Why You Feel Like You Need to Be Two Different People at Work

How understanding your inner Ruler, Warrior, Magician, Hero, Outlaw, and Lover can transform your leadership impact

I was talking with a client recently—a newly promoted senior executive who'd just inherited 20 direct reports and a double digit million dollar budget challenge. "I’m trying to get the signal through the noise - there’s so much inbound right now coming from both directions.” Sound familiar?

Most of us have been there. The boardroom wants one version of you, while your direct reports need something else entirely. Here's the thing though—this isn't just a modern management headache. It's actually an ancient human challenge that Carl Jung explored through what he called archetypal psychology.

Stay with me here. I know "archetypal psychology" sounds a bit academic, but understanding these timeless patterns of human behavior can give us a surprisingly practical toolkit for navigating organizational life with more authenticity and impact.

The Ruler-Warrior Foundation: Your Leadership Core

Every executive needs access to both Ruler and Warrior energies, but knowing when to deploy which? That discernment can separate effective leadership from organizational chaos.

Think about Ruler energy first. This is your ability to create order, provide stability, and make decisions that serve the greater good. When you're managing down, your Ruler shows up as creating clear structures, establishing psychological safety, and becoming that calm center in the storm. Your team literally needs to see you as the sovereign who protects the realm—not just from external threats, but from all the organizational turbulence that could derail their focus.

Now, Warrior energy is different. This brings disciplined action, strategic thinking, and the courage to fight for what matters. When you're managing up, your inner Warrior advocates fiercely for your team's needs, presents data-driven battle plans for challenges (like those budget shortfalls), and maintains loyalty to the organizational mission while refusing to accept completely unrealistic demands.

Here's where it gets interesting: the magic happens when these energies work together. You become a leader who rules downward with protective authority while fighting upward with strategic purpose.

The Magician: When You Need to Transform Problems into Possibilities

Think about the best transformational leader you've ever worked for. I'll bet they had a magical quality to them—Magician energy—that ability to see possibilities others miss and somehow transform organizational challenges into breakthrough moments.

Magicians manage up by reframing problems as opportunities. They turn the shortfall into an optimization opportunity and, in the process, strengthen their competitive position. They help leadership see beyond current constraints to what's actually possible.

With their teams, Magician leaders create what might be called psychological alchemy—transforming team anxiety into creative energy and helping people discover capabilities they didn't even know they had. I’m watching this play out with my client as he transforms his organization.

But here's the shadow side: We've all worked for that "smoke and mirrors" leader, right? The one who promises magic but only delivers illusion? These shadow Magicians manipulate perception without creating any real value, leaving teams cynical and organizations feeling hollow.

The Hero: It's All About the Journey

Here's something I've noticed: Heroes gets that leadership is fundamentally about taking others on transformative journeys. Every organizational challenge is actually a Hero's Journey waiting to unfold.

Hero leaders manage up by positioning themselves as the protagonist willing to face the dragon—whether that's market pressures, competitive threats, or internal dysfunction—on behalf of the larger organizational story. They take ownership of the difficult quests rather than deflecting responsibility.

With their teams, Hero leaders create shared adventures. They help people see beyond their current job descriptions to the meaningful quest they're all undertaking together. During budget crises or major transitions, they frame challenges as collective journeys toward something greater.

The shadow warning: Remember that leader who always needed to be the rescuing hero? Shadow Heroes create dependency, steal others' opportunities for growth, and turn every situation into drama requiring their intervention. They absolutely exhaust teams by manufacturing crises just to feed their need for heroic relevance.

The Outlaw: Sometimes You Need to Break the Rules

Sometimes executive leadership requires what Jung would call Outlaw energy—the willingness to challenge systems, processes, or cultural norms that just don't serve the organization anymore. My client calls this “bringing out the pirate”.

Outlaw leaders manage up by being that voice asking the difficult questions: "Why do we still do it this way?" "What if the constraint we think is unchangeable actually isn't?" They bring revolutionary thinking to stagnant systems while maintaining enough political savvy to create real change rather than just chaos.

With teams, Outlaw energy shows up as giving permission to break rules that inhibit performance, challenging bureaucratic obstacles, and creating psychological safety for unconventional thinking.

But watch out for the shadow: We've all encountered the destructive rebel leader who challenges everything simply for the sake of rebellion. Shadow Outlaws create chaos without purpose, tear down without building up, and mistake cynicism for wisdom.

The Lover: The Most Underused Leadership Energy

Okay, you might be thinking. "Lover energy" in corporate leadership? Stay with me. This isn't about romance—it's about passionate connection to beauty, meaning, and what makes work actually worth doing.

Lover leaders manage up by helping senior leadership fall in love again with the organization's mission, by creating presentations that don't just inform but genuinely inspire, and by building relationships based on authentic care rather than transactional necessity.

When managing down, Lover energy creates teams that don't just execute but are genuinely engaged with their work. These leaders help people connect with the beauty in what they're creating, the meaning in their contribution, and the joy that's actually possible within professional excellence.

The shadow to avoid: Think of leaders you've known who used emotional manipulation, played obvious favorites based on personal charm, or created inappropriate intimacy in professional relationships. Shadow Lovers confuse connection with control and inspiration with manipulation.

Making This Actually Work: Your Archetypal Leadership Practice

Here's the thing—the goal isn't to become all archetypes simultaneously. That's impossible and probably exhausting. Instead, it's about developing awareness of which energies will best serve your specific situation:

When you're in crisis mode: Lead with Ruler stability and Warrior courage, seasoned with some Magician innovation.

During major transformation: Blend Hero’s Journey-making with Outlaw system-challenging and Lover meaning-making.

In growth phases: Emphasize Magician possibility-creating and Lover inspiration, supported by solid Ruler structure.

When facing serious resistance: Channel Warrior determination and Outlaw rule-breaking, balanced by Ruler wisdom.

The most effective executives I work with have learned to read their organizational moment and access the archetypal energies most needed, while staying vigilant against those shadow expressions that can completely derail leadership effectiveness.

The Bottom Line

Jung believed that psychological wholeness requires integrating these universal patterns of human energy. For executives, this integration isn't just nice-to-have personal development—it's organizational necessity.

When you lead from archetypal awareness, you stop trying to be everything to everyone and start being exactly what the moment requires. Your team experiences authentic leadership that actually adapts to serve their needs. Your higher-ups encounter a leader who brings both strategic thinking and inspirational vision.

Most importantly, you create an organizational culture where others can access their own archetypal strengths, building teams that are genuinely more than the sum of their parts.

The ancient patterns Jung identified aren't just psychological curiosities—they're your leadership inheritance. The question isn't whether you'll embody these archetypes, but whether you'll do so consciously and skillfully.

So here's my question for you: What archetypal energy does your current leadership moment require?