Meredith Mansfield, Author

I don’t think I really need to go into depth about the Warrior’s Journey. We all know the shape of that story. And, anyway, there are a lot of resources for learning more about it. But, maybe we need to look closely at a good example of the Leader’s Journey. Unfortunately, neither Katniss nor Samwise are the best examples of a Leader. Katniss is not very good at creating a team by her own efforts, though she’s extremely loyal to her team once they’ve been recruited. She says it herself, that she’s not good at making friends. In the beginning, both Peeta and Haymitch do more of the recruiting than she does. And, at least initially, she seems just as happy to be off on her own. And then there’s Samwise, who never recruits a team at all. So, for an example of the Leader’s Journey, I’m going to follow Gail Carriger and go back to ancient Greek mythology and the story of Demeter and Persephone. I’ll mark the major points of the Journey in bold.

Demeter was the Greek goddess of agriculture and the harvest and she had a daughter named Persephone. One day, when Demeter was on Mount Olympus, seat of the Greek gods, tending to business, Persephone went for a walk in the meadows below, picking wild flowers. Suddenly, a chasm opened up beside her and Hades, god of the Underworld, grabbed Persephone and dragged her down to his realm.

Someone dear to Demeter, her daughter, is in danger.

Demeter didn’t know what had happened to Persephone, but she knew something wasn’t right. She appealed to her brother gods for help. (In Greek mythology, quite literally her brothers.) They were sympathetic, but none of them offered any real help or solutions. Demeter threw down her crown and stepped down from her throne, leaving Mount Olympus to search on her own.

Abdication of a position of power and even of a part of her identity, not always voluntarily.

Demeter searched everywhere, but couldn’t find any sign of her daughter until one of her sister goddesses, Hecate, caught up with her. Hecate suggested that they should talk to Helios, the Greek god of the Sun, since he might have seen something as he drove the chariot of the sun across the sky. Helios reluctantly admitted that he saw what happened and told Demeter that Hades took Persephone. But he also advised her to look on the bright side, after all, Hades would make a powerful son-in-law.

The Leader’s team excels at information gathering.

Depressed and feeling even more betrayed by those she expected to help her, Demeter continued to wander, disguising herself as an old woman. In this guise, she was found by the daughters of a local king. The girls took pity on the old woman and took her back to the palace, where she was given a place and made nanny to the infant prince.

The Leader is in the most danger when she (or he) is alone.

Disguises are a common feature of the Leader’s Journey.

Iambe visited with Demeter and told her dirty jokes until Demeter laughed. This lightened her mood and finally began to break her out of her depression.

Humor is much more common on the Leader’s Journey than on the Warrior’s Journey. It can be a source of cohesion within the team as well as breaking the tension.

Demeter now realized that what she needed was a new team—one that would help her recover Persephone. So, she decided to make the infant she was caring for into an immortal so that he could help her. In Greek mythology, this could only be accomplished by burning the mortal part away.

She laid the infant in the fire to begin the process. Just then, the baby’s mother came in and freaked out. (Well, wouldn’t you?). Hearing the uproar, the father came in—and also freaked out. Demeter then dropped her disguise, appearing before them as the goddess. By way of apology, the King built a big, new temple for Demeter and in return Demeter taught their older son the principles of agriculture.

Building or other signs of an increase in civilization are hallmarks of the Leader’s Journey.

Also, the Leader is just as willing to help her team mates as she expects them to be to help her. In fact, she may often recruit her team mates by helping them first.

Once Demeter took the throne in her new temple, the other gods—the ones who hadn’t helped Demeter in the beginning—came to beg her to return to Mount Olympus. Without her, there had been no harvest. There was a famine, and the gods were afraid that if everyone died there’d be no one left to worship them. To each, Demeter replied that she wouldn’t return to Mount Olympus until she saw her daughter.

Finally, Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to the Underworld to tell Hades that he had to let Persephone go. Hades was reluctant, but agreed to a visit. Hermes led Persephone up to the surface where she and Demeter were reunited.

However, Hades revealed that, while in the Underworld, Persephone had eaten four pomegranate seeds, which tied her to the Underworld. Demeter proposed a compromise. Persephone would spend four months of the year in the Underworld with Hades, and the remainder of the year with Demeter.

The Leader is willing to compromise and find a win/win solution. She (or he) doesn’t care about glory or revenge. She (or he) is all about results. And loyalty to her (or his) team.

Another aspect of the Leader’s Journey not exemplified by this story:

The Leader is also good at delegation, asking each member of the team to undertake the tasks that they are individually best suited for—and giving them the glory for achieving those tasks. When the mission or the team is in jeopardy, the Leader is likely to react as a general, deploying her (or his) team to best effect. This is partly why I chose to call this journey the Leader’s Journey.