive

or dangerous.


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Act III Completions. For those who success-

ully meet the challenges o the journey the

nal phase is some orm o return or comple-

tion. We return with the gits that we have

discovered, whether new knowledge or truths,

new abilities, new ways or technologies, or

new opportunities.

The heros return may be the most dicult

part o all. The heroic individual or group will

be changed and that will require changes in

others, or it will change the nature o relation-

ships and alignments o various kinds. Those

changes can ripple out in many directions and

or long distances. The gits o the hero can

easily threaten the status quo. Again, this is

as relevant or communities and organizations

as it is or individuals. Heroic individuals orgroups must approach the completion o a

journey with their eyes open.

WARNING! BARRIERS

TO ACCEPTING THE

HEROIC CHALLENGE

We have lost sight o the act that the heroic

journey is our story as human beings. The

relevance o heroism or most people, their abil

ity to see themselves as heroic in any signican

way, has been severely limited by how it has

been portrayed in myths, stories, and the popu

lar media.

There are three common portrayals o the hero

ic journey that have been particularly limiting:

Larger than Lie Portrayals. Seeing the he

roic as the grand event or achievement o

as restricted to larger than lie gures.

Aw Shucks. The Aw Shucks phenom

enon and the individuals collusion with the

group to diminish the heroic

Excluding the Feminine. The portrayal o

heroism rom an almost totally classica

masculine perspective (conquering,

slaying, deeating, rescuing damsels,

acquiring, etc.)

The result is to make it exceptionally dicul

or many people to personally relate to heroism

and the heroic journey. Our story has been

taken rom us and we need to take it back and

enrich it in order to meet the challenges that lie

is presenting to us. It is not about being a grand

hero, but about living heroically.

#1 BARRIERThe Larger than Lie Portrayalo the Heroic

Real heroes are not the gods and demi-

gods o mythology. The adventures o

those gures are told in larger than lie

scale because it makes or a better story.

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It makes or a better story around the camp-

re and it certainly sells more books and

movie tickets.

But the story o the heroic journey is really

our story. The gods, demigods, and action

heroes, are us. The heroic journey is achallenge beore all o us, though not all o

us will answer the call or respond heroically

when thrown into a journey. Their jour-

neys may be grand and public, while most

(but not all) o our journeys will be small-

er and quieter and less public. The story,

however, will have the same orm.

Part o the necessary challenge o reclaim-

ing the heroic journey as our story is over-

coming this larger than lie telling o thestory, our own discomort with living hero-

ically, and the skeptical responses o others.

Our challenge is to make the heroic much

more common in accepting it ourselves and

encouraging others to go with us on the

journey.

#2 BARRIERThe Aw Shucks PhenomenonThis is the deceptively eective barrier.

Aw shucks, Im not heroic has been a

common reaction o people when asked to

apply the concepts o heroism to their own

lives. Many people have a great deal o

trouble seeing the heroic elements o their

lives.

There is a scarcity theory in regard to

heroism, which says that we can only have

a ew heroes because heroism isnt or

everyone. Heroism, however, is a challenge

that is open to everyone even i many peo-

ple requently do not accept the challenge.

There are ar more heroes in every organi-

zation and community than we credit.

Hiding From the Heroic Challenge

Aw shucks is a way to hide rom the chal-

lenge. When challenged, this aw, shucks

it couldnt be me approach to heroism

appears to be less o an indication o hu-

mility than it is a way to avoid taking the

journey, o directly taking responsibility

or heeding or ignoring the call. There is,

however, the legitimate danger o othersseeing our stance o trying to live heroically

as sel-glorication or being better than.

Their responses o who do you think you

are? or youre no hero can reinorce our

own uneasiness with being heroic and can

undermine the journey even at the begin-

ning. It is oten hard to remember that such

responses are refections o others discom-

ort with the prospect o the heroic journey

and the implicit challenge o our own heroic

journeys.

Colluding With Others to Avoid the Heroic

The barrier o the individual aw shucks

response is magnied by the collusion

between society and individuals. In that

collusion (usually unconscious), which is

designed to suppress the heroic approach

to lie, each party gains in comort - or so it

seems at rst glance - but loses in creativ-

ity, power, and eectiveness.

What society gets out o this collusion isthat institutions and systems - the status

quo - are not threatened by many people

acting creatively and powerully, taking

risks, and bringing about change. Change

may be required or the health o the insti-

tution or community, but there is always

resistance to those trying to bring it about.

What individuals get out o this collusion

is the avoidance o taking ull responsibil-

ity or their lives and their choices. This

does not mean that individuals dont have

the impulse to ollow the heroic path to

ull maturity and wholeness just that hu-

man nature comes with this rst test to be

passed on the heroic journey.

One counter to this collusion is a question

asked in dierent traditions in dierent


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ways, but is essentially, I not me/us, then

who and i not now, then when?

Remember

The heroic myths are grand and our own

heroism is mostly, though not always,lived out in our daily lives and seems

unremarkable in comparison.

The heroic myths tell about occasional

journeys and our own journeys are

surprisingly requent and even

overlapping at times.

