While Kurt Jung appreciates the attention which the MBTI has brought to his uncle’s original concept of personality type, Kurt (like his uncle and most Jungians) prefers to identify the personality types of his clients by talking with them about the preferences and actions they have taken in their life. In working with Mitch Lauridsen, Kurt did use results from a test that Mitch took online but checked with Mitch to see if the type identified by the test was accurate. I suspect that Kurt Jung would have also been checking during his session with Mitch to see if the test-generated typology was holding up.
Types of Leadership
In addition to personality types, psychologists and others in the human relations and organizational consulting and coaching fields, have a strong proclivity to identify different types of leadership. One of the simplest yet insight-producing was offered by Wilfred Bion (1961) who wrote about the wise, courageous and visionary leader. I provided this typology to Kurt Jung’s in his work with Mitch.
It is important to note that each of these three forms of leadership requires a certain condition of the organization or society in which they are operating. The wise leader is only effective if those in the system where they are operating remain “less smart” then their leader. When those working in Mitch’s newspaper enterprise become most knowledgeable than Mitch—especially regarding innovative practices (such as the use of AI), then Mitch will have to switch from being the wise leader.
The courageous leader will only remain “in charge” when there is a perceived enemy. The potential for invasion or loss is required. For Mitch, the “enemy” could have been competing newspapers, other media or simply the threat of AI. Mitch never seemed to be particularly aligned with this second type of leadership, though there were probably sufficient threats in the world of newspaper production to justify this type of leadership.
As is the case with many founders of organization, Mitch Lauridsen was initially a visionary leader. He also followed the road of many other founders in becoming less of a visionary as the organization became more mature and stable. Mitch became the wise leader with plenty of stories to share about the founding of the organization.
In becoming a guardian rather than creator, Mitch would have experienced a sense of loss and transition. The founding stories eventually appear to be dated and no longer relevant. There would have then been a second transition, when Mitch no longer possessed the greatest amount of knowledge about his business. Another sense of loss and transition would have to occur. Mitch was probably at this point in his life as leader of Western Times Press, though this issue was not immediately addressed in his sessions with Dr. Jung. Perhaps, he returns to Zurich in another year or two.
Psychic Theater
I have provided Kurt Jung with a unique concept (psychic theater) that captures the many roles played by unconscious characters in Jungian psychology. In the hypothetical sessions with Mitch Laurdson, Kurt Jung is relying on the traditional distinctions between masculine and feminine that have existed in many cultures for many centuries. However, in the 21st Century, we are finding not only wider acceptance of same sex preferences, but also a shattering in the youth culture of the basic distinction between male and female. I suspect that alternative concepts of masculine and feminine will emerge in Jungian psychology.
