It was Friday 9:48pm and the final dessert from the ten-course wedding dinner has been served. The Groom and the Bride were greeting their guests, moving from one table to the next to chit-chat and take group pictures.
My colleague looked again at his watch for the second time - in the last thirty seconds. “OK, I have to move now. I need to go back to the office.”
”Wait, what? I thought I heard you said that you needed to go back to the office.”
”Yes, I need to, because …”
The rest of that exchange is a blur to me now.
The Knight
I have seen it one too many time. Those teams or team members who are always giving it all, in term of energy, effort and time to achieve the predefined set of goals. They embodied the Warrior energy, always eager to push through and make things move forward.
Similar to the Knight in chess, they will find ways to jump over obstacles and get things done. Once the goal is achieved, immediately jumped into the next one, which is quite often already started in parallel a while ago.
The question is: how can organisations channel the energy in the right direction? In what type of pace and for how long? Can it be supported and complemented by another type of people, based on another archetype?
Mea Culpa
The thing is… I‘ve been there and done that too.
Not exactly in the exact same context as to finish a nice wedding dinner and then rushing off back to the office, but another variation of the same thing.
In what feels like a lifetime ago, yet still as clear as yesterday in my mind, I remembered countless nights where I ended my day having burger at Quick - a French fast food chain originated in Belgium - in the middle of the night, before walking along the avenue of Champs-Elyses toward my apartment in Rue des Acacias, just around the ‘corner’ of l’Arc de Triomphe.
For the record, I used to see it as a badge of honour, but no more. Although I must admit that I’m still pretty much work in progress in this area.
What should organisations do?
Let me rephrase that - what should business leaders do about it? What should teammates do when they see that their colleague is consistently burning the candles on both ends? What should you do when you caught yourself in that situation?
I suppose there is no right and wrong answer, but I do have my opinion.
If it is something that truly makes someone happy (including yourself), by all means let it continues. The keyword here is ‘truly’.
If you have other preference but you need to push through occasionally - due to commitment, deadline, reputation, or whatever it might be - same thing here, let it continues.
However, if you find yourself always feeling stressed, or anxious, or both - then you need to take few steps back and re-evaluate things.
- Is there a better way of doing things?
- Should you be tapping into your Magician archetype?
- Can I ask for support from others?
- Is whatever I’m doing right now really necessary?
- Am I being busy or am I being productive?
- … and other questions that are more suitable in your context …
“With great power comes great responsibility.” - Uncle Ben
If you are so happened to be in position of power or influence over others, then offer your support if you think they need help - disclaimer: ask and confirm before hand to avoid being busy buddy.
At the end of the day, the world needs The Warrior energy, but channeled in the right direction, for the right purpose and in harmony with the energy from other archetypes. We’ll discuss about the others in separate posts.
Our support
If you need expert support on this topic for yourself or your team, reach out to us. Our partner Sinergia Consultant provides structured approach for individuals and teams to help you manage the warrior amongst us, for the benefit of the individual, team and organisation.
Author - Kiky SHANNON
