Insubordinate: 12 New Archetypes for Women Who Lead

by Jocelyn Davis

Witch. Temptress. Snow Queen.

For ages, women have been assigned these and other “bad” labels. Now, we’re reclaiming them. International leadership expert Jocelyn Davis presents twelve timeless female archetypes reimagined and refreshed with stories of literary and everyday women who fought, cajoled, commanded, schemed, or blasted their way free of the chains that bound them. Discover your personal types, along with inspiration and strategies for expanding your range, tapping your inner power, and unleashing your natural leadership in work and life.

Genres: Business, Feminism

248 pages, Hardcover

Published March 21, 2023

Reviews

[Janall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I’ll start off with the fact that I generally don’t read business books or self help books. Frankly, I find most women’s leadership books to be unhelpful to me. I am a midlevel manager in the last decade of my career -who has no plans to be CEO.
However, this book had a completely new take on the topic of women in leadership. I really really enjoyed the stories as I don’t know much about classic literature. And I found the archetypes incredibly helpful for me thinking about the other women at work (and dealing with ) as well as what archetype I am. ( btw I work for a “snow queen”. ) I found it especially helpful to think about which one I can draw on depending on the situation. I tend to naturally be the “mama bear”, but at times I can go into Amazon mode - without allies- which gets me into trouble.
I actually went through and made myself a set of index cards based on the does and don’ts of each type to keep on my desk that I can refer to during zoom meetings at work .
Highly recommend this book regardless of what point you’re at in your career. Also, a great book for book club discussions, because women lead regardless of whether not we work outside the home.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book that you wished was another kind of book?

This was a frustrating read for me. Davis has a talent with the pen. She is clearly well-versed in fable, within and beyond the Western context. I would love to read a fictional retelling of any one of the tales she's covered here.

But that's not what this book is about. What we have is myth and legend reworked (*cough* from scratch, in some cases) into "female archetypes" for the modern woman.

We start with glorious re-renderings of stories from multiple cultures grafted onto a bland, basic "what kind of person am I?" meme machine. There's literally a multiple choice questionnaire at the beginning, reminiscent of the one your middle school bestie sent you in the aughts over MySpace, or maybe that longer one in Teen Beat. For each archetype, we're given a "real' case study, either from the author's lived experiences or other people that she knows. Well, not really in a one-to-one fashion. Archetypes are liberally (re)applied to these anecdotes of company life. Sometimes the author changes her mind later on and retcons what the archetype means. It's all good. This is meant as table decoration, ideally loafing beside a copy of Harvard Review (apparently the author's favourite publication).

I think this is a good case of stretching too far. The author is clearly educated on matters of myth. No surprise that she has a degree on the topic. She has a storied career in certain industries. She also identifies as a feminist. What could go wrong? Well, it felt like crunching down on nuts and bolts in my cereal, milk and soy sauce, the semblance of a spork but with grooves too shallow to be anything but a superficial cue to something truly useful.

On her feminism: This author is very much a product of her generation and cultural backdrop. She also likes to have her cake and eat it too. She frequently invokes feminism and the patriarchy, only to drop in faint praise and rig up false hierarchies. She relies on footnotes to address future criticism. She recognizes trans people and gender fluidity, but can't comment on it here. She also can't say "whether because of nature or nurture," but women are definitely x, y, and z. A lot of her ideas reek of biological essentialism or at the very least learned helplessness. She leans heavily on generalizations, mostly to "prove" her anecdotes right. And so many of these are straight-up nasty stereotypes. "The Medusa Trap is women's tendency to squander our natural insubordination on petty displays of spite directed at our enemies, real or perceived; some call it 'toxic femininity.'" Are you kidding me here? Honestly not sure whether I want to hurl chunks or an f-bomb. Probably both. Meanwhile, the "Empress" is "masculine in her ambition and drive." Does the author not realize that she's simply reifying the status quo? I get the feeling that she actually feels that there are only "men" and "women" in this world who have essential, generalizable qualities that can't be helped, but she's thrown in some hors d'oeuvres for those pesky new-age feminist readers, who will become like gnats, buzzing around her ears, leading her to hedge her claims, or at least preclude the expected in a footnote. But since she feels that "[b]reaking stereotypes just for the sake of it is a false triumph," I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. She even bemoans how women have lost "some of their traditional force" due to modern feminist movement. She oddly positions the "Claimant" or "righteous demand" archetype as an example of a lost "wife-mother box" power. Huh? How does immobility, steadfastness, and recognition of a right to decide relate to the traditional trappings of being a wife and/or mother? This feels very uncomfortably like a move to embody sexist traditionalism in more palpable trappings, which are trappings nonetheless.

