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**by Barton, Edward Read**
 * The shadows of leadership: A mythopoetic perspective.**

Introduction Carl Jung theorized that there was a collective unconscious that consisted of instinctive traits that were "hard wired" in women and men. That means that they were passed on from generation to generation by our genes. These traits are called archetypes. Peter Senge wrote about corporate archetypes in The Fifth Dimension when he discusses the impact of people's words/thoughts/deeds/actions on the organization, which are counter to instructions, written policies, mission statement, and/or goals because they are reacting/ operating from unconscious archetypal patterns. Senge also says that real learning is in the body, not passive traditional learning. With the archetypes carried in the body and real learning occurring in the body, something different is needed for transformational leadership and transformational results for individuals, families, groups, and organizations. This article focuses on individual archetypes. There are archetypes for women, which Robert Moore has named as queen, lover, magician, and warrior. Similarly, common archetypes for men are king, lover, warrior, and magician. Family, environment, and culture shape the way we react to those archetypes/traits. These archetypes are subtle forms of energy in the body to which we respond. When one reacts, or over reacts, to a situation, the person may not even recognize that the reaction may be based of feelings of which the person is not even conscious. These feelings are deemed to be in shadow. There is light shadow and dark shadow. Light shadow will not usually cause a problem in an organization. Dark shadow usually will have a negative impact on personal relationships and therefore will impact an organization negatively. I have a real passion around Mythopoetic men's work because of what it has done to change my life in getting in touch of a range of feelings and a method for healthy letting go held in emotions; and what I have seen it do to transform other men's lives and the relationships that they have with partners, children, and others with whom they interact. Based on my experience and my research (Barton, 2003), I believe that through use of, and participation in, mythopoetic activities, you can become better person and a more effective OD professional. With this introduction to archetypes and shadow, I will move to their application to men's mythopoetic work and then how they impact an organization development context, with suggestions as to how OD consultants might use the concepts of Jungian psychology and mythopoetic work to fashion more effective interventions for themselves and their clients. Mythopoetic Men's Work The sound bite for mythopoetic (MP) branch of the contemporary men's movement is that "we are the men who go out in the woods on weekends and bang on drums as part of our personal healing process," and the branch came to popular awareness in the early 1900's with the publication of Robert Bly's Iron John based on a reinterpretation/retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Iron Hans. Aspects of the Mythopoetic branch are based on Jungian psychology. Examples of other aspects of the Mythopoetic branch are men's support groups, men's initiation weekends, and father/son events. Another perspective is reinterpreting myths and poems so that they are relevant to men today and to their emotional healing today. This often includes looking at what might be in shadow, that which we hide, repress, or deny, saying they are not interested in changing, "meaning that they're too ashamed to look inside" (Jones, D., 2002, p. 201); and, if not faced, acknowledged, and made an ally, those feelings buried in shadow will come out as projections, rage, and/or passive-aggressive actions. As John Lee says in his book on anger, Facing the Fire, that unless there is a healthy, appropriate emotional release of the feelings in shadow, then "If the feeling is anger, the body lets it out in passive aggression, in sarcasm and ridicule, in misplaced anger...[or] in total, no-holds-barred rage," (p. 56). The ManKind Project (MKP) is part of the Mythopoetic branch. MKP sponsors an initiatory weekend for men called the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) and that is follow up with a men's peer mutual support group, called an I-Group. Many men do not reflect upon their inner life. Most men in MKP have at least touched a part of their shadow during the NWTA. I know I touched mine on my weekend and continue to touch it when I staff a NWTA, staff other men's weekends, participate in my !-Group, interact with other Warriors, and often when I interact with others outside the MKP. My judgment is that every member of MKP has leadership capabilities and these are demonstrated in different ways at different levels. At the most basic level, leadership can be when a man is asked to facilitate a man's work during round 3 of an !