Mapping the Great Journey: The Hero, Antihero, and Heroine’s Journeys, Part Five

The Antihero’s Journey

In the Hero’s Journey Part One, we discussed how ancient mythology offers us stories that universally point us toward essential truths and patterns and how the hero’s journey is fundamentally a journey from unconsciousness to consciousness. We learned to inquire whether a particular call is ours and if the time to act is now. In Part Two, we considered the three thresholds as three perfect opportunities to reevaluate and how turning back is not a failure but a chance to know ourselves and our greater mission. In Part Three, we considered who makes a great hero (of any gender) and why. In Part Four, we considered the critically important ogres and monsters on the journey, including how they are different from real villains and why they arrive on our doorstep. 

Though we could review the hero’s journey from a hundred different angles a hundred times over, now we turn to the antihero’s journey—and none too soon. The breakdown of the heroic journey is on display, both for individuals and the culture at large, throughout the world right now. But there are also shining examples of the heroic Return—those who make it big and then make it better for you and for me. We’ll look at both. 

The antihero’s journey is not hard to explain—nor to find examples of in our world today. 

Because the heroic journey is in fact a journey toward greater consciousness, it is fair to say that no one starts out a hero—or overly conscious. Yet one day it happens: success arrives. With great effort and many heroic trials behind us, the finish line finally comes into view and we cross it with aplomb or panting and doubled-over, trying to catch our breath. 

Maybe our little startup becomes a raging success and culture changer. Or our search for new and better science pays off with a breakthrough that makes all the best journals and goes on to save lives. Or our vow to make a dent in (insert passionate and worthy cause of choice) leads to an opportunity to speak to our governing bodies and by some miracle they actually act on it. We are surely more conscious than at the start of our journey. But how far have we really come?

We'll find out soon enough.

Victory does what victory always does. It challenges us. Our lofty visions for what we planned to do once we "made it" will now fly or flail. We will follow through on our visions, or stop to rest, or get right back at it, addicted to the quest, pushing for more and more and more.

Sometimes, we do not complete our Return—that all-important proof that we have changed from our trials, and for the better. Sometimes we become seduced by our spoils, fearful of losing what was so hard-won, and vulnerable to every seductive temptation hidden deep in our psyches. 

Perhaps we began with the vow to use only quality ingredients in our products but slid ever so slowly into cutting costs and corners. Perhaps we began with a vision for a greater humanity but ended with a reputation for the inhumane treatment of our staff. Perhaps we began with a desire to bring greater power to the people but ended up unable to give up the power when the moment came. This is the antihero’s journey, where everything that was gained is lost. A new hero will have to rise up to save the world… from us. 

Before you start thinking of all the antiheroes out there, first be aware there is an antihero in each of us. We are all guilty. We believe our front-facing story and disown our shadow sides. We are seduced by security and internally negotiate our position to stay solid and out of danger’s way. We know how to look good on paper, omitting what we don’t want others to see. We ease up on our stated values—even if only just a little, and only this once. 

You see, power is tasty, fame is fabulous, and riches round out the everything-I-ever-wanted list that has been waiting for us forever.

If we give in to the seductions and jump on the antihero’s journey, everything reverses. Dark powers awaken different monsters and ogres. Forces that helped up now hound us, guiding us toward a fall off the cliff of our own making. In the words of James Bonet in Stealing Fire from the Gods, a book of genius for writers and filmmakers:

“Where there was initiation there is now regression; where there was integration there is now alienation; where there was strength there is now weakness; where there is love there is now lust; where there was unity there is now polarity; where there is light there is now darkness; where there was a prince there is now a tyrant; where there was a superhero there is now a Wolf Man or Dr. Hyde; and where the hero’s humanity was being awakened, the antihero’s humanity is being shut down. His generosity has become uncontrolled greed; his compassion hatred and loathing.”

If you are anything like me, despite all heroic efforts, I still seem to be able to dish myself up an occasional serving or two of regression, alienation, weakness, polarity, darkness, greed, loathing, and more. (Sigh.) 

What is important to know is that the cycle is the point.

When I get to the point of that sigh, I remind myself that this is a spiral journey, circling inward and upward toward greater and greater consciousness. No one gets there in one great leap. It’s a step-by-step, round-by-round process. We do not have to be outright villains, and will rarely see ourselves as such, to experience this downside of the heroic journey. Regression seems to be part of the package, like it or not. In fact, it is when we forget this that we are in the most trouble. So let’s look at this in more detail and remember together. 

