Carol Pearson

About the Author

Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D., D.Min., is an internationally known authority on archetypes and their application to everyday life and work. Her early work in this field, upon which she has expanded over time, produced books and monographs that have helped people all over the world find their purpose and live more fulfilling and successful lives through increasing their archetypal narrative intelligence. Such books include The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By and Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes To Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World. Together with Hugh Marr, she also developed the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator™ (PMAI™), a tested instrument that helps individuals discover the archetypes that motivate them at a deep level, along with a supporting workbook, What Stories Are You Living? Discover Your Archetypes--Transform Your Life, that allows them to discover which of their active archetypes is a core archetype, which might be related to an area of unlived vitality, and which might cause them problems if they fail to connect with it. This system is also implicit in her mythology-based book Persephone Rising: Awakening the Heroine Within, written for both men and women.

Dr. Pearson’s more recent work helps individuals and leaders not only achieve personal success in their careers but also to develop workplaces that are healthier for employees and that enhance the ability of organizations to achieve their goals. Publications on this subject include The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes (co-authored by Margaret Mark); Mapping the Organizational Psyche: A Jungian Theory of Organizational Dynamics and Change (co-authored by John Corlett); Magic at Work: Camelot, Creative Leadership, and Everyday Miracles (with Sharon Seivert), and The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the Twenty-First Century (ed.), which grew out of a three-year project with the Fetzer Institute that she co-led. As part of that project, she also wrote a pamphlet that uses an archetypal analysis to help readers understand contemporary American culture: Maturing the American Dream: Archetypal American Narratives Meet the Twenty-First Century. In addition, she developed the Organizational and Team Culture Indicator™ (OTCI™), a tested instrument that identifies archetypes in organizational cultures. The OTCI was acquired by Kenexa, a global human resources firm, in 2008 and was renamed the Kenexa Cultural Insight Survey™ (KCI™). It is used for internal branding and to enhance employee satisfaction, effectiveness, and retention.

Many of Dr. Pearson’s publications are available in a growing number of foreign languages and in e-book as well as print form.

A respected scholar and higher education administrator, Dr. Pearson served most recently as Executive Vice President/Provost and then President of Pacifica Graduate Institute. Previously, she was Professor of Leadership Studies in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and the Director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership. During her tenure, the Academy was the incubator of the International Leadership Association (ILA), and Dr. Pearson was a member of ILA’s Board of Directors. Currently, she is an author and educator in private practice.