What are STORYTELLING archetypes and why you need to know for coaching business?
“Every man carries within him the eternal image of woman, not the image of this or that particular woman, but a definite feminine image.
This image is fundamentally unconscious, a hereditary factor of primordial origin engraved in the living organic system of the man, an imprint or “archetype” of all the ancestral experiences of the female, a depot, as it were, of all the impression ever made by a woman - in short, an inherited system of psychic adaptation. The same is true of the woman: she too has her inborn image of man.” - Carl Jung
History of Personality Archetype
According to Carl Gustav Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist whose research was deeply rooted in psychoanalysis, there are two different attitude types: introverts, which are those people who receive stimulation from within, and extroverts, which are those who receive stimulation from the environment.
Every person has a dominant life attitude and a primary function. By combining the different life attitudes and functions, you end up with the 8 Jung Personality Types, which were further developed into what has commonly known as the foundation of Myers-Briggs Personality Types.
In Jung’s theory of the human psyche, these personality archetypes form a dynamic substratum common to all humanity, upon the foundation of which each individual builds their own experience of life, coloring them with their unique culture, personality, and life events. The archetype was not merely a psychic entity but, more fundamentally, a bridge to matter in general.
Thus, while archetypes themselves may be conceived as a relative few innate nebulous forms, from these may arise innumerable images, symbols, and patterns of behavior. While the emerging images and forms are apprehended consciously, the archetypes which inform them are elementary structures that are unconscious and impossible to apprehend.
Jung defined twelve primary types that symbolize basic human motivations.
These 12 archetypes represent the range of basic human motivations, and each of us tends to have one dominant archetype that dominates our personality.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The later procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” - Carl Jung
What Are You Looking To Fulfill Through Your Story?
The 12 Jungian archetypes are known to conjure a combination of mental images and emotional attachments, with each archetype having its own unique set of personality traits, meanings, and values.
These archetypes are used in a wide variety of applications, such as literature, mythology, branding, spirituality, psychology, and of course, personality.
Understanding these archetypes will guide our understanding of the motivational and self-perceptual dynamics of each type. These orientations represent the archetype’s focus - the one single mission that the archetype wishes to fulfill.
For example, a magician archetype recognizes that what is real to a person is determined by what one believes. You help create change by transforming perceptions in yourself and others from the EGO orientation through LEAVING MARKS or MAKING IMPACTS ON THE WORLD. So perhaps you realized the way you see and relate your experiences in this world is about creating meaningful connections that result in a ripple effect of small changes. YOU MAKE THINGS MAGICAL, and you have this hidden desire to create a legacy.
“The hero’s journey requires us to find our uniqueness. We simply cannot do that without enough solitude to find out who we are. Most of us need some time alone every day just to stay clear.”
― Carol S. Pearson, Hero Within - Rev. & Expanded Ed.: Six Archetypes We Live By
Why is it important to know for building your coaching brand?
These archetypes are imprinted and hardwired into our psyche. When properly identified, brand archetypes will reflect the personality of brands and serves to better align personality type with specific Client Personas.
As it applies to brands, this idea of archetypes is fairly universal and may be particularly effective as an orienting tool for businesses looking to focus their marketing effort. To market. For your coaching service, you need to gain insight into your ideal clients. That way, you can find them more easily, plus you can tailor your messaging so that it resonates with those who will get the greatest benefit from your service.
A client's avatar or sometimes referred to as a buyer's persona is a representation of your ideal client. We create client personas as part of the client’s experience design. They help us understand a typical client’s needs and desires which in turn helps us build more successful services and solutions.
A story persona is a collection of personality traits, attitudes, and values that your story character showcases on a regular basis to help connect with a certain audience segment. A story persona can be a person, character, mascot, or idea.
As humans, we experience the Jungian archetypes as energies.
The archetypes are expressed through intangible elements such as evoking emotions and conjuring imagery - elements that are intangible, but we somehow feel their presence in our collective unconscious. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed with certain energies but feel unable to describe them accurately.
Understanding the importance of personality archetypes provides coaches the container to express the intangible elements of coaching in answering “What is Life Coaching?” with a much more tangible language framework through the use of storytelling in the modern business world.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The later procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”
-Carl Jung
The 12 Archetypes and Story that you live in
Through the understanding of 12 Jungian Archetypes, an academic researcher, Dr. Carol Pearson identified the 12 stories most common in organizations and applied this ‘narrative intelligence’ to leadership development and organizational alignment.
“The heroic quest is about saying “Yes” to yourself and in so doing, becoming more fully alive and more effective in the world. When we learn about the many different heroic paths available to us, we understand that there is room for all of us to be heroic in our own unique ways. Stories about heroes are deep and eternal,” said Carol Pearson.
We tend to think in stories…and storytelling and communication go hand-in-hand.
We use archetypes as guides in an effort to define your brand persona and bring clarity to your voice and messaging strategies, all the while deepening your consumer’s ties with your brand.
These Archetypes guide the branding process and make a brand quickly and concisely understood. Discovering your brand’s archetype builds a framework for how your brand should act, speak, look, and make decisions in a clear and consistent way.
Building a connection with your soulmate clients while standing out among your competition can be achieved when you discover and align your brand with your Archetype. Want to find out what your storytelling archetype is? Take A Quiz To Find Out.
The Story You Are Living In
Here are the 12 Personality Archetypes and the stories you live in:
The Innocent - spread positivity, purity, and wholesomeness and often promotes a healthy lifestyle.
The Everyman - relatable to just about anyone and everyone.
The Hero - inspires their clients to conquer challenges with dedication and hard work.
The Rebel - Connecting with the desire for liberation by going your own way on the open road.
The Explorer - Imagery of backpackers and rock climbers all over the world helps their clients imagine themselves on adventurous journeys.
The Creator - Inspiring creativity and innovation
The Ruler - Creates order from the chaos; the Ruler is typically controlling and stern, yet responsible and organized.
The Magician - Wishes to create something special and make dreams a reality; the Magician is seen as visionary and spiritual.
The Lover - Creates intimate moments and inspires love, passion, romance, and commitment.
The Jester- Brings joy to the world through humor, fun, and irreverence and often likes to make some mischief.
The Sage - Committed to helping the world gain deeper insight and wisdom
The Caregiver - Protects and cares for others and is compassionate, nurturing, and generous.
In storytelling, an archetype is a character who represents a specific set of universal, recognizable behaviors. Stories are teaching tools, a way to warn and inform others of conflicts and dangers, and it is also a simple method of examining human behavior, so we can better understand each other.
Identifying your personality is an important part of your brand strategy. To create a strong brand, you need to know who you are and, most importantly, how to communicate that effectively. Identifying your brand personality is one of the keys to doing that well.
Your brand personality is the essence of who you are. Without an intimate understanding of your brand purpose, vision, mission, and values, it is difficult to articulate your brand personality effectively.
Once you have found your brand personality, the goal of articulating your personality is to provide the context, background, and guidelines people need to represent your brand accurately and therefore attract your soulmate clients to find you and see you through the stories you tell and content you create. To read more about Dr. Carol Pearson’s work, head over to her website and check out her book “The Hero Within.”
In other words, brands can make an emotional impact, and the successful ones usually convey a positive experience to their clients, and they do so through their brand personality.
What’s the story you live in?