When the heroic novel or movie ends at what Joseph Campell labeled the “boon”—the receiving of the benefit—the hero rides off into the sunset. Or does he? This idea is no more realistic than Cinderella getting married to Prince Charming and never having to face another problem again for the rest of her life. We were raised on such fairy tales (hugely watered-down versions of those assembled by the Brothers Grimm, whose scary tales sought to wisen us up to the world instead of spinning some fantasy version of how life works). 

Even though we know this, we want to believe in the fantasy version. We like the idea of happily ever after—a lot. It makes us feel safe from all the unhappiness we have known both personally and in the world. In fact, if we have banked our fortunes on the belief that this is how it works (hello, Silicon Valley), we come to sense we need the fantasy version of the tale to be true to make it all worth it. Even if we are wise enough not to fall into that trap, it’s a welcome albeit temporary indulgence to think it could work that way for someone, somewhere. 

No matter where the novelist, playwright, or scriptwriter decides to end the story, in real life the story goes on. Married life is married life, even for a princess. Fame is a job, and the more famous you become, the more it (and you) must be managed. In this case, winning isn’t everything; it’s just the first thing. 

Then, after we win, there are three paths of continuation forward. 

First, the hero can become a benevolent leader. This hero brings his wisdom and wealth to benefit the people he took the journey on behalf of. (As a reminder, he, she and they are interchangeable here). He can remember his vision—naturally, it has matured given all that he has learned—and share the boon with the world as promised. In the heroic journey, this is called the Return. No journey is truly heroic without it.

To give a real-world, real-person example, when I think of a successful heroic Return I quickly think of Maya Draisin Farrah, Senior Vice President of Progressive Marketing at TIME. She was recently interviewed in The Atlantic and spoke, among other things, about how quickly they moved to help solve real problems in the COVID-19 pandemic: “We started moving pretty rapidly in the direction of health in particular. When the pandemic hit, however, it became very clear to us that TIME for Kids and the ability for teachers and parents to handle distance learning was a huge critical need… On March 23, which is basically a week and a half after it became clear that kids were going to be home for school, we launched TIME for Kids’ free digital library, which made TIME for Kids 2020 available to anyone for free anywhere in the world. We’ve had 350,000 people sign up for that library.”

When Maya speaks of her teams, she uses what I can only call a love language. Maya also uses love to communicate about those less privileged and marginalized—the ones our mad-rushing society has left behind. She posts highly sharable social media (often multiple times daily) featuring the difficult things we all need to look at and really see, hard as it might be. Her words in a recent social share about almost 30 million Americans not having enough to eat last week read: “Help your neighbors, our food banks, churches, mutual aid groups, those in your network who may need it. We are all in the same sea, but not the same boats. Be your people’s keepers, with the widest definition of your people.” To me, this is a more realistic picture of a heroic happily ever after—one that takes hard work, determination, and long-term stamina to use what one has gained for the good of all. 

The second possible next step after the boon is won is the antihero’s journey, a regressive descent into selfishness. 

This is the way where the newly minted boon is hoarded—saved only for oneself and to accumulate power. It is used to fortify the stronghold in us until we risk becoming the true villain of our own life. Generosity becomes tightness. Open-minded curiosity becomes that’s just the way we do it. The very same journey up the mountain happens on the way down, complete with all new and even larger ogres and monsters chasing us. It results in a loss of consciousness and, if magnified, a world that is in an even more dire state than when the heroic call was heeded. 

The only question once the antihero’s path is taken is that of degrees: will this be a natural result that self-corrects, complete with lessons learned, and in time edge us toward the spiral upward through more and more heroic attempts… or will all be lost to the antihero’s journey?

I am more reluctant to name names on the antihero’s journey because the ones I have seen up close are confidential, and those I have not personally seen I cannot speak to with absolute certainty. But for the sake of argument, there seem to be plenty of ripe opportunities in the press right now. Four of the giants of our times—Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google—recently were summoned before Congress to speak to the vast power they have wielded over culture through business for the last few decades. They were there because it appears there is a great erosion of what we would collectively consider good. The vast information gathered about us—information we would never give to our government—we must agree to hand over to our technological giants. We pay to play, but at how high a price? 