Most o the heroic gures in the myths

are larger than lie whereas we, with

some exceptions, are ordinary peopledoing what we need to do to make a

dierence.

#3 BARRIERThe Exclusion o Womenand the Feminine

The traditional telling o the heroic jour-

ney is rom an overwhelmingly masculine

perspective. In the traditional telling heroesgo orth aggressively to conquer, to kill, to

rescue, to ght, to deeat, to dominate. In

short they go orth to have power over oth-

ers. This makes or exciting stories, but it

obscures not only the eminine aspects o

lie, but also the real purpose and message

o the heroic journey.

Men are Aected Also.

This phenomenon not only tends to exclude

women, but also tells men that qualities

that are seen as primarily eminine are not

or them and are not to be included in their

heroic quest. This simply makes no sense

or a journey that is about the search or

wholeness and integration and complete-

ness.

The Increasing Need or Feminine Qualities

The exclusion o the eminine in portrayals

o the heroic is increasingly dysunctional in

a world that more and more requires quali-

ties that are traditionally seen as eminine.

It can be argued that previous environ-

ments required characteristics o heroes

that were more masculine, or instancedirect, aggressive, oten violent action that

was individually ocused.

Todays environment, however, clearly

requires new characteristics and an integra-

tion o traditionally eminine and masculine

traits. There is a growing need or this inte-

gration o qualities and competencies that

are usually considered to be more eminine,

or instance the ability to orm and maintain

relationships and to act in a collective man-ner, being open and receptive, or the abil-

ity to quietly persevere with patience and

determination.

Another set o qualities and competencies

could include a strong ocus on lie; the

ability to create, to nurture and care or,

to develop, and to protect lie. Emotional

competency and the ability to attend to the

emotional lives o others is yet a third set o

characteristics that needs to be integrated

into how we look at heroism.

Its About Wholeness

Kathleen Noble, in The Sound o a Silver

Horn, also addresses questions o dier-

ences and similarities. In a chapter titled

Toward a New Mythology o Heroism

she conronts the need or wholeness or

completion rom the standpoint o the

emale hero. Not surprisingly, this attention

to integration or usion is just as applicable

or men.

...she must use the best attributes o

emininity and masculinity and so create

a new archetype o heroism that speaks to

both women and men. This usion would

make her: independent without being

alienated; courageous without being

contemptuous o the weak; powerul


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The Heroic Challenge or Followers

For ollowers the challenge is to take ull per

sonal responsibility or their actions and choic

es, understanding and accepting the impact o

those choices and actions on others, including

those leading. This is a natural consequence o

being part o the required web o leaders and

ollowers. The responsibility naturally ollows

the signicance o the role.

The challenge or ollowers includes such tests

as accepting and acilitating empowerment, be

coming partners with others in the web o lead

ers and ollowers, taking considered risks, making the leap o aith to trust and the eort and

commitment to be trustworthy, and to exert the

extra eort required. The tests also include be

ing honest and orthcoming in communicating

outward and in providing eedback, providing

support and guidance and care to others as wel

as taking care o onesel. Part o the authorship

and partnership is in sharing in the shaping and

championing o the purpose and design o the

organization and being willing to wisely sacri

ce or the greater good.

For both leaders and ollowers a prooundly im

portant aspect o the heroic challenge is the abil

ity to act rom three sources o power: a sense

o signicance, a sense o integrity and the will

ingness to look beyond ourselves and sacrice

when necessary or the others.

without dominating or exploiting others;

rational without suppressing or abandoning

eeling and intuition; autonomous within

interconnected, interdependent, and equal

relationships; nurturing without denying

or sacrifcing her own needs; and androgy-

nous without compromising the bestattributes o emaleness but afrming the

wholeness inherent in all. (p. 194)

It is clearly not an either/or question, but

one o completing the person o the hero to

incorporate both masculine and eminine

characteristics. This is not an indictment

o old myths nor a statement that the older

orms are no longer relevant. In many

cases, or men and or women, the more

traditional and more masculine heroic pat-tern is the one that is required. In many,

and an increasing number o cases, howev-

er, the traditionally masculine model alone

is just not what is required. It is simply not

adequate.

THE HEROICCHALLENGE

For both leaders and ollowers the heroic chal-

lenge is a dual one: conducting their own in-

ternal journeys as well as playing their part

in the journey o the group. Both leaders and

ollowers are inherently challenged to manage

themselves in order to play eective roles in the

leadership web.

The Heroic Challenge or Leaders

For those o us leading a major change the chal-

lenge is to be worthy o ollowers; their belie,

hope, trust, personal investment and eort, their

sacrice, and the risks they take regarding job,

career, amily, and place in the world.


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Honoring Our Signifcance

It is much easier to meet the heroic challenge or

leaders or or ollowers, easier to nd our best,

i we have a sense o signicance. This does

not mean sel-glorication or hubris, but rather

an honest sense o our gits and the dierence

we make. When we understand the value that

we add, it gives meaning to our actions. It alsohighlights the consequences o our actions or

our lack o action. We are then challenged to

honor our signicance through our behavior. It

is our git and it naturally makes demands on

us.

