If you’ve been following Talk About Talk, you already know how dedicated I am to helping people build a strong personal brand that highlights their unique strengths and passions.
When I coach folks on their personal brands, there are several exercises we can run through to help them identify what makes them unique. There’s self-reflection, formal work evaluations, input from others, personality tests, and more.
The one exercise that my clients consistently tell me is the most productive and enjoyable is learning their archetype.
Much of what we know about archetypes comes from Carl Jung, the Swiss Psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Jung believed these archetypes, or universal patterns, are deeply embedded in our minds.
If you go online and search “common archetypes”, you’ll typically find a list of 12. For our context of establishing your professional identity, I started with this list of 12 common archetypes and tweaked it to be relevant for our career context.
After you’ve considered these 12 and identified which one or two resonate the most for you, I invite you to take the archetypes quiz!
3 Things to Talk About This Week
- The benefit of knowing your archetype
- Andrea’s archetype
- 3 important things to keep in mind
1️⃣ The benefit of knowing your Archetype
Why is knowing your archetype so impactful?
Once you’ve identified your archetype, you’ll probably feel a combination of excitement and satisfaction. People love being diagnosed and recognized!
Once you’ve identified your archetype, the stories that illustrate your embodiment of your archetype will come easily. This helps with developing your personal brand and narrative. You’ll also be able to draw on the language of each archetype to better convey your strengths and abilities.
Another great benefit of knowing your archetype is improved focus and direction. Knowing your strengths can guide you toward (or away from) certain opportunities.
And that’s where you’ll discover a new sense of confidence.
2️⃣ Andrea’s Archetype
I’m a Sage and a Magician.
Sage means I’m a learner, teacher, and academic. Yep, that’s me, proud nerd!
I’m also a Magician. My best day at work is when I help others transform.
Do you know your archetype? You can take the quiz now. It only takes a few minutes!
3️⃣ 3 important things to keep in mind
When discovering your archetype, I always like to remind my clients of three important things:
- There is no hierarchy of archetypes. No one archetype is better than another. We all seem to want to be a Hero, but a Hero is not more important or successful than a Jester. The power is knowing yourself, and using your unique identity to your advantage.
- Select no more than two archetypes. Of the 12 archetypes, there will be a few that you reject, a few that resonate somewhat, and a few that clearly resonate. Your objective is to identify one or possibly two that resonate most. (If you narrow it to three, then focus on one primary and two secondary.) Focus is a good thing!
- Your archetypes can change over time. As we grow and evolve, our archetypes might change, and that’s OK! Consider how our identities and even our values change as we mature and our roles change. Yes, your archetype can change over time.
Ready to take the archetypes quiz now? It takes just a few minutes and you’ll receive your archetypes with advice from Andrea on how the qualities of your results can be best leveraged in your career.
You can learn more about the power of archetypes in my most recent Talk About Talk podcast ep.183.
I’d love to hear whether the quiz validates which archetype you chose from the list above. Email me anytime!
Have a great week.
Talk soon,
Dr. Andrea Wojnicki
executive communication coach