Each of these companies reflects the heroic journey of a leader who has, by anyone’s standards, received incredible rewards. In some cases, if not all (you be the judge), there appear to be at least a few antihero’s journeys in progress. The mammoth boon has been used to ostensibly “give the people what they want,” yet also to fortify the hold, wield power, amass wealth, and consider the good of the people only if it suits the ever-growing agenda of domination. (I will remind us all, myself at the head of the line, that yet again, there is an antihero in each of us. I own Apple products, use Google on my phone, order from Amazon in my condo locker on the first floor of my building, and am being paid for mentoring at the c-suite level by at least one of these. It is only Facebook that I am outright rejecting—I use it now to briefly and occasionally share my political voice, which feels like something I owe to my longstanding audience there.) 

In the worst of cases, the social failures of the antihero become embedded in society.

We now half-think it is normal to amass great wealth and let the corporate kings control our lives, whatever the social cost. That’s just the way it is. They played the game, won, and now they get the spoils. That’s what you get to do when you win—whatever you want. In this way, especially if you look at the United States and our epic failure to use our vast knowledge, wisdom, power and wealth to protect our own people from COVID-19, our society as a whole can now be seen as on an antiheroic journey. We collectively are failing as epically as we have risen. 

Perhaps even worse, with enough antiheroes, we learn to distrust those in power as a general rule. This can become catastrophic when we truly need to trust our leadership, especially in times of crisis. For example, as vaccines for COVID-19 become available, many are not sure they will be willing to get one. "Women are more likely to be unsure and be on the fence,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as quoted in a National Geographic article. The Center's survey found that 56 percent of men said they would take the hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine, while only 43 percent of women said the same. "Women are oftentimes the healthcare decision makers in the household, so when you think about vaccinating the whole family and making healthcare decisions and appointments, it’s a potentially influential group," Benz says.

One contributing factor may be that women have been marginalized by antiheroes in the form of doctors, big pharma, the government, and those exercising undue power over their bodies for a very long time. Trust has been eroded by countless "leaders" who have been allowed to get away with murder (literally). While not the only reason by far, the dots are not difficult to connect. This, then, is about more than some disappointment that the bad guys have run off with the spoils. That eroded trust will inform the future of us all.

The antidote is not only to punish the bad guys but to find the heroes who are making a positive Return and setting a truly heroic example. 

There are, in fact, successful CEOs leading powerful companies who are making a positive Return. (Keep in mind no one pays me to endorse anyone or anything in this series. Even more important, because we all have the antihero within us and because the journey is long, you may not agree with my assessment of any of these evaluations.) Let’s look at a few examples of a positive and effective Return. 

Airbnb is a work in progress, and to date that progress has often been positive for the people. What began as an idea to make the rent by sharing an air mattress has become a hugely bankable opportunity for both the company and the people it serves. Hotels and motels, once owning a monopoly on travel accommodation, were disrupted to the extent that some of us (raises hand) never even consider staying at one anymore. 

In contrast, I’ve now stayed in beautiful apartments and homes all over the world. I usually elect for the “whole house” option so that I have a kitchen (also disrupting the restaurant industry, but supporting local farm stands and small groceries), but I’ve occasionally shared with the owner or other guests. I’ve also enjoyed several of the Airbnb local “experiences,” especially as I traveled through Greece and Norway last summer. I’ve hired photographers who met me at the Acropolis (see my profile photo here on LinkedIn), eaten at a private home for a traditional Greek meal, danced the night away in off-the-beaten-path pubs, and seen the beautiful fjords at my feet. 

It has also come in handy mid-pandemic. When my son needed to socially isolate before visiting me, we rented a nearby airbnb for him for two weeks. Per the company guidelines, everything was handled with the utmost of care and caution. 

Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia probably didn’t even know they were on a heroic journey, at least at the start in 2008. Yet despite plenty of “trials” along the way to becoming two of the greatest disruptors of our time, the boon was won and the journey has become classic. But how do they fare on the Return? 

According to popular lore, in June of 2012, they booked their 10,000,000th night. It would have been a perfect time to sell out, vision down, or take the money and run. So far, they have not. In 2014 their redesigned logo—the Belo, because “we imagine a world where you can belong anywhere”—was created with clearly visionary elements, including a heart for love. This is the equivalent of a heroic gauntlet being thrown. 

To back up their vision, Airbnb helped New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg offer free housing for those displaced by Hurricane Sandy. Free and low-cost housing has been offered to refugees, and often fees are waived and host guarantees are maintained. They created Frontline Stays for owners offering hospitality to nurses and other medical personnel through COVID-19. 

Because many hosts have invested in setting up their homes for the Airbnb purpose, they have set aside $250 million to compensate hosts for some of the business they have lost. Perhaps most impressive, these disruptors are exploring a different IPO from the same-old, same-old offered to date. The Long Term Stock Exchange is a progressive option, and word on the street is that Airbnb is taking a good look at this option. These are all signals of a successful heroic Return in progress. 

