THE LOVER — BRAND ARCHETYPE & LEADERSHIP

Commit to what you love.

While the Lover archetype is often seen in the cosmetics, jewelry, fashion, and travel industries, our times require us to reimagine how the Lover archetype can show up in other industries and serve as a facet of leadership. ⁠The Lover archetype is linked to all manifestations of HUMAN LOVE: parental, friendship, romantic, but also spiritual.

Recently, the insurance company New York Life released an ad campaign that illustrated different types of love, according to the Greeks: Eros (Romantic), Philia (Friendship), and Agape (Empathetic, Universal.) By illustrating other types of love, beyond romantic, New York Life touched on our human need for deep connection.

In terms of leadership, the Lover archetype emphasizes our human ability to connect emotionally with others, but also with higher concepts such as beauty, the emotional depth that transcends time, and collaboration. It’s leadership grounded in an understanding of our nuanced emotional landscape, taking into consideration input from our senses and the environment around us. Its emotional intelligence is not just up in the higher mind but rooted in a sensual earthiness that links body, mind, and feelings.

This is a model of leadership rarely seen, as our culture still struggles with bridging the mind, body, and heart. The Lover leader fosters unity through its ability to build connections through the many expressions of love. In our leadership culture, an element often left out is the very ingredient that makes it all possible: the mystery of love.

Motivations

The motto of the Lover archetype is to attain intimacy. Its goal is to be in a relationship with other people, their work, environment, and pleasure in these connections. It does this by making itself attractive — as in being able to attract that which it desires. This can be done by becoming more attractive physically (i.e., the cosmetics industry as a vital example) and emotionally engaging through nuanced empathic intelligence. It uses the skill to connect with others, ideas, and work through a sixth sense of using its emotional intelligence.

It’s also driven to help oneself, and others find self-acceptance and experience joy in who they are. It’s an archetype that highlights one’s inherent attractiveness: the ability to call into one’s life what they desire. It highlights what is already loveable and attractive about one, instead of highlighting what is unacceptable or lacking.

⁠Other Related Archetypes are:⁠⠀⁠⠀

*Companion
*Connoisseurs
*Sensualist
*Romantic
*Matchmakers
*Enthusiasts
*Team builders

⁠The desire to attract, give love, and express affection in pleasurable ways paves the way for a type of leadership that is rarely seen in our culture. It strives for the win-win angle, rather than a win-lose scenario.

Many industries that align with the Lover archetype, especially the cosmetics and fashion industry, have been slow to take the gift of connection and build relational bridges as the primary force behind this archetype. Our culture is still under the spell of the Romantic Movement of the 1800s, and it’s reflected in our yet infantilized idea of what love and the Lover can be.

We are slowly expanding our definition of love. Businesses that align with the Lover Archetype have an added challenge of bringing forth other manifestations of what love can mean for our culture and times.

Challenges

When working with a Brand Archetype for your business, it’s critical also to explore its shadow aspects. ⁠Working with the shadow aspects of your Brand Archetype is your path towards your pot of gold. It illuminates the hidden aspects of what makes your brand attractive. If you only focus on the strengths, you will be missing out on the hidden ingredients that give your brand its backbone and ability to stand competition and copycats.

Your niche/clients/customers may not be able to name it, but your shadow work will have its resonance with your followers. Understanding the shadow/challenges of a Brand Archetype can serve as a connection point with your audience. These may be the very things they are struggling with and need help healing/solving. ⁠

⁠Plus, through shadow work, you can also have a better understanding of how the unconscious aspects of the Brand Archetype can work negatively in the business. ⁠Conscious awareness eliminates entrenched issues down the line. ⁠

⁠⁠When it comes to the LOVER archetype, these are few issues that warrant exploration:⁠

⁠*Fear of not being enough⁠
*Fear of being alone or disconnected⁠
*Feeling unloved or unwanted⁠
*Compulsive drive to connect
*Envy, jealousy, and addiction
*Inability to build a connection or commitment with others⁠

⁠The quest for love and connection is intrinsic to the human story. The Lover archetype is, at its core, an archetype of transformation and rebirth, as it offers us a remembrance of ideas and ideals that elevate our human experience. As a leadership model, the Lover does this by being in a closer relationship with us and thus reawakening in us our gift of self-acceptance.

Strengths

The strengths of a Brand Archetype are the cornerstone of its resonant attractiveness to its audience. Acknowledging these will help you rethink your products, services, and your messaging. ⁠An awareness of your brand archetype’s strength is an acknowledgment of what is already inherently attractive about your business/product/service. We’re often quite narrowminded about the strengths we hold. The exploration of your Brand Archetype’s strength is an ongoing journey of discovery that informs every facet of your business.

⁠Here are a few strengths for the LOVER archetype:⁠

⁠*Vitality — zest for life⁠
*Passion⁠
*Sensuality⁠
*Appreciation for life, relationships, communication⁠
*Devotion and commitment to what it loves⁠

⁠Understanding your Brand Archetypes’ strengths is discovering what makes your brand attractive. It’s also what helps your clients/customers connect with your business. They either see their strengths reflected in your brand or see their potential, what they would like to be in such reflection. ⁠⠀⁠⠀

⁠Your Brand Archetype’s strengths are your attraction magnet. ⁠But remember that your strengths are magnified if you weave them with the healed aspects of its shadow. As a leader, the Lover archetype is successful when it’s able to help people feel safe to be vulnerable and closer to a more profound transformation. It does this through being a superb communicator and able to evoke trust and closeness. At its core, the Lover archetype teaches us that love triumphs overall.

Want to learn more about how Brand Archetypes can help you get clear about you and your business? Remember, you are the GENESIS of your BRAND. Download our eBook on “Brand Archetypes & You” here.