Be a Hero

Overview Myth is a highly misunderstood concept in today's culture. Although it's typically viewed as mere fairy tale, myth actually reveals truth, and is meant to transfer truth to a culture in an entertaining, understandable way. Our society is built on myth. We see the influence of myth in our art, literature, and music, in our social structure, and in our political and religious institutions. We're surrounded by myth, yet we're unaware of its presence, patterns, and power to guide the leader's quest for truth and freedom. The Leadership Myth describes the journey that hero-leaders have been experiencing since the dawn of time. But becoming a true leader, involves more than learning just a few basic principles-principles without processes are platitudes. One must become engaged in the process, and this book outlines that process, step by step. In my leadership and sales training seminars, I got tired of having to use the superficial and ineffective leadership materials currently available, so I decided to write my own. The Leadership Myth uses Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology to demonstrate the process of leadership and to map the quest from greed to great, from transactional to transformational leadership. Each reader will take the journey to becoming a true hero-leader by discovering what leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth, Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, and others have learned-that the path to true leadership is a process and not a collection of empty principles. Once readers have discovered the leadership journey, they'll begin to see evidence of it all around them, in movies, stories, the media, and most importantly, in themselves. The Leadership Myth is a saga of brave warriors setting out on a mystical quest in search of magical golden rings, chalices, and fleeces. Along the journey, they encounter witches, enchanting woods, dark underworlds, secret passages, mysterious towers, terrible dragons, monsters, giants, elves, trolls, dwarfs, ghosts, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards. But this journey isn't Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. It's a real-life guidebook, teaching readers how to awaken the hero-leader within themselves. The Leadership Myth outlines the hero's pilgrimage to self-discovery. It investigates the different aspects in the hero's quest for becoming a responsible, powerful leader. Heroes enter the woods at their own point and must overcome incredible obstacles and challenges, facing fears that are beyond their most terrifying nightmares. In this book, there are no prescribed laws or principles-because every person must make the journey themselves in order to become a true hero-leader. There are only insights, gathered from brave heroes who answered the call to greatness for humanity's sake. The true hero-leader needs to possess characteristics and qualities that can't be learned from business school courses alone. They can only be learned by undertaking the heroic journey, and by undergoing the process of evolving from immature leader to mature hero-leader.When we study our greatest leaders and their journeys, a pattern develops. Many of them came from privileged backgrounds. They are wounded at an early age by a personal tragedy, debilitating illness, or disability. They were educated and trained in the best schools and received much encouragement at home. In their developmental stage, they experienced an intense desire to lead and their perseverance and charisma propelled them into positions of leadership. Hero-leaders have a vision, assemble a team, set out on a quest, enter the woods at their own point, and possess a distinctive plan for success. Along the way, they encounter challenges that severely tax their beliefs and skills. They sometimes are tempted to rest upon their prior achievements and begin to believe their own public image of wealth, power, and significance-thus failing their followers, family, and themselves. If they survive this lapse of purpose, hero-leaders resurrect like the Phoenix, ready to continue their quest. But they must then descend into the lair of their most formidable foe-their own ego. Once they've slain that terrible demon, they emerge as humble, compassionate leaders, no longer consumed with self-importance and self-preservation, and continue their quest with a deeper understanding of their true purpose.The Leadership Myth unravels the mystery of the heroic quest and outlines each step a person must take in order to become a true hero-leader. It brings new meaning to the modern world through the use of ancient symbolic images, describes the universal truths contained within the leadership myth, and outlines the difficult, but rewarding path we must follow if we wish to reveal the hero-leader that dwells within every human soul.

Author Biography Matthew Stanley, M.B.A., Ph.D. is the owner of Stanley and Associates, Inc., a seventeen-year-old consulting and training firm in West Virginia. He has trained large, medium, and small companies in leadership and communication skills. He also owns one of the largest business and marketing plan firms in the nation, BusinessAndMarketingPlans.com consulting hundreds of firms per year, and helping many to obtain funding. As an adjunct professor in marketing and management, he has taught on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. He owns a printing company and is a stockholder in an international bio-chemical company. He was a partner in a national bottled water company that sold water in thirty- two states, 2,200 convenient stores and 1,700 grocery stores. Dr. Stanley has written for the State Journal, a monthly business newspaper, and has received regional and national awards for business, sales, and marketing. He has a BA from Marshall University, and an MBA from Marshall University Graduate College, and a Ph.D. from Buxton University. Dr. Stanley is available for keynote speaking, training for organizations and business. He can be reached at 304-252-0324 or matthewstanley@stanleyandassociates.com Matthew has succeeded and failed as both a leader and a businessperson.