-Group meeting. At another level, it is acting as King (facilitator) for an evening in an I-Group. Another level is serving as I-Group Representative to the MKP-Windsor/Detroit Board of Directors. It goes on at different levels throughout MKP. It applies to me as past Chairman of the Board of MKP- Windsor/Detroit. Today I serve two major functions in MKP. One is as Research Council Coordinator. The second is serving as a Ritual Elder on some NWTAs, the MKP men's initiatory weekend. Those roles are two very different types of activities, requiring very different emotional energies involving the very different archetypal energies of magician and elder, different types of leadership, and with the possibilities of bringing up very different shadows of my own for each archetype. I will be looking at myself to see if I discern what elements of shadow I find I have in my leadership. Organization Context An advance training offered to New Warriors is called the Inner King Training. As I prepared to do the Inner King, one of my readings provided by Bill Kauth, one of the founders of the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA), was a paper by Parker J. Palmer entitled "Leading From Within: Reflections On Spirituality and Leadership." Palmer defines a leader as: A person is a leader who has an unusual degree of power to project on other people his or her shadow, or his or her light. [In MKP we would say dark and light shadow.] A Leader is a person who has an unusual degree of power to create the conditions under which other people must live and move and have their being-conditions that can either be as illuminating as heaven or as shadowy as hell. Parker says that the shadow can be illuminating as heaven or as shadowy as hell. There is golden shadow. These are positive aspects of an individual, which went into shadow because those positive traits were not seen, acknowledged, and/or blessed as a child, or during later stage of life. If an OD Consultant can spot some golden shadow and bring it to the individual's awareness and bless it, as an elder would, that may be the one of the easier interventions. Recognizing these positive attributes and having the individual, or organization, recognize, acknowledge, and accept the worthwhile and beneficial aspects of the individual, the leader, and/or of the organization may be a relatively easy first step. Parker Palmer continues by saying that "a leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what's going on inside himself or herself, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership create more harm than good." There is a spiritual component. Parker Palmer says that "the link between leadership and spirituality calls us to re-examine that denial of inner life" which is denied by many, if not most men, which really usually means that "they're too ashamed to look inside" (Jones, D., 2002, p. 201). That reminds me of a two liner. Do you know the difference between religion and spirituality? No. Religion is for those that are afraid of hell. Spirituality is for those who have already been there. Personally, during the last 10 years, since the start of my mid-life crises, I have already been there. James A. Autry, author of Love and Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership, emphasizes a spiritual (though not organized religious) aspect. I believe in a universal unconscious, I believe in a spiritual realm. But lets put that another way, how is God's work done? Through people. How are things of the spirit, which have to do with ethics and morality, how are they actualized? Through people, (Kelly, p. 93). Farrell and Rosenberg report that 32% of men at mid-life are in a transcendent-generative category generally satisfied with life; and I would add, operating out of or having a spiritual component to their life adding to their transcendent-generative satisfaction. Farrell and Rosenberg found that the other 68% of the men at mid-life are angry and in some sort of denial, meaning, in MKP language, that they are not facing their personal issues and/or their shadow. I was in that 68% until I started my participation in Mythopoetic Men's Work, which includes my NWTA and MKP activities. Parker Palmer also identifies some dark shadows of leadership. 1. A major shadow of leaders is a deep insecurity about their own identity, their own worth. 2. That the universe is essentially hostile to human interests and that life is fundamentally a battleground. 3. "Functional atheism" which is a belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with me. 4. Fear: There are many kinds of fear, but particularly the fear of the natural chaos of life. 5. Denial of death. Now lets take this to a more general Organization Development perspective. As an OD Consultant are you in the 32% of transcendent-generative category, generally satisfied with life/your life, including a spiritual component? Or are you in the 68% with dark shadows of leadership applicable to you? Are you in that 68% that are angry and/or are you in denial, have not healed childhood issues, resisting or denying a need to change due to fear and shame of looking inside, and are projecting those feelings/wounds/shadows unto others or directing them inside, stuffing them inside, leading to depression and other health problems? Each of you will need to answer these questions about your self individually. I have a theory that a therapist can only take a client as far as that therapist has done her/his own deep emotional work, released emotions held in the body. In my judgment, if an OD Consultant has not done his/her own emotional work, the transformative success of that OD Consultant will be limited by lack of personal experience, lack of personal healing, and will not be able to identify the shadows of clients that they are projecting toward others, including possibly onto the consultant, so their dark shadows can be addressed for the benefit of the client organization as well as assess the degree to which those dark shadows are a factor in the leaders and individuals with whom you are consulting and the individuals at all levels of your client organization. Another aspect is that the OD Consultant needs to be able to identify those shadows and assess how individuals act them out through the organization's shadows and archetypes.