Acting with Integrity

People have oten asked, Isnt the heroic jour-

ney really about integrity? The answer is

yes. The heroic journey is about deepening

sel knowledge, discovering our purpose and

the dierent aspects o ourselves and integrat-ing those parts, becoming whole. That happens

as we discover who we are and match our be-

havior to that understanding. It happens over

the course o multiple journeys, the spiral o

journeys that we experience in a lie. The bene-

ts o previous journeys are brought to the next

journey as we create our lie.

The same principles and concepts can be ap

plied to groups, organizations, and communi

ties as they discover who they are and strive

to match their behaviors and cultures with tha

understanding.

The basic reality o the heroic journey and itsunction or people, both individually and col

lectively, matches the dictionary denitions o

integrity very closely: The state or quality o

being complete, whole, entire, unbroken, sound

To integrate means to make whole or complete

by adding or bringing together parts, to uniy.

Stephen L Carter, in his book Integrity, agrees

but also sees integrity reerring to a sense o

right and wrong and a matching o behaviors to

those belies. He sees integrity requiring threesteps: (1) Discerning what is right and what is

wrong; (2) acting on what you have discerned

even at personal cost; and (3) saying openly tha

you are acting on your understanding o righ

and wrong. (p. 7)

Looking Beyond Sel

There is a moral aspect to the heroic journey

and that centers on the willingness and ability

o the leader to think beyond themselves, to be

willing to sacrice or others or or principles

This is the dierence between heroes and pirates, adventurers or terrorists. They may al

have courage, be willing to take risks, be talent

ed, learn rom experience, have vision, and be

successul, but they are not the same.

Heroism will inevitable involve sacrice. Sacri

ce can be dened as giving up something o

something o greater value. In a way sacrice

is like net prot. It requires a cost, but results

in more benets. It diers rom loss in that loss

may simply be the giving up o something. The

heros sacrices and acts have traditionally rein

vigorated the community, re-inusing the divine

or lie energy.


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THE FOUR FORMS OF

COURAGE REQUIRED

OF HEROIC LEADERS

Courage is rightly esteemed the frsto human qualities because it is the

quality which guarantees all others.

Winston Churchill

In leading heroic journeys there are our orms

o courage upon which leaders can draw. These

orms o courage are both challenging and

sources o great power. They are natural chal-

lenges in leading journeys o change and cannotreally be avoided without signicant damage to

leadership credibility. At the same time, when

leaders accept the challenge and draw on these

sources o power, journeys are usually success-

ul.

Courage is the quality or characteristic that is

most oten called upon in major journeys o

change. Courage comes rom Latin and French

roots, meaning heart. In its simplest orm it

has to do with an attitude or response o acing

or engaging with something that is perceived asdangerous, painul, or dicult. Courage is not

the absence o ear or anxiety, but the willing-

ness to move ahead in spite o it.

Courage can come in many orms, but there are

our orms that are at the heart o the ability to

meet the heroic challenges posed or leaders

and ollowers. Each may be obvious, but the

depth o courage required is surprising. They

are also linked and support each other. They

also rely on each other, or none will have mucho an eect without the others.

THE COURAGE TO SEE AND

SPEAK THE TRUTH

Seeing the truth can result in some very uncom-

ortable eelings, including eeling the need to

act, anger at a situation or group, eeling pow

erless or eective or alone in the ace o issues

being araid o how others might respond, etc

Speaking the truth makes a person or group vis

ible to others, challenges others, and is a orm

o commitment by stepping out o the shadows

Many people do not want to see or hear the truthand truth-tellers are oten not welcome.

Seeing and speaking the truth also has some

extraordinary benets, but they are not realized

unless sucient courage is present. Those ben

ets can include eeling authentic rather than

living a lie, increased vitality due to acting and

living consciously and not needing to be de

pressed to avoid seeing the truth, etc.

There are risks, there are dangers and there arecosts to pay. But there are extraordinary re

wards to be gained and there are, in many cas

es, ar higher risks or not nding the courage to

see and speak the truth.

Lie shrinks or expands inproportion to ones courage.

Anais Nin

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THE COURAGE TO

CREATE AND HOLD FORTH

A VISION OF THE DESIRED

STATE

This sounds easy, but it is not. Creating a vi-sion o the desired state requires stating what

is desired and, thereore, what is not desired. It

involves making choices and commitments and

saying yes to some things and no to many

things. Many o those choices will be conus-

ing, involve many points o views, lack su-

cient data to point to a clear answer, and touch

on values, preerences, and belies that may be

extremely important to people.

Creating a vision o a desired state also implieschange rom current reality and, thereore,the

inevitable endings/losses, ears, uncertainties,

and doubts o the change process. It also shows

the gap between current reality and the desired

state and that gap is oten very dicult to live

with.

The question then becomes, Do we hold on to

the vision and let go o current reality or hold on

to current reality and let go o the vision? The

tension that is naturally created by the gap will

resolve one way or the other.

