Understanding myth in postmodern culture: Journey leadership through teams

Myth is a highly misunderstood concept in postmodern culture. Typically viewed as falsehood or fairy tale, myth actually speaks to that which is true. Postmodernism's vacuum of myth is rooted in modernism's attempt to demythologize all religious thought. Enlightenment rationalism has been used to create a hostile environment for religious, and particularly Christian, belief systems in postmodern culture. The result is a void of belief which produces societal detachment, loneliness, disconnection from anything sacred and new philosophical concepts for truth. Postmodernism rejects both religious thought and science as arbiters of truth. Truth, for the postmodern mind, is deconstructive. It is relative, biased, socially constructed, and depends upon culture for definition. Reality, therefore, exists as a result of interpretation. Myth distinguishes concepts of ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’, and despite postmodern hostility, is one the most powerful shaping factors within culture. The significance of myth is found in its representation of truth and the transfer of this truth within community and culture.; Effective leaders understand the power of myth in creating metaphors for successful leadership. Their leadership is rooted in the image of the myth, and the guiding metaphor affects the language of leadership, the expectations of others, and their vision for the future. These myths provide core values and concepts of leadership which are used as models for exceptional leadership. The myths themselves are contained and transferred through the medium of story. Language both preserves the meaning of the myth and helps to transfer the meaning to others. The continual sharing of the story representing the myth is a means by which these leaders both share the myth and embody it.; Two different metaphors for leadership are found in the imagery of combat and journey. Each myth is surrounded by the concepts, language, and expectations associated with the metaphor. The two myths creates very different environments for the followers. A combat myth views leadership in a military metaphor and creates a rigid, hierarchical, and pyramid-shaped power structure. A journey myth sees leadership as a relational journey and shapes the myth with a mutual, flexible, and shared power metaphor.; Teams theory views the combat model as hollow and problematic for organizational life in postmodern culture. Instead, it favors a journey myth as the best model for creating healthy community structures within organizations. Teams are an organizational model, which is rooted in the myth of shared journey. Teams theory is used to create a different model for church organization, which is hierarchical and uses a combat myth for structure. Teams intentionally use the concepts of shared journey to offer a new metaphor for organizational church structure.