Alice Miller is one of the well-respected authors on childhood trauma. Miller's themes of prisoners of childhood, hidden cruelty in child rearing as the roots of violence, and society's betrayal of the child are examples. It has been said that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. That means that wounding is inevitable. It is not humanly possible for our primary caretakers to be able to fulfill every one of our needs, as infants, exactly when we want something. So every person has some wounds, some more severe, more traumatic than others, from earlier stages of development, usually going back to childhood, to some extent yet unresolved. They were repressed as unsatisfied and went into dark shadow. If not addressed in some type of emotional release work, the effects and impacts of those wounds are acted out of shadow through rage, inappropriate anger, passive aggressive behavior, stuffed feelings that burst out when they cannot be held in any longer, or a co-worker, partner, or boss says something that triggers a release of those pent up emotions. The intervention must be more than cognitive. Those feelings are held in the body. Emotional release from the body is necessary for healing. Experiential processes are necessary for emotional release. It takes a safe place, which in Mythopoetic Men's Work is called a "safe container." The safe container becomes "ritual space." In ritual space the individual can feel the freedom to safely feel those repressed feelings/anger, and emotionally release them. Part of creating the safe container is developing trust among the participants. One element of trust is an agreement of confidentiality, which often is that "what is said here stays here." This degree of confidentiality is especially important in a hierarchal organization, particularly when individuals of different levels of the organization are in the same container. People from different levels of the organization in the same container may make it unsafe for some. With a safe container and facilitation, an emotional release can be facilitated through an experiential exercise or process, maybe even psychodrama. Then the start of the healing of the shadows can happen in ritual space. Then there can be the start of real individual transformation of the consultant and/or members of the client organization. (I include the consultant here because every time I staff or participate in a men's weekend, my healing continues.) That will result in the transformation of the report of the consultant and transformation of the client organization. Conclusion This article has examined the aspects of the shadow, archetypes, mythopoetic men's work, and their application to the OD Consultant individually, and as an OD Consultant, observing what archetypes may be driving the action of the clients, leader(s), and the organization being analyzed. There has been a description of light and dark shadow. The importance of the consultant doing his/her own personal work is emphasized so that the consultant does not project her/his shadows upon the individuals in the client organization and thereby the organization. The further important implications of the OD Consultant being knowledgeable and able to spot the light and dark shadows of the client(s) are discussed. Unless there is an awareness of archetypes and their shadows and the consultant being able to design interventions to address the archetypes and those shadows found in the client organization, the organization will not really be transformed, the fancy report will largely be shelved and another consultation report will just gather dust. My NEW Warrior mission is to "create world peace by healing and empowering men." Through my New Warrior activities, I continue to look at my shadows and am able to assist others in seeing and recognizing their shadows. This is one way I heal and empower myself and others. By healing and empowering men, I favorably impact relationships, families, children, organizations, and the planet. I hope you as an OD Professional find these ideas and concepts of value. If you are interested, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss them with you further. References Barton, E. R. (Ed.) (2000a). Mythopoetic perspectives of men's healing work: An anthology for therapists and others. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey. Barton, E. R. (200Ob). Parallels between mythopoetic men's work/men's peer mutual support groups and selected feminist theories. In E. R. Barton (Ed.), Mythopoetic perspectives of men's healing work: An anthology for therapists and others. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, pp. 3-20. Barton, E. R. (2003). A qualitative exploration of participation in men's peer mutual support groups: Beyond men hugging trees. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University Bly, R. (1986). A Little Book on the Human Shadow. W. Booth (Ed.), Memphis, TN: Raccoon Books. Bly, R. (1990). Iron John: a book about men. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Estes, C.P. (1992). Women who run with the wolves: myths and stories of the wild women archetype. New York: Ballantine Books. Farrell M.P. & Rosenberg, S.D. (1981). Men at midlife, Boston, MA: Auburn House. Hollis, J. (1994). 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Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc. Lee, J. H. (1991). At my fathers wedding: reclaiming our true masculinity. New York: Bantam Books. Lee, J. H. (1993). Facing the fire: Experiencing and expressing anger appropriately. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Miller, A. (1983). For your own good: Hidden cruelty in child rearing and the roots of violence. Translated by Hildegarde and Hunter Hannum, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Miller, A. (1986). Thou shall not be aware: Society's betrayal of the child. Translated by Hildegarde and Hunter Hannum, New York, NY: New American Library. Miller, A. (1997). The drama of the gifted child: The search for the true self. Translated by Ruth Ward, New York, NY: Basic Books. Moore, R. L. & Gillette, D. (1990). King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. San Francisco, CA: Harper-San Francisco. Palmer, P. J. (1990). The active life: Wisdom for work, creativity, and caring. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.