Here's another early quote that captures most of my criticism all in one: "Some feminist thinkers believe men would be better off if they, too, cultivated a wider range. I agree that many men would benefit from greater fluidity in behavior and presentation (and I hope my male readers pick up some tips), but I see no need for men to abandon their linear focus, which humanity needs, too. Think of the words of Todd Beamer on 9/11 as as he prepared to charge up the aisle of United Airlines Flight 93: 'Let's roll.'" Lordy! "Some feminists," hm? "Abandon" a "linear focus"? Flight 93?!?! Apparently, all men are the same, being "male" and/or a man means you have a "linear focus," i.e., you're a stock character with only one function in this world ... oh, and it's super appropriate to invoke the Blockbuster-esque quote of a modern hero who in the situation referenced lost his life and can't defend his characterization here.

Here's another one: Her depiction of other feminists' reactions to warning her daughter not to get "blind" (nice ableist language there) drunk at parties as "oppressive nonsense." Receipts, please! This is good advice for everyone. Also, you don't get it. No one is denying reality; we're advocating for a better one.

No surprise that she draws on Sheryl Sandberg's "lean in" approach and recommends finding "the right balance of nagging and nice." Okay, this might be necessary at times. But look at what words she's used. A mouldy surface is peaking through the cracks in the casings of these archetypes.

I'll go over one more "oops," let's call it: "Worst of all: 'Barbarian.' He might as well have called her the n-word." This is where it all came together for me. Even though the author draws from myth and weaves a truly wonderful cross-cultural tapestry into her archetypes idea, she is still a white American feminist of a certain generation and class. Comparing the case of Medea being called a barbarian by Jason to (I presume) the case of a Black person (maybe specifically a woman) being called "the n-word" is simply revolting. By the way, Jason also calls Medea a "slut," "insane," and other nasty words. Please explain how "barbarian" is worse, and how it is in any way equivalent to a word representing a known history of slavery and genocide.

I'll give her props for recognizing that Avalokiteshvara is "of fluid gender" (but notice how she uses "s/he" ... apparently, fluid gender still boils down to the binary of men/male/masculine and female/woman/feminine) and that the "Empath" "is the only one of the archetypes who receives the full approval of the patriarchy." Sure.

I also want to give enormous kudos to the illustrator, Inbar Fried. Wonderful, ephemeral imagery from front to back. If I'd buy this book, it'd be the for the artwork alone.

I was hoping for so much more with this one. Alas, I find myself leaving a rather insubordinate review. I'd like to recommend that the author give up on writing such shoddy, pseudo-feminist mythical extrapolations for Harvard Review-trotting women of a certain cast and try her hand at fictional re-imaginings of the lore she is clearly an expert on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amplify Publishing for the advance copy.

[Sandra T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insubordinate: 12 New Archetypes for Women Who Lead by Jocelyn R. Davis
Publication date: 21 March 2023
⭐️⭐️ 2.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Amplify Publishing for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~~~~~
International leadership expert Jocelyn Davis presents twelve powerful archetypes - Empress, Amazon, Snow Queen, Mesmerist, Witch, and more - to show us women's full range of possibilities, providing a guide and inspiration for becoming our biggest, finest selves.
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This ARC was so badly formatted, it was nigh on impossible to read, with split paragraphs on separate pages and footnotes all over the place. This was harder work to read than it should have been.

I fancied reading and reviewing something a little different so this self-help/leadership book is a departure from my usual genres.

I enjoyed the myths and stories that were used as the backbones of the 12 archetypes (I would happily read more about them,) but the way they related to real-life examples of leadership felt a little forced and shoehorned in there. And although the myths and stories were multicultural, I thought the analysis lacked diversity and inclusion, and was not very subtle in its gendered stereotypes.
I think this may be useful to someone who is just starting on their leadership career, to help them discover their own style and how to interact with others, but I'm afraid that I got nothing out of it.

