Pillars to purpose

The Archetype Alchemist brand rests on four pillars.

Creativity, compassion, collaboration, and confidence.

For the past three decades of my teaching, legal, and coaching careers I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with many smart and talented people, often in a team setting.

At a certain point in my corporate career, however, I had a few experiences with teams that didn’t work together well. One very obvious thing that all of these teams had in common is that they were all-female teams. As a lifelong learner, I wanted to find out what went wrong in these teams. The surface-level ‘mean-girls’ explanation wasn’t satisfying.

I compared my experiences with other female leaders, colleagues, and friends and slowly a pattern began to emerge. Smart and talented women worked with each other well in one on one situations. Even when they weren’t a natural fit, their professionalism took precedence. However, something often went pear-shaped when the very same women were placed into larger teams. This was especially so in organizations with a culture of fear, where people were afraid to make mistakes and did not feel safe.

Breaking it down further, I found four values that were present when relationships, communication, and team performance worked and were absent when they didn’t.

Every example of great relationships, connection, and team effectiveness contained the same four values that were missing in situations where the connection was strained. My research revealed that our relationships with other women suffer when we don’t practice:

1. understanding each other- compassion,

2. authentically working together – collaboration

3. being secure in our own unique talents and abilities– confidence.

and

4. our innate need for self-expression– creativity

The idea for the Archetype Alchemist Energy Series slowly took shape as I worked outward from these core values. It is the reason that the Archetypes focus on the feminine. These values are linked to our purpose, our ability to be kind to ourselves and others, our self-image and our perception of our own value in relation to others, our willingness to be supportive of other each other, and how all of this is linked to our creative need for self-expression. I believe that when these values are embodied in Leaders, the company culture and psychological safety can also be positively affected.

In the Archetype Alchemist Energy Academy, you will learn how to embody these pillars of purpose through a series of tested and proven practices. I invite you to join me in creating a world in which smart, talented, and creative people enjoy mutually satisfying, supportive, and secure personal and professional relationships in a supportive culture that they create themselves.