Holding orth the vision o the desired state

means providing something to be held account-

able or, states what an individual, group, orga-

nization, or community stands or, and deepens

the commitment to it, which can be painul when

progress is not being made or the transition e

ort ails.

Heroism is not just aboutfnding a new truth, but

also having the courage toact on that vision

Carol Pearson,

Awakening the Heroes Within

THE COURAGE TO

PERSEVERE AND HOLD

THE COURSE

Getting rom current reality to the desired real

ity at the end o a journey is usually a relatively

long process and one that never goes smoothly

It is messy at times, is ull o uncertainty and

doubt, involves all kinds o unoreseen actors

and events, takes a great deal o energy, involve

mistakes and ailures, gets very conusing and

disorienting at times, and costs more resources

(rom human to nancial) than anticipated.

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It is oten impossible to know exactly what is

going on, exactly what to do about it, and what

the consequences are going to be. The un-

known is a requent companion. Oten the

only thing that leaders o change can hang onto

is the courage to persevere, to keep putting one

oot in ront o the other, to reuse quit, and tokeep nding ways to reorient and renew the e-

ort (and themselves).

Courage is more exhilaratingthan ear and in the long run it

is easier. We do not have to become heroesover night. Just a step at a time, meeting

each thing that comes up,seeing it is not as dreadul as it

appeared, discovering we have the strengthto stare it down.

Eleanor Roosevelt

THE COURAGE TO

COLLABORATE WITH, AND

RELY ON, OTHERS

Collaborating with others is always a leap o

aith. Depending on others over whom werarely have control, or success when it matters

is never easy. Will they have what we need?

When we need it? Will we measure up when

they need us? Who will play which roles, exer-

cise what infuence and add what value? Who

will benet rom the collaboration and how?

Will collaboration take too much time? Will we

get the innovation we need or will we get lowest

common denominator outcomes?

Those are tough questions when important mat-

ters are on the line. Because o the potential con-

sequences, positive and negative, the courage

to make the leap o aith to trust and collaborate

with others must be joined with the skill to col-

laborate eectively or courage easily becomes

oolishness. A lot o us have had disappointing

experiences with collaborative eorts and know

that we need to have the right partners with the

right understandings and the right skills. Bu

the key is the courage to invest in and rely on

others to really make a dierence.

This is not a new or trendy truth. Heroes have

never gone alone and been successul in the

myths, nor do leaders go alone in corporateor community change and achieve sustainable

outcomes. We are truly interdependent on the

journey, whether we like it or not. So we eithe

nd the courage and skill to depend upon, and

support, others or we simply wont have the

reach and the power and the resilience to sus

tain the eort.

LOSING HEART

Heroes, however, do not leave known worlds

travel the trail o tests, and reach c o m

pletion without at times losing their courage. I

just isnt human. This is one o the reasons why

heroes do not go alone. Sometimes courage is

recovered without help, but oten it is the inter

vention, support or belie o others that enables

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us to rediscover our courage. At other times it

is a matter o acting courageously even when

the eelings o courage just arent present.

Some days it is a heroic actjust to reuse the paralysiso ear and straighten up

and step into another day

Edward Albert

ANSWERING

THE CALL

SAYING YES

The heroic is being asked o us by our organi-

zations and our communities. Not on a grand

scale, but on a daily and a personal scale. It

may play out at work or in communities rom

neighborhoods to our global community. It is

also the great story o creating a worthwhile

and rewarding lie. We can say yes or we can

say no or we can pretend we didnt hear the

call.


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Gordon Barnhar

515 Terrace Avenue


USA

513.221.0833


Illustrations by Jim Borgman

thePOWERoKNOWLEDGE

THE FOUNDATION FOR LEADINGWITH CONFIDENCE

Leadership

Roles and

Strategies

Knowledgeof the

Heroic

Journey

HEALTHY

ORGANIZATIONS

AND COMMUNITIES

Answer

the

Call

Leadership

Web


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DenialAngerBargainingDepressionAcceptanceGuidelines or LeadershipEndings and Creation OverlapACT II: THE CHALLENGEOF MASTERY 16Lie Giving Creation and MasteryCreationNew DiscoveriesLearning and MasteryBarriersModels o MasteryThe Mastery Force-FieldLearning to Love the PlateauThe Inevitable Perormance Dips

and Senior Management Psychosis

ACT II: THE CHALLENGEOF BEING IN-BETWEEN 20Encountered Dynamic TensionsThe Known and UnknownOrder and Disorder

Place and DisplacementConnection and DisconnectionHope and Belie and Doubt and DespairExcitement, Anticipation, Fear, and AnxietyMeaning and Loss, or Lack or MeaningOrientation and DisorientationIntegration and DisintegrationACT III: COMPLETINGJOURNEYS: INTEGRATINGAND EMBEDDING 23The Central Test at the Completion

o Journeys

The Impact on Others and Their OtenSurprising Responses

The Four Classic Responses o OthersEasing the Return Preparing the WayFitting Everything Together Alignment

and Attunement

Knowledge o the Journey DontLeave Home Without It

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 3OVERVIEW OF THEHEROIC JOURNEY 3The RewardsAct I: BeginningsAct II: On the PathThe TestsHeroes Dont Go AloneAct III: CompletionsBASIC PRINCIPLES OFHEROIC JOURNEYS 5Always Two Journeys or Individuals