The illustrations were very pretty but I think this was my first, and probably last, foray in this genre.
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[Kelly Kinnebrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an expert on leadership, gender at work, and cultural analysis as tools to understand how women and men show up in societal and leadership roles, this offering to the field is a top notch read. Davis inserts her own stories and that of leaders and followers whom she knows, combines this with her decades of experience in leadership development, and frames it all using fables across Eastern and Western cultures to give you practical tips on how to integrate aspects of self as a woman leader.

As a clinical and organizational psychologist, I assess and develop leaders for a living. I highly recommend this book -- possibly in concert with other self-assessment tools like enneagram or Hogan assessment results -- to integrate oneself whilst grounding your style in the beauty that is self-defined authenticity working to become realized.

For a small and verbose few (see a review here) who have chosen to be highly offended by Davis' offering, or who are assessing this work as far from nuanced, I believe they may not understand what archetypes actually are and how they work to serve us in self-and societal growth goals. (Do some homework on the feminine / masculine cultural continuum aka Geert Hofstede et. al as a start.) This book is the opposite of non-integrative in its view of women. The point as I read this work is to integrate aspects of self, which is one of the important goals of a life.

The tips that Davis offers can indeed be collated to help women leaders grow their full selves more quickly and with very helpful specificity. Thank you, Jocelyn Davis, for another deeply helpful offering to us all.

[Lori Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Female archetypes; Jocelyn Davis dives into so many! It's almost dizzying. Loved this book but definitely had to put it down and ponder in between chapters. I feel inspired and feisty, like I could use these archetypes interchangeably. Having the information from this book makes me feel like all the roles I've had during my life are leading me to better self knowledge.

[Clifford Dent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book for Women Leaders and Those Who Care




I would like to start off this review of "Insubordinate: 12 New Archetypes for Women Who Lead" by Jocelyn Davis with a full disclosure:

Even though I have yet to meet her in person, I have worked collaboratively with Jocelyn as a fellow admin for a large and growing Facebook group, and our interactions over the years have been such that I consider her to be a friend.

Jocelyn and I are also graduates of the same New England prep school (5 years apart), and we have dozens of mutual friends on Facebook who have known both of us for over 40 years.

I also own, have read and greatly enjoyed a couple of Jocelyn's other books, so I embarked on reading this one with great positive expectations (which were not disappointed).

All of which is to say that trying to review Jocelyn's new book with even an inkling of objectivity is going to be a great challenge for me -- but one that I am determined to take on.

But I can save you a lot of time if the only thing you want to know is whether this book is a great read, and whether it is worth plunking down whatever money they're asking for it so that you can own it, read it and add it to your personal library -- because I can answer all of those questions for you right now with strong affirmative answers.

This book is a great read.

You will want to buy it, own it and read it immediately.

It's worth a lot more than whatever money Amazon is asking you to pay for it -- and you absolutely will not regret this purchase.

So if that's what you want to know, you can stop reading right now.

Skip the rest of this review and buy Jocelyn's new book.

And happy reading!  📚

So -- if you're still reading this review, you may need some more info or convincing that this book will be worth your time and money to acquire and read.

So let me start off by saying that Jocelyn Davis is an excellent storyteller -- and her skills as a storyteller alone make this book a pleasure to read.

So far, she only has one published novel to her credit -- but I believe that more will be coming, and an eager readership will be awaiting any stories she has to tell.

She tells and retells quite a few stories in this book -- in the process of providing women with 12 "archetypes" ,which are something like behavioral models or ideals, which provide touchstones that women can tap into and relate with in determining their own leadership strengths, and how they can become even stronger leaders by tapping into the positive aspects of the other archetypes.

Jocelyn has established quite a reputation with her other works on women's leadership, and she draws on decades of experience in the corporate and educational arenas as she almost doubles the number of women's leadership archetypes beyond the efforts of C.G. Jung and others.

Jocelyn's formulated her 12 new archetypes based on the crisscrossing influences of four traditional "elements" or "humors" -- and she combed the great works of both Western and Eastern literature, as well as fairy tales, myths and other traditional stories for clues as to how the archetypes work in women's perceived leadership behavior.

She also plumbed her own leadership experience and personal acquaintance with women who actively lead -- and who exemplify the archetypes that she has isolated.

