Insubordinate: 12 New Archetypes for Women Who Lead by Jocelyn Davis
The witch. The temptress. The snow queen. What do these three archetypes have in common? They’re all descriptors of powerful women in fairytales and ancient myth.
In Insubordinate (Amplify Publishing), Jocelyn Davis looks at past archetypes of legendary women and asks how we can reframe them for our modern-day. With more women than ever in the workforce, we’ve made great strides — but that doesn’t mean the struggles for respect and recognition is over.
See how Jocelyn Davis has reworked these classic archetypes into actionable advice for the modern working woman to follow.
Q: What inspired you to write this guidebook for women?
A: As a long-time student of history and philosophy, I love bringing ancient wisdom from diverse traditions to bear on today’s problems. My previous two leadership books, The Greats on Leadership (2016) and The Art of Quiet Influence (2019), take insights and stories from the great sages of the past (Western and Eastern), blend them with modern-day research and business examples, and use the results to show how we all can do a better job as leaders, no matter our official role or position. With Insubordinate, I wanted to apply that same approach to help women, specifically. But the idea for the book was sparked by my personal experience a decade ago of being fired for — yes — insubordination! I was also inspired by the multitude of brave, smart, savvy women I’ve encountered in my career and life.
Q: Tell us about your experience in leadership development and how that influenced your writing.
A: I spent most of my career at a Boston-based management consulting firm, The Forum Corp., where I rose to become the head of R&D, leading the team that created our corporate training programs in leadership and sales. You might think, “Writing training manuals? Sounds easy.” But what we really did was, first, conduct original research to pinpoint the skills and mindsets that characterize good leaders; then, design learning programs to teach those skills and mindsets. And the learning programs were like interactive theater experiences, with tons of audience participation, which had to be teachable by any of our facilitators, both in person and online. Everyone from the client CEO down to the participants had to love them. And they were pricey.
So, not only did I learn an awful lot about leadership, but I learned an awful lot about how to design — that is, write — useful, sellable, entertaining, effective leadership content.
Q: In your latest book, you “reclaim” twelve timeless female archetypes that have historically been used to diminish women’s leadership potential. What’s an example? And how do you connect these archetypes to modern leadership?
A: Some of the archetypes I discuss are the Temptress, the Amazon, the Mama Bear, the Snow Queen, the Empress and the Witch. Let’s consider the Temptress. It might be hard to see how such a label can be inspirational, let alone applicable to the workplace! But if we look at legendary Temptresses – like opera’s Carmen, featured in the first chapter – we can see that the Temptress archetype isn’t really about being sexy; it’s about being a daredevil of connection, the person who leads with relationship energy and uses that energy to get results. I share the real-life story of “Caroline,” a marketing executive at my former company, who was a bold, brilliant firecracker, a star who made her colleagues, male and female, feel like stars themselves. She brought the fun to every encounter. Now, that kind of warmth isn’t everyone’s strength, but if it’s your strength, why not use it? Insubordinate is all about being your authentic self and taking advantage of your full range as a leader.
Q: What was the research process like for Insubordinate?
A: Several years back, I earned a Master’s degree in Eastern classics (the philosophy and literature of India, China, and Japan) from St. John’s College here in Santa Fe. Those studies fed directly into my book The Art of Quiet Influence, which shows how the intellectual traditions of Eastern cultures inform our ability to lead without positional authority. There were so many wonderful stories and legends about women, in particular, that we discussed in that program and that I didn’t get a chance to include in Quiet Influence. Those stories — of women like Shakuntala and Savitri from India, Guan Yin from China, Sei Shonagon from Japan and more — gave me six of my twelve literary examples, and the others came from European literary and operatic canons. I read a lot of books! And for the real-life examples, I was able to draw upon a slew of impressive women leaders I knew from my consulting career and personal life.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from this book?
A: I can’t put it any better than one of my early readers, Vivien Price, who wrote: “Insubordinate held me in thrall from the quiz on the first page to the do’s and don’ts on the last page, helping me figure out who I am, understand and value each facet, and delight in the congruence and wholeness I feel when I pull the pieces together. Here is the call to action for any and every woman to embrace and use her gifts even if they aren’t in line with the current regime. If you want to know what it feels like to be free of the self-limiting beliefs that hold you back, this is the book for you.”
Q: What’s next for you?
A: My current project is a memoir with the working title Ticket to Madland: One Woman’s Wild Ride through a Wrenching Mental Illness. It’s the story of my own journey through a crushing neurological-psychiatric illness that first tiptoed into my brain in 2011 and, after doing its best to shatter me, ended with a two-week stay in a hospital psych ward (after which I recovered, thank goodness). But the book isn’t just about me; it’s also about the fascinating people I met along the way: doctors, nurses, counselors, and patients. I’m hoping this book will make a small dent in the mystery, stigma and fear surrounding mental illness. The truth is, any of us may find ourselves holding a ticket to Madland. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be the last stop.
Jocelyn Davis is an internationally known author and speaker and the former head of R&D for a global leadership development consultancy. Her previous business books include Strategic Speed, The Greats on Leadership and The Art of Quiet Influence. Her historical novel, The Age of Kali, has been called “brilliant,” “heretical,” and “deeply moving.”
Jocelyn holds master’s degrees in philosophy and Eastern classics; she loves bringing ancient stories and wisdom from many cultures to bear on modern, practical issues. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Jocelyn is available for speaking engagements, interviews, and workshops.
