In our last post about “Selling Yourself Short,” we offered three steps to successful marketing: aligning with your purpose, learning marketing skills, and becoming purpose-centered.
The question we responded to came from a reader who said that
“No matter what I try, when it comes to selling myself or marketing, it becomes the biggest obstacle. The reason it is the biggest obstacle is that I am an introvert and no matter how many trainings I do, I highly dislike and am very uncomfortable giving presentations, doing cold calls, or being a “salesperson”, etc…..”
In this 2-part post, we will cover how being an introvert or extrovert relates to your role, an archetypal way of being that is a part of who you are. We will relate your role to marketing. In our Awaken to Your True Purpose material, we detail these seven roles that came from the Michael Teachings.
The three introverted roles are server, artisan and warrior. The extroverted ones are priest, sage and king. The neutral role is scholar. We do have some portions of all the roles, but one role is definitely primary.
As a note, we have many other characteristics that influence us such as gender, culture, and karma. In addition, there are the other Michael “overleaves to our soul,” which include goal, mode, attitude and chief feature. There is also a strong secondary role that influences, as well.
So one needs to balance this information with other factors as you apply it to yourself and others. Here then is a brief overview of each of the seven roles and how they affect marketing.
Mother Teresa - server role
SERVERS
The server’s main purpose is to serve the common good. Approachable and easy-going, the server role likes to be behind the scenes. And like the person who identified herself as an introvert in the opening comments above, the server feels more comfortable working one to one or in small groups.
• Strengths: Empathetic and sensitive to others. Easy to like and trust.
• Challenge: Doesn’t want to stand out in the crowd and can be too passive in promoting yourself.
• Action Steps: Stretch out of your comfort zone, if only gradually. Do a teleseminar, create a report or product. Tell people about it online or in-person.
Albert Einstein - artisan role
ARTISANS
Spontaneous, imaginative and eccentric, artisans see life as a creative project. They have many open internal channels, continually receiving and processing input.
• Strengths: Original and innovative. Can easily come up with new material and approaches.
• Challenge: Overwhelmed by too many ideas and options. Artisans may be prone to starting projects without sufficiently testing it to see if it will succeed.
• Action Steps: Combine your great ideas with feedback from what your niche says it wants. Test by surveying your clients, students and subscribers what they want and how interested they may be in your creative ideas.
Dan Millman- warrior role
WARRIORS
Physical and and goal-oriented, the warrior role prizes getting things done in a direct, effective way. Like a good soldier, they are apt to follow a plan or strategy, he/she will do what it takes to succeed. Warriors are not necessarily soldiers. They are also exemplified by high-caliber athletes who have tremendous endurance and persistence.
• Strengths: Quite action-oriented and likes challenges of going outside comfort zone. Can take on marketing challenges with unwavering focus.
• Challenge: May become too direct and abrupt with people. Might be tunnel visioned on goals and unable to adapt to new circumstances.
• Action Steps: As Michael Jordan once advised, “let the game come to you.” In other words, be patient and intentional. Develop relationships for the long-term, which is what marketing is all about (the “know, like, and trust” factor).
In part 2, we will cover the extroverted roles (priests, sages and kings) and the neutral role (scholar).
Servers, artisans and warriors would all have different kinds of introversion, as discussed above. According to the Michael Teachings, the more introverted or “ordinal” roles are more narrowly focused and oriented to immediate tasks. Whereas the extroverted or “exalted” roles have a wider focus and are more a fit with bigger groups and standing out more.
As far as introverts having extra challenges marketing, Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Crush It, says, “Even the dullest introvert has pizazz when talking about something hi is passionate about, and when he’s using the right medium to talk about it.”
RESOURCES
If you wish to explore the fascinating and profound material about roles and the other Michael overleaves (goals, attitudes, modes, chief defenses), see our workbook-audio set of Awaken to Your True Purpose.
We also have a home-study course on Soul Purpose, which uses this material as its foundation.
Stay tuned for Part 2, so you can get the rest of the overview to help determine your role…
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice to see the MIchael Teachings roles come out more – good short description of them. Thank you!
Matthew,
Yes, we’ve used and taught the Michael Teachings for many years. It helps put so many things into perspective plus provides a bigger picture of what’s going on.
Phillip Mountrose
Quite interesting; I’m wondering if you could have a blend of the archetypes and what that would mean in marketing? For example, as a business coach for introverts people know me as original and creative, and taking on new challenges with an ability to self-promote like no one. I’m reading this as a cross between the artisan and warrior. My question is just, can we be a combination of types? Does it depend on your full MBTI type?
Patricia,
It’s good to be not too black and white with the archetypal roles. As mentioned briefly in the post, there are many influences that make up who we are.
One is an influential secondary role, our “essence twin,” according to the Michael Teachings. This is akin to have a twin brother or sister, although the essence twin is probably not in your family and may not even be currently incarnated. Nonetheless, the role of your essence twin can influence you significantly, next to having your one primary role throughout your life.
As mapped out in our Awaken to Your True Purpose material, there are many other influences as well (goal, mode, attitude, chief defense and body type). A fascinating and profound study.
what’s the difference between introvert and shy? they sound the same.
Billy,
Introverts can be shy but not necessarily, just as extroverts can be “hams” but not necessarily. In the context of these posts, introverted means more in alignment with working with smaller groups and one-to-one; extroverted roles are more comfortable working with larger groups. To find out the particulars, examine each role.
For more details, and putting introverts and extroverts into the bigger picture, see our Awaken to Your True Purpose program: http://www.gettingthru.org/spurpose.htm
Phillip