Throughout oral and written storytelling, the most widely favored tales follow the hero’s journey, whether the story is about Gilgamesh, Skywalker, Alice Kingsleigh, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Elizabeth Bennet, Dorothy, or Bilbo Baggins. In Joseph Campbell\u2019s \u201cThe Hero with a Thousand Faces,\u201d the comparative mythologist defines a hero as someone who has given themselves over for something bigger than themselves.<\/p>\n
According to Campbell, the hero follows a three-part journey called a monomyth [1. Separation, 2. Initiation, 3. Return] that follows twelve steps.\u00a0[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0At the beginning of the journey, the hero is presented with a call to adventure, challenging him to face something called \u201cthe veil of the unknown.\u201d Campbell wrote that this is a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage, the danger fades.\u00a0[2]<\/a>\u00a0If the hero is willing to overcome her fears and refusal of the call to step into uncertainty, she will need a sage to guide her to cross the veil and commit to the journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As Campbell tracks the hero’s journey, he also asks the reader to consider why all cultures across time have written about and told stories on the hero. Why do all these stories connect so deeply to our souls? According to Campbell, the hero\u2019s journey is an opportunity for self-reflection and inspiration, showing us who we are capable of being and what we are capable of doing.<\/span><\/p>\n As I reflect on organization leadership, specifically during this pandemic, it feels like we all have been asked to join an impossible quest of a continuous veil of the unknown. I thought I was an adaptable leader. I thought I had faced uncertain situations. And yet, this pandemic has rattled my ordinary way of thinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I find myself asking, how comfortable am I with the unknown and uncertainty? I have always loved a good challenge and adventure, but this feels completely different. And I wonder what part of the monomyth my organization is on at this stage of this experience. Lord only knows that I hope we have made our way through the innermost cave, faced off against the supreme ordeal, and waiting to receive our gift or boon[3]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As an organization, we have spent a great deal of time over the last six months reflecting on what we have learned through this pandemic experience. I\u2019m reminded of what Campbell argued when he wrote that the hero has the ultimate difficult task, \u201cHow render back into light-world language the speech-defying pronouncements of the dark? How translate into terms of \u201cyes\u201d and \u201cno\u201d revelations that shatter into meaninglessness every attempt to define the pairs of opposites? How to communicate to people who insist on the exclusive evidence of their senses the message of the all-generating void?\u201d[4]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Like the hero that has experienced the great quest and returned home to tell about it, the organizations we have led through this perilous journey will never be the same. But what do we do with this experience? How do we use the knowledge gained? How do we leverage the reward of making it to help sustain us for the future? What is the next cave we fear to enter?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While Campbell\u2019s book can be used by great storytellers to sketch out the elements that make for a good tale, \u201cThe Hero with a Thousand Faces\u201d is a helpful resource for those wanting to understand the emotional and psychological dynamics of facing uncertainty and the unknown.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a>\u00a0Campbell, Joseph.\u00a0The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>. (California: New World Library, 2008), pg 28.<\/span><\/p>\n [2]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Campbell, Joseph.\u00a0<\/span>The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/span><\/em>. (California: New World Library, 2008), pg 30.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n