Jocelyn's new book puts into the hands of women who already lead or who want to lead the results of her extensive research.

The main body of her book presents each archetype in its own chapter, along with a traditional exemplar of the archetype (drawn from the Bible, Shakespeare, classical and East Indian Mythology snd similar sources) and pairs that example with an actual woman leader whom Jocelyn has met and had dealings with in leadership situations.

Jocelyn goes on to isolate those aspects of each archetype that ALL women who want to lead can benefit from emulating, even if that archetype doesn't constitute in general their focal point of leadership strength.

The names of the modern women leaders have been altered so that they are mnemonically reminiscent of the traditional archetypal character -- mostly by ensuring that both characters have names beginning with the same letter or consonant sound -- mostly (I think) to preserve the privacy of those modern leaders, and protect the innocent (or guilty, as the case may be...😎).

In one case she actually does identify the modern leader (herself), and I for one found it quite easy to identify another one who is a mutual acquaintance of Jocelyn and me.

But the strength of this book doesn't lie in knowing the identities of the modern leaders portrayed -- it is instead in isolating those aspects of their leadership styles that have worked in their favor, those aspects that have worked against them, and providing her readers with ways that ALL women who want to lead can capitalize on the strengths of all the archetypes and avoid the pitfalls of the weak side of each archetype.

Buy the book;it was written for you!

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: if you're interested in learning about leadership from a pro, read this book. If you feel like you could use a few more tricks to lead confidently at work—whether that be corporate, a small business, or academia—this is the book for you. The author writes well and is an expert in her field.

I very much enjoyed Insubordinate and would recommend it for the following two reasons:

First, this book was genuinely a pleasure to read because it is so clear that the author is an expert whose advice is applicable to multiple disciplines. It is clear throughout the book that Jocelyn spent decades in the trenches of the corporate world. She has made what she has learned easily understandable and applicable for multiple fields. I read it in two days. By the end, I was wishing that there were another hundred pages of Jocelyn's stories, retellings, and wisdom—luckily for me, she has four other books that I can go read. Her knowledge extends beyond the corporate world—she also weaves in fairytales, myths, and literary characters from multiple cultures, which I also enjoyed.

Second, the archetypes with their accompanying stories and real life examples allow me to recall quickly and easily which traits would be useful in a given situation. I finished the book two weeks ago, and I have already found myself asking, how can I be more of an Amiga in this situation? Jocelyn's essential teaching is that while individuals have specific leadership styles they are most comfortable with, great leaders are flexible and can adopt other traits, which is why they are so successful. In addition, understanding these archetypes have made me better understand the behavior of other individuals at work. Jocelyn teaches me their motivations and their priorities.

Further, one reviewer on Goodreads has portrayed the personality quiz as too simplistic. The personality quiz, which is at the beginning of the book, doesn't tell you which archetype you are; it only tells you which quadrant likely contains your home archetype(s). Perhaps I suffer from a flat personality and my fellow reviewer doesn't, but I thought that Jocelyn's quiz correctly identified my home quadrant. In addition, I liked that Jocelyn permits her readers to decide which specific archetype is their home archetype.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book and know that I will turn to it again and again in the future. My husband also read this book, greatly enjoyed it, and thought it valuable for male readers as well.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Jocelyn Davis shares insights into 12 types of women. She uses stories from literature and real-life women she's known to illustrate each archetype.
I did appreciate reading a positive approach for each woman. We have permission to be strong, opinionated, empathic, and tenacious.
Some of the stories were long-winded and unnecessary details and didn't quite make sense for the archetype, in my opinion. And most of the examples addressed work-related challenges. I want more examples for everyday life.
This book didn't inspire me and doesn't include information I will take with me. I don't think I connect with the author for some reason. However, it might encourage other readers and is woman-positive.

[Tom Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not just for women.

Some of my best friends, and people I admire most, might be considered “insubordinate women.” I’m not in that category – being a man – but I appreciate their point of view. Jocelyn Davis provides rich examples, and a powerful tool, for helping women navigate relationships by tapping – not ignoring – their full potential. I know this will be a great resource for the women who follow in her footsteps, especially in the business world.
But it’s not just for women. I found the book engaging in a way that helps me to understand and value the perspectives of others. Men like me can use it to help the women we work with to share their talents without feeling they need to play politics. Highly recommend.