Another example is LinkedIn, the very platform I am writing on.

I cite it not only because I now use it over all other social media (despite larger audiences on Facebook and Twitter), but because two people I know who both understand the heroic journey and work in senior roles at LinkedIn, shared it with me is an example of a company making a good Return. When your own employees are glad to go to work and find their efforts meaningful in the world, you must be doing something right. 

The LinkedIn vision was clear: help people—all people—professionally network and find jobs. That vision has been realized millions of times over. As of May 2020, there were nearly 700 million registered members in 150 countries, 33 global offices, and 20,000+ employees. Microsoft bought the company for nearly $27 billion in 2017, though it largely leaves LinkedIn to do its own thing. 

“There’s a reason LinkedIn is not in front of Congress with those other four right now,” one of my friends who works in leadership at LinkedIn said to me. My second source agreed about where the credit is due—with 11-year CEO Jeff Weiner, who recently stepped down to become Executive Chairman. 

Despite a reported total compensation in excess of $19 million in the 2015 fiscal year (a heroic boon in nearly anyone’s wildest imagination), what got him excited about his “dream job” was the impact. “The ability to focus 100% on the realization of our mission and vision is, especially in the current environment—this notion of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce—that purpose is something I’m really passionate about. I have the opportunity to work with an extraordinary group of individuals. And to pursue our mission and vision alongside of them is just something that we’re all collectively very passionate about.” 

While it’s tempting to argue that no one should make that kind of money, keep in mind that he gave $14 million in bonuses to company employees and that Weiner was #8 on Glassdoor’s 2019 Top 100 CEOs list, with a 97% approval rating. When asked the secret of his success, he almost always answers: Compassion. To him, this means "...walking a mile in the other person's shoes; and understanding their hopes, their fears, their strengths and their weaknesses." He also started The Compassion Project, a digital learning system that helps elementary school students develop empathy.

While I don’t know Jeff Weiner myself, I do know I’m here writing to you right now. This means that something in his Return is working for you and for me. If customer value is the business terminology for you and me finding it worth our time to be here, then that’s what Weiner has given back. That’s what made his a good Return. 

The third way we can move on after the boon is to move onto the Heroine’s Journey, which we will address in detail in the next several issues of this newsletter.

When the boon in all its glory ends up being not all it was promised to be, when the desire to be rich and famous did not make us happy, and when the “medicine” that was so hard-won on the heroic journey didn’t seem to actually change anything, we may find ourselves on the heroine’s journey. This journey begins when it has become evident that there is more and deeper work needed to further progress toward greater consciousness. We will explore this in detail next.

For those who lead...

As leaders, we set the stage for how we offer our Return to the world. Our success is not the end of the story, it is the next beginning. The following are a few takeaways from conversations I have had about the antihero's journey.

1. When we become successful, we must check ourselves frequently. We must remember why we wanted to win this particular boon. Asking frequently if we have grown in our mission or if we have shrunk back into an antiheroic state is wisdom. We can look for this pattern in those we lead, and help return them to their mission when we see seductions taking hold. 
2. Consider that transparency is one way to ward off the temptations to hoard our spoils and the power that has come with your success. In this case, I use the definition of transparency offered by John Knight, co-founder and Chairman of LeaderShape Global: “Leaders who are transparent live their values. Transparency—an authentic openness to others about one’s feelings, beliefs and actions—allows integrity. Such leaders openly admit mistakes or faults and confront unethical behavior in others rather than turn a blind eye. The key statements used for an individual to test their transparency include 1) I do what I say I will do. I always do my very best to keep my word and not let others down. 2. I am ready to acknowledge my mistakes or errors of judgment. I am open to feedback and positive criticism when things go wrong as a result of my personal decisions. 3. My actions reflect personal values. I reflect regularly to check that the way that I act is in alignment with my own beliefs and values. 4. I believe honesty is always the best policy whatever the consequences. I will not compromise my values even if this means I cannot always fully complete actions agreed with others.”
3. Remember that there is an antihero in each of us (it helps us all to keep from throwing quite so many stones). We are not exempt, nor is anyone on our teams. To learn more about it is to exhibit conscious leadership.

I'm Robin Rice, a senior advisor in conscious leadership for individuals and organizations. I lead, mentor and teach at the intersection of work, personal relationships, and social impact. I invite you to connect with me here on LinkedIn or through my website at RobinRice.com.

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