Disney’s CEO search highlights a key question for all leaders: Are you living into the right archetype for your role? Understanding your own—and aligning it with what your organization truly needs—can transform both leadership and outcomes.
Disney has started the search for a CEO to succeed Bob Iger. In 2020, the company tapped Bob Chapek to fill Iger’s massive shoes. Chapek was a Disney lifer who was skilled at running operations, but who struggled to embody the more creative, charismatic leadership that Disney needed. Chapek left employees disillusioned and investors uneasy, and Iger quickly maneuvered himself back into the CEO seat. The company can’t afford to get it wrong again.
Perhaps Disney should try treating the search for a new leader like one of its own movie scripts. The Disney dream factory has been built on timeless stories where characters follow mythological journeys to overcome obstacles and transform their worlds. It may sound more like a fairy tale than a business strategy, but Disney should consider the archetype that it’s looking for.
In my work advising senior leaders, I often have to help people think about what they’d like to do next, both in their careers and in their lives. And at their level, simply taking a Myers-Briggs test for guidance isn’t enough. That’s when we start thinking about archetypes. These personal metaphors give meaning to our actions. And they can free up what we think is possible.
I like to think that people have two archetypes in their lives: the one they’re born into and the one they live into.
The Archetype You’re Born Into
The archetype that you’re born into often looks like a familial role. Perhaps your identity is tied to being the “Caring Mother.” Or the “Bratty Sister.” Or the “Dutiful Son.” It’s important to remember that this archetype is metaphorical. You can be the archetypical brother to all of your friends even if you’re an only child. Some of us know young girls who’ve embodied the role of a mother from the time they played with dolls. I knew a guy who everyone called “Uncle” even though we were all still teenagers—he just exuded a vibe that was distinctly avuncular. For myself, I’ve always seen myself as the older brother. Even with my kids, I act more like their older brother than their dad. Some of my friends even call me “Bhaiya,” which means older brother in Hindi.
The familial archetype can show up early in life. It can help us to make meaning of the world and our place in it. Of course, if we don’t pay attention, it can also become a cage, locking us into behaviors and ways of thinking that no longer serve us. That’s when it’s time to discover the second archetype.
The Archetype You Live Into
The second archetype is one you might discover later in life. It often looks like a mythical role. Perhaps you feel most fulfilled when you embody the role of “The Warrior.” Or “The Rebel.” Or “The Magician.” Or “The Muse.” Again, these archetypes are strictly metaphorical. Embodying the spirit of “The Warrior” doesn’t commit you to violence any more than embodying “The Magician” demands you learn card tricks. Rather, these are widely-held cultural narratives that seek to describe a way of living your best life.
A leader who aligns their professional role with their mythical archetype is on much firmer ground. They’re playing to their strengths, rather than trying to be something they’re not.
Understanding my own mythical role marked a powerful shift in the way I relate to my work. My identity is “The Guru,” which sounds grandiose in English but really just means “teacher” in Hindi. Watching Star Wars as a kid, I identified far more with Ben Kenobi than with Luke Skywalker. Leaning into this role has made my work as a consultant, advisor, and writer feel more natural and fulfilling.
In his lovely book, “Winning the Story Wars”, Jonah Sachs points out that the mythical archetypes we embody are deeply ingrained in our psyches and shape how we derive meaning and happiness. George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, argues that metaphors aren’t just language; they’re a fundamental driver of how we interpret the world and act in it.
Moving From the First Archetype to the Second
Emerging from the pandemic, too many of us find ourselves in jobs and roles that seem devoid of greater meaning or, at the very least, wrong for who we intuitively understand ourselves to be. When that happens, it may be time to consider the archetype you embody.
One of my clients was the CEO of a large publicly traded company that was in the midst of a difficult turnaround. And he hated his job. So we started to explore the metaphors he was living by. His first archetype was the “Dutiful Brother”—a surprising insight given that he was an only child. Still, his professional career has been a story of creating deep connections and collaborations with others. It was no wonder that the high-pressure, ruthless environment of a corporate restructuring left him feeling isolated and unfulfilled. It had also created an unhealthy dynamic with his board, where he was constantly trying to be a pleaser.
But the real breakthrough came when we explored his mythical archetype. At his best, my friend has an incredible talent for bringing people and ideas together and transforming them into something wondrous and valuable. He is “The Alchemist.” That realization was crucial for helping him consider what his next job might be. No more corporate turnarounds. No more taking companies public. He needed to find people in need of alchemy. Soon after that, he was approached by a private equity firm. They had bought a specialty company as well as a few other “bolt-on” acquisitions. And as they described it to my friend, “We’ve got all the pieces to make something really great. We just need someone who can put it all together.” They were looking for an alchemist.
The Role We Were Meant to Play
If you’re a leader who is struggling, one of the first questions to answer is: How much of your suffering is a result of being dragged back into familial roles that are no longer helping you? Or how much is due to being in a job that is mismatched to the mythical role you were meant to step into? The increasing rate of burnout among leaders isn’t just a product of overwork and rising pressure to succeed; it’s a result of a fundamental mismatch between the job at hand and the role we were meant to play.
Stepping into that mythical role can require some deep personal work. Leaders need to reflect on their childhood archetypes and see how those patterns may have been carried forward into their working style. To what extent are they serving you or holding you back? Mythical roles reveal themselves when you reflect on the moments that make you feel most full of purpose and passion.
And for companies looking for their next leader: Are you considering candidates based on their greater purpose and deeper psychological motivations? Or are you just asking how well they hit their KPIs in their last job?
Finding a New Narrative
Which brings us back to Disney. Bob Iger’s greatest mythical role may have been as “The Peacemaker.” When Iger first took over at Disney, its relationships with partners were in shambles. Disney had a distribution deal with Pixar, but there was a lot of bad blood between the two companies. And so, soon after taking the helm, Iger flew up to Pixar’s headquarters in Emeryville, CA to meet with Pixar leadership. People who worked there at the time recount that Iger strode into Pixar’s cavernous lobby and yelled as loud as he could: “WE’RE SORRRRYY!!!” Iger would go on to acquire the famously independent company. He did the same with Lucasfilm. And Marvel. Those properties have been the core of Disney’s growth.
But what archetype does Disney need now? What character is called for at this point in the story? The company needs to find a leader whose narrative aligns with the story Disney wants to tell and the challenges it needs to face. It needs a new archetype. After all, just repeating the last story usually makes for a sequel that’s a flop.