An Internal and an ExternalWe Spiral Through JourneysPersonal Levels o Challenge (PIES)Ripple EectsThe Scale o TestsPositive and Negative TestsTHE HEROIC JOURNEY A STORY IN THREE ACTS 8The Five Challenges at the

Heart o the Journey

ACT I: BEGINNINGS GOING FORTH 8How Journeys Begin. It Matters a LotHeeding a CallBeing Thrown Into a JourneyBeing Lured Into a JourneyBlundering Into a JourneyThe Nature o ThresholdsGuardians o the Threshold and

the Reusal o the Journey

Dancing Around the ThresholdACT II: THE CHALLENGEOF ENDINGS 12The Essential EndingsAnticipatory LossSacrice Vs. Simple LossManaging the Stages o Dealing

with Endings



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3THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Part One:Setting The Stage

Knowledge is Power

There are two reasons to pay attention to the reali-

ties o the heroic journey.

1. As leaders, this is the path we will travel and

the tests we will encounter personally and in

our leadership roles. The heroic journey tells

us what we can expect as well what leadership

roles to play and the strategies that make them

work. It also provides guidance in managing

our selves so that we can eectively lead others.

2. This is the path that we will be asking our

ollowers to travel. We need to be ready to

orient and prepare them or these experiences

so that they can sel-manage as well as possible.

By bringing this base o knowledge to our

ollowers it also helps them understand how we

are leading and makes it easier or them to align

with us and each other.

Knowledge is truly power and power is required rom

the beginning to the end in journeys o change. That

power needs to be exercised by a surprisingly large

number o people who are aligned in their eorts.

This is power with vs. power over as part o the

Leadership Web.

The old phrase, Power corrupts and absolute power

corrupts absolutely, is a wise warning, but its oppo-

site is much more in play in the heroic journey. On

journeys o change a lack o power will corrupt lead-

ership eorts and result in an unsuccessul journey.

In the case o knowledge as power, a lack o knowl-

edge about what to expect and what to do can leave

people earul, hesitant, uncertain, reactive, oten

passive, mistrustul and resistant in general.

On the other hand, with sucient people prepared

well the likely scenario is one o more excitementthan anxiety, more trust than mistrust, a posture o

sel-management vs. dependence, an investment

o sel vs. withholding, and an increasing sense o

condence and esprit de corps as challenges are met

and overcome.

Overview ofthe HeroicJourney

The heroic journey pro-

vides a trustworthy map

or leaders. It is the story

o change and growth in

its healthiest orm. It is

about becoming increasingly

competent, mature, resilient,

and able to meet the shiting

challenges o the world. Almost

all cultures have their own versions

o the heroic journey to educate their

members about whats required or the health o the

community as well as creating meaningul lives. The

journey plays out in three acts.

3

The

heroicjourney is

the story o

change and

growth in its

healthiest

orm.

thePOWERo

KNOWLEDGE


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The Rewards

In addition to achieving increased competencies,

wisdom, resilience and condence, when we ollow

the path o the heroic journey we serve as models

or our groups and inuse those groups with lie

energy. Groups and communities become stronger

and better prepared or the next journey. Even when

journeys arent completely successul, most o the

rewards can still be realized to a surprisingly large

degree. Most o us can look back on experiences

that werent particularly successul, but rom

which we grew in important ways.

One o the reasons that the long

term benets are so important

is that the heroic journey is a

cyclical or spiral experience.As individuals and orga-

nizations we go through

multiple journeys over

the course o a lietime.

Each journey, thereore,

builds on past journeys

and sets the stage or

uture journeys.

Act I: Beginnings

The classic heroic journeybegins with the crossing o a

threshold, leaving a known world or

comort zone. We may (a) heed a call to

go orth, (b) be thrown into the journey, (c) be lured

in, or (d) blunder in. The rst challenge is getting

past what are called the guardians o the threshold.

These guardians take the orm o such things as inner

doubts or external orces that try to turn us back right

at the beginning. They are the rst test and chal-

lenge our readiness and worthiness to go orth.

Many journeys have the seeds o ailure sown rightat the beginning because we never really leave the

known world we leave a oot on either side o the

threshold. We can, thereore, never really discover

the new truths, the revelations, and the new lie that

are possible. Beginnings matter a lot.

Act II: On the Path

When we do cross the threshold and move through

the land that lies on the other side we are aced with

tests and trials that usually require new or altered

ways o organizing ourselves in groups, thinking,

relating and acting. What worked beore needs to be

honored, but may no longer be eective. Old pat-

terns and approaches may even be counter-produc-

tive or dangerous.

The Tests

The heroic journey is a time o endings and begin-

nings and o the dicult terrain in between. We may

nd that our tests are physical, intellectual, emotiona

or even spiritual and that our changes are, conse-

quently, in one or more o those areas. Dierent

journeys pose dierent challenges and opportunities

and result in dierent areas o growth.

