What's Your Professional Identity Archetype?

Do you know your “Professional Identity Archetype”?

Probably not yet. But here’s your chance!

I am excited to share a new quiz with you that my team and I just created. It’s called the What’s My Professional Identity Archetype? Quiz.

Archetypes & Your Personal Brand

For years I’ve been coaching ambitious executives to help them establish their personal brand – their professional identity. As I guide them through the process, I run them through many exercises to help them identify and articulate their unique brand.

From the beginning, I noted a common phenomenon. Virtually everyone I coached specifically mentioned how they enjoyed identifying their archetype.

I agree!

Personally, my primary archetype is 🪄 Magician (guides others through transformation), and my secondary archetype is 📚 Sage (focused on teaching and learning).

Yes, that's me!

After months of work, the quiz is ready!

Here’s a link to the quiz. It should take you less than 15 minutes to complete.

What are Archetypes?

Simply put, archetypes are “universal patterns.” These universal patterns can describe people, brands, or stories.

Have you ever heard of “the hero’s journey”? As in, just about any Disney story you can think of? That’s an archetype, a universal pattern.

What about tropes, you ask? While similar, a trope is an element found in literature, movies, plays etc. The test is whether or not that element could appear anywhere in time and still work. If the answer is no, it’s a trope. If the answer is yes, it’s an archetype because it is a universal pattern, transcending literary styles, time, or cultures.

The term “Archetype” comes from:

archḗ (ἀρχή) beginning or origin

týpos (τύπος) pattern

In the 1940’s, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung developed twelve archetypes which he presented as part of a “collective unconscious” in the human psyche.

Through his work in psychoanalysis, and influenced by mythology, religion, and cultural stories, these archetypes are the foundation of much of the work done on archetypes since then, in anthropology, psychology, philosophy, literary analysis, and beyond - now including your professional identity and your personal brand!

Based on this work by Carl Jung and others, I adapted the twelve common archetypes for our context of establishing your professional identity. Now’s your chance to learn which archetype resonates for you!

The 12 Professional Identity Archetypes

👐🏻 Caregiver - Embodies empathy and comfort, a trusted and supportive presence.

🤝 Citizen – Believes in community and collaboration, strives for the greater good.

🎨 Creator – Driven by innovation and the desire to bring new ideas to life.

🚀 Explorer – Thrives on discovery and new experiences.

⛑️ Hero – Motivated by rising to challenges and making a difference.

🌹Impassioned – Leads with passion and dedication, fully committed to your purpose.

♕ Jester – Uses humor and playfulness to create connection and positive energy.

🪄 Magician – A visionary who guides transformation.

👍 Optimist – Focuses on the positive, inspires others.

✊ Revolutionary – Challenges the status quo, seeks bold change.

👑 Ruler – Leads with confidence, guides others with authority.

📚 Sage – Values learning, wisdom, and insight; often acts as a mentor or teacher.

Why Take the Quiz?

There are many reasons why we enjoy taking personality tests, including understanding ourselves, belonging to a group, and improved understanding of others.

You can think of this quiz as a personality test, but with professional identity archetypes.

While enjoyable, the What’s My Professional Archetype Quiz, also provides more practical, career-oriented benefits. Here’s what you’ll gain by taking the quiz:

1. A clear understanding of your dominant archetype - this is about self-awareness!
2. Insight on how to use this knowledge to communicate with confidence and impact.
3. Vocabulary to articulate your strengths and professional style.

It only takes a few minutes, and it’s designed to spark meaningful insights.

Take the Quiz

Once you’ve taken the quiz, I’d love for you to share your results and invite your network to try it too. The more we understand our professional identities, the better we can connect and collaborate.

Please, take the quiz and let me know how it goes!