The Hero & Heroine’s Journey in Life and Leadership: An Interview with Jewel & Amiel
Civic leadership is critical to changing social constructs, shifting implicit bias, and changing the narratives we hold on to. This is the premise of the Stepping Up: Wrestling with America’s Past, Reimagining It’s Future, Healing Together course Greg, Amiel Handelsman and I are facilitating for the next five months. Amiel and I were invited to be guests on Innovating Leadership, Co-Creating Our Future, a global radio talk show that focuses on executive leadership topics, hosted by Maureen Metcalf.
We discussed how we would approach America’s racial reckoning if we framed it as a hero or heroine journey. And then explored how the same core principles also apply to leadership.
Check out the interview here
Here’s an excerpt:
Amiel:
This is where I feel like the heroine's journey metaphor is so valuable. I don't know if that's what you want to talk about Jewel, but I think at some point we're got to get there.
Jewel:
Well, yes, we can start from both of those journeys, the hero and the heroine, because they are both journeys of transformation. They're both journeys of growth, understanding what your growth edge might be and how do you walk to and through the challenges and the obstacles that are going to come up in that journey. And they're going to come up because they always do and it’s how we grow as individuals and as human beings. It's always about finding that space that's going to allow us to do better. The journeys, for the most part, have the same stages in terms of the call, what are you being called to do, what is on the horizon? What's the vision? And, of course, there are a variety of thresholds that you have to go through: the ogres and the dragons that you have to slay.
And then when you bring back the talisman, the sword, the elixir, that is going to help make the community better, those aspects are very similar. The heroine's journey is a forward-thinking journey that embraces the people around her. So, it is not so much a solo journey of achieving victory or heading out there on your own striving to kill the dragons. It’s about a journey that starts with compassion. I have to say that this is not about male and female. This is about feminine and masculine energies, both of which we can embody. So, it is really about understanding what is needed in a particular situation. Am I going to lean more into my feminine energy or into my masculine energy?
The reason we think this issue of racial reckoning can go through a heroine’s and hero's journey is because the people who feel that this is a calling for them are going to run up against the conflicts. They run up against the people who think that they don't know what they're talking about, or that this is futile. It's been here for 400 years and it's not going anywhere. There are going to be instances where they're going to question themselves—can they really do this? This is all part of the journey. To come out on the other side with a better understanding and clarity of who you are, how you can contribute, and what the difference is that you can make, is what the six month [course] is all about. Amiel, is there more that you'd like to add?
Amiel:
One thing to add, [is that] one might wonder: who are these ogres and dragons? We've just said a moment ago, for those paying close attention, that we're not out to be against anyone. So, the ogres and dragons can show up in a variety of ways. It can be the inner turmoil within ourself—the inner challenges of just mastering or managing the complexity. Those are real challenges. There's also the environment around us that can feel polarized, tense, ungrounded, simply feeling like you're getting knocked off balance, which we heard about over, and over again in our interviews of folks saying: every time I enter a conversation like this, I feel like I'm getting knocked off balance and I have a hard time finding my voice. So, regaining balance and finding one's voice are the equivalent of battling the ogres, right?
It's not a person that we're trying to hurt. It's an inner and outer challenge that we're all doing together. I'll speak personally. I love the solo hero's journey on a very visceral level. That's what I was raised from an early age, you know, the single hero. And when I was in fifth grade, it was who can make the most home runs playing kickball. That's the hero of the class, you know, and later on, it took on other dimensions, but certainly as I've gotten older and gotten in touch with the value of being connected with people and being together and some of the feminine energies, that's been part of my growth. And that's why Jewel’s point is so important. It's not about male or female—It's masculine and feminine energies.
And so, it really is a journey to integrate those within us. And then for some who have more feminine energies, it might be integrating the masculine energies, but whatever you're doing, we're saying, hey, this is a journey. This has some possibility and some oomph to it . . . And let's begin by accepting what's true. And seeing the possibility. And, also, one thing that Jewel so beautifully talks about is seeing the grace behind even some of the most challenging moments.
Listen to the entire interview here at PRX