The journey will oten require letting go o many,

though certainly not all, old ways in order to give

birth to the new. For instance, even a change in one

key process in an organization can require comple-

mentary changes in roles, skills, relationships, tech-

nologies, physical space or equipment. It can also

aect a persons sense o identity, place or the mean-

ing and satisaction ound in their work.

A second set o challenges and tests, oten the most

deceptively dicult, takes the orm o discovering

new ways and persevering in mastering the skills

they require. The challenge o mastery may be the

single biggest, and least appreciated, o the tests

on a journey. A third set o tests will involve dealing

with the uncertainty, occasional disorientation, and

ambiguity o the land between endings and begin-

nings (inbetweenity). Helping people stay oriented

and balanced and connected is central to success in

dealing with this in-between state.

Heroes Dont Go AloneFew (i any) o us who cross the threshold have to

ace the trials and tests alone. On almost all journeys

there are helpers o various sorts who can provide

direction, tools, challenge, encouragement, and

coaching to better cope with the new environment.

The

chal-

lenge o

mastery may

be the single big-

gest, and least

appreciated, o

the tests on a

journey


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These supporters come in many orms rom amily

members and colleagues to various advisors and vet-

erans o the heroic journey who share their wisdom

and encouragement. Actively developing a support

network o these helpers is a critical task in manag-

ing ourselves to lead others.

Act III: CompletionsWhen we successully meet the challenges o the

journey the nal phase is some orm o return or

completion. We return with the gits that we have

discovered, whether new knowledge, new abilities,

new ways o working and relating or new technolo-

gies. That triggers the nal set o challenges.

The heros return may be the most dicult part o

all. Whether individually or as a group, we will be

changed. That will require changes in others, or

it will change the nature o relationships and align-

ments o various kinds. Those changes can ripple

out in many directions and or long distances. The

gits o the hero can easily threaten the status quo.

Once again, this is as relevant or communities and

organizations as it is or individuals. We must ap-

proach the completion o a journey with our eyes

open. In act, we should have been preparing to deal

with this ripple eect rom the middle o the journey

as soon as we could project the likely ripples o our

emerging changes.

Basic Principles ofHeroic JourneysAlthough every heroic journey will be unique, there

are some principles that are common to all journeys

and add some interesting dimensions to the basic

story just described. Six principles are presented

here and each will be a actor in every journey. Each

will oer leadership a potential edge in understand-

ing their own experience as well as that o those who

ollow and, thus, guidance in how to respond.

1. Always Two Journeys or anIndividual an Internal andan External Journey

The tests on a heroic journey or any individual will

be both internal and external and those two types

may be prooundly dierent. This is why there are

really two journeys to manage. The external journey

will relate to the changes underway in the organiza-

tion or community. We may be leading or ollowing,

but we will be engaged in all the elements o theclassic heroic journey. We will also see changes in

ourselves as we traverse that external path.

Some external journeys precipitate big internal

journeys o change and some only precipitate little

changes, but there will always be something going

on or us personally. And there will always be oppor-

tunities or us to grow and become more mature and

whole i we pay attention.

Even when the external journey is disappointing or

ull o loss, the internal journey may be richly reward-

ing, particularly in the long run. We dene ourselves

by how we respond to the external challenges and

can, thereore, build new skill sets and dene our

character and best qualities - even in an unsuccessul

external quest.

The external challenges are usually more obvious

and get most o the attention, although they are oten

not the most dicult nor the most important tests.On the other hand, we usually have more infuence

over the management o our internal journeys.

2. We Spiral Through Journeys

The lie o each individual, organization or community

is made up o many small (and sometimes some very

large) heroic journeys, each testing and developing


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us in dierent ways. The image o the spiral nature

o the heroic journey is important or several reasons:

The spiral denotes the lie-long nature o the

series o heroic journeys in which we are likely

to engage. It does not represent an event or one

journey standing alone. Each journey can beseen as one more cycle o the spiral, each build-

ing on those that have come beore and leading

to the next.

Lie doesnt happen in a straight line. A straight

path through lie would be too steep and too

dangerous. Lie is just too interesting and twist-

ing as well as dicult. A direct linear path would

be like driving straight up (or down) a mountain.

The spiral path allows a more gradual ascent with

twists and turns.

The spiral also allows a shiting ocus among

the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual

planes precipitated by the longing or wholeness

and integration. It allows any particular journey

to bring progress in one or more areas even

while there may be regression in other areas. It

acknowledges that people change on dierent

levels at dierent times. The danger comes

when growth in any particular area is blocked or

too long. A crisis, however, will probably occur

to break the logjam, although the crisis may notlook like a good thing at the time.

3. Personal Levels o Challenge(PIES)

There are always our potential levels o challenge in

any heroic journey (PIES).

Our Physical lie Our Intellectual lie

Our Emotional lie Our Spiritual lie

Some challenges along the journey will be primarily

physical in nature, some intellectual, some emotional,

and some spiritual. Some will be more important

than others and some will be answered more eec-

tively than others. Dierent journeys will challenge

us on dierent ways. It is important, however, to re-

member that the heroic journey can touch all o those

levels and in many ways.

Physical challenges, or example, can range rom

injury or illness to demands or more sustained eort

or extended travel, or exposure to danger and the

required heightened alertness. Physical states can

vary rom energized and revitalized to exhausted and

burned out. Physical capabilities can be enhancedor damaged. Over the course o a journey both en-

hancement and damage can be expected to varying

degrees

Intellectual challengesoten involve new ways o

thinking or conceptualizing ranging rom how com-

munities are organized or interact to how a person

sees her or himsel (sel image), to new ideas about

the nature o relationships, to how work is organized.

Emotionssuch as ear, anxiety, depression, despair,

disconnection, disorientation, and alienation can be

mixed with eelings o joy, exhilaration, excitement,

calm, wonder, connection, hope, and inspiration.

Emotions can be ully experienced or repressed and

they can shit rapidly depending on circumstances

and a persons physical, intellectual, and spiritual

states.

We will be challenged to trust, risk, depend on others

maintain a sense o hope and condence, and draw

on our sources o courage. The deepening o emo-

tional competence can be one o the great challengesand great benets o the journey.

Taken to its deepest level, the heroic journey is ul-

timately a spiritual journey. That can be dened in

many ways, but in general terms has to do with con-

nection and relationship beyond sel, to a connec-

tion to a higher being, to the common ground o lie,

to the divine, to the universe. Questions o purpose,

meaning, and creativity or generativity also requent-

ly come into play.

4. Ripple EectsEects in one area will ripple out through the other

areas. For example

An external intellectual challenge such as a

change in required management or leadership

style may provide major internal emotional chal-

lenges such as ear o ineectiveness or a loss


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o power, a shit in identity or esteem, loss o a

sense o orm or order, or simply anxiety about

the unknown.

Similarly, an emotional shock, such as losing a

position or job may result in physical challenges

o increased stress and decreased support, intel-lectual challenges to rethink careers or amily lie

styles, and may even result in rethinking ones

place in the universe or larger scheme o things.

Challenging community norms may bring chal-

lenges on all our levels. Physical saety may be

challenged and emotional well being can easily

be shaken by being threatened or shunned or

simply doubted by others. Intellectual capacity

can be strained trying to gure out whats going

on, what the desired state might look like, and

what might be required to get there. Spiritu-

ally, relationship beyond sel may undergo major

challenges and rethinking or may be powerully

rearmed.

Oten, where there is a threat on one level, there

are opportunities on another, although those op-

portunities may be less obvious. The change in a

persons leadership style that was noted above may

be experienced with a great deal o ear or anxiety,

but it may also result in increased sel-knowledge,

maturity, fexibility and condence. The loss o a jobmay cause a needed re-evaluation o career, liestyle

or amily relationships or even a deeper sense o

spirituality.

5. The Scale o Tests

The scale o tests rom individual to communi-

tyTests can occur on a community, organizational,

group or individual basis (COGI). One o the surpris-

ing things about the classic heroic journey is that it

is as valid or group, organizational, or community

change as it is or individual change. It becomesmuch more complex, but the pattern holds its value

even with large scale communities.

The kinds o tests that challenge across an

organization include such things as changes in

strategy, processes, technology, ownership, roles

and relationships, structure, competency require-

ments, etc.

Communities are conronting challenges o gov-

ernance, diversity, economic health, educational

systems and systems o healthcare.

Part o the test in organization-wide or community

change is guring out how everything ts re-align-

ment ater the changes have been made in keyareas. A complementary challenge is determining

which groups and individuals are signicantly aect-

ed by the changes and how to help them deal with

that impact.

Even in organization and community change where

a great deal o systemic change might be involved,

much o the leadership ocus must be on individual

and group change. As organizational lie becomes

more fuid, groups must orm and reorm (oten

across many boundaries) and morph to meet the eve

changing requirements. Community and organiza-

tional change does not happen without change in a

surprising number o people and the groups in which

they work.

Thats One o the Dierences Between the Classic

Heroic Stories and Our Current Reality. We now have

whole communities and organizations needing to

go orth on heroic journeys with large numbers o

people taking on the heroic role. The heroic stories

still work, particularly or all those people that are

thrown into journeys, but our stories are the individu-al journeys on a larger scale.

6. Positive and Negative Tests

Some tests will appear to be negative, or instance

job loss, illness, loss o a relationship or a decrease in

infuence. Some tests, however, will appear in more

positive orms, or instance promotions, marriage,

new work relationships, or increased infuence or

responsibility.

It should not be assumed that tests that take a morenegative orm will be more dicult or result in less

desirable outcomes. In act, it is oten the case that

the tests that have been the most shocking or trau-

matizing or caused the biggest initial sense o loss

were the tests that resulted in the most valuable

outcomes.

These principles are very eective guides in pre-


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land o inbetweenity that lies between end-

ings and beginnings.

5. Integrate, deepen, and protect what has

developed - starts early on the journey and

continues or quite a while ater the journey

appears to be over.

These are our challenges and they will play out on the

ollowing journey. These challenges will play out di-

erently on each journey. Some journeys will require

a major ocus on dealing with endings and loss. Oth-

ers will come with a major ocus on discovery and

mastery. Still others may see a prolonged period o

inbetweenity. And any mix is possible, which is why

leadership is such an art orm and requires that we

continuously evolve personally and proessionally.

Act I: Beginnings Going Forth

OK Im in a leadership posture and ready to be the

author vs. a victim. Im at the threshold. What can I

expect?

How JourneysBegin It Matters a Lot

How journeys begin is one o the most deceptively

important issues in the heroic journey and it has ma-

jor implications or leadership. There are our ways

that heroic journeys can begin and most o us have

each experienced each type in the course o our lives

These our beginnings are dramatically dierent.

Heed a call to go orth (internal or external voice)

Be thrown into a journey by others

Be lured into a journey

Blunder into a journey

paring or a heroic journey, whether in a leader or

ollower role. They are also extremely useul as the

journey progresses to make sense out o the experi-

ence to normalize it as well as point to where the

opportunities lie, even in the toughest settings.

Part Two: The HeroicJourney A Story inThree ActsThe heroic journey can be seen as a three act play.

Act I requires ast action to achieve the right type o

beginning or the journey. Act II requires persever-

ance and resilience to hold the course over a longer

period o time. And Act III requires the discipline tonot let up beore the journey is really complete and

the gains ully realized and not vulnerable to back-

sliding.

The Five Challenges at theHeart o the Journey

The nature o the tests we know we will encounter

and their likely impact on our sense o well being

and our ability to perorm at high levels lead natu-

rally to ve core challenges that we must meet. Theadvantage o knowing these challenges is that we

can ocus our attention and energy on them with the

condence that these are the areas that will make the

dierence.

1. Be the author o the experience to the greatest

extent possible - begins at the beginning with

more challenges throughout the journey.

2. Let go o old ways and relationships that no

longer work and deal with those endings and

losses.

3. Discover and master new ways, developing

new knowledge, new skills, and new qualities

and capabilities or deepening old ones.

4. Manage the uncertainty, unknown,

conficting emotions, and shiting reality o the


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Heeding a Call

We can heed a call to go orth and do something that

needs to be done. The call may be our own voice or

it may be an external voice. We might respond to the

rst call or the third or the twentieth. The key char-acteristic o beginning a journey by heeding a call is

that we begin already in the position o author. It is

our choice to go orth, so we have already adopted a

posture o responsibility. The journey will also have

begun on our timerame, or the most part.

Being Thrown Into a Journey

This is currently the most common beginning be-

cause o the amount o organizational change that is

taking place. Senior leaders might be heeding a call

that says the organization must go orth, but most

o its people will experience the beginning as being

thrown. The exception is where leadership is skill-

ul enough to communicate the need or going orth,

how it will play out and leaderships commitment in

such a way that people hear the call and accept it.To be air to senior leaders, there are many settings

that simply dont allow that approach and people are

simply going to eel thrown.

The key characteristic in being thrown is the lack o

authorship and responsibility as well as the requent

shock and potential immediate losses that occur.

This is a prooundly dierent way o beginning a

journey and the challenge or leader-

ship is to help people deal with the

impact and, as quickly as pos-

sible, get into a posture o

sel-management as well

as appropriately author-

ing the journey expe-rience. That could

mean joining the web

o leaders with clear

roles and commit-

ment or simply ollow-

ing as eectively as

possible.

Responding to the experi-

ence o being thrown into a

journey is one o the highest

leverage points that leadership

will have.

Being Lured Into a Journey

This experience is a blend o heeding a call and be-

ing thrown into the journey. A requent statement

is, Wait a minute, I thought we were just There

are lots o ways this can happen. A requent one is

implementing a technology that seems to have a lim-

ited scope o impact and nding that the ripple aect

involves many more people, roles, relationships, pro-

cesses and skills than anticipated. What looked like a

Cross-

ing thresh-

olds brings

with it risk and

danger, but it also

brings the po-

tential to ulfll

important

needs.


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journey o one scale suddenly becomes a journey on

a much larger scale.

While less challenging or leadership than where

people are simply thrown into a journey, the respons-

es may be quite similar. This is because people can

eel deceived or surprised by the shit in degree ochallenge pull their commitment back until they eel

like they have gured out this shit in reality.

Blundering Into a Journey

Blunders seem to be the deault way to begin a

journey. They happen when we really need to go ona journey o change, but have not heeded a call or

a journey, have not been thrown into such a journey

and havent even been lured in. The theory is that,

when we dont consciously go orth to do what needs

to be done, our unconscious causes us to blunder in

some way that launches us. These are usually pain-

ul beginnings, but they are beginnings i we respond

by continuing the journey.

Common examples or individuals

are ailing at a job and losing it,

being injured or simply col-

lapsing rom chronic stress,

losing a key relationship,

funking out o school orbeing arrested. Its usu-

ally a sense o being vic-

timized and the key is to

avoid taking on a victim

posture and instead go

orth to ace the de

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