The 🧱 Archetypes That Break 🔥 Teams: Which One Are You? 🦸
PreSales for CollaborateBetter.us (Volume 4)
Top of the Series: You Can’t Herd Cattle (or Teams) Alone
Previous: Is Servant-Leadership Just an Excuse to Avoid Hard Calls?
Which Team Archetype Are You? (And Why You’re Not Alone)
From the pages of Collaborate Better: From Silos to Synergy — How to Build Unstoppable Teams by Mark S. Carroll
You know the moment.
The meeting starts, cameras off. Someone sighs. A “quick sync” becomes a spiral. The one with all the answers says nothing. The one with no answers says everything.
It’s not just you. It’s the pattern.
We assume these moments are anomalies — the bad meeting, the off day, the “everyone’s tired” Tuesday — but they are really recurring performances in a play that every organization stages without even realizing it. The cast rotates, the script changes, yet the underlying roles are eerily familiar. I’ve spent the better part of twenty years in rooms like these, from federal agencies to high-growth startups, watching different actors step onto the same stage, speaking different lines but carrying the same unspoken frustrations.
We tell ourselves that if we just fix the process, morale will lift — therefore we add another tool, schedule another meeting, or roll out another initiative with a cheerful acronym. Yet the patterns resurface. Because these aren’t just process problems; they’re human survival strategies, hardwired by experience, incentives, and sometimes plain self-preservation. What looks like disengagement might be burnout. What feels like resistance might be caution. What seems like chaos might be someone’s attempt at control.
Over the past two decades of coaching, training, and improv(ing) my way through the chaos of collaboration, I’ve seen five archetypes show up again and again. They’re not diagnoses — they’re survival strategies. And chances are, you’ve worn more than one of these masks.
Let’s unmask them.
🧯 The Overwhelmed Manager
You run on caffeine, Gantt charts, and resentment.
You’re the glue. The funnel. The bottleneck. Somehow, all three. The team depends on you for everything — but blames you for delays. You’re craving clarity, alignment, and maybe a fireproof inbox.
You push through because you believe the alternative is chaos — but that belief keeps you accepting responsibilities no one else will touch. Every urgent request feels like a test of your competence — therefore you work later, answer faster, and sacrifice breathing space, hoping next week will be easier. It rarely is. Over time, the job you once loved starts to feel like an endurance sport without a finish line.
You’re not failing. You’re overloaded.
☑️ See yourself? Chapters 12–14 and The First Five Steps are written with you in mind.
🪨 The Disillusioned Employee
You’ve given up — but politely.
You once had ideas, but the slow-motion grind of decision-making has worn them down to polite nods and well-timed muting. You still attend the meetings, still meet the deadlines, still deliver work with your name on it — but each initiative feels like déjà vu from one you already watched fizzle. The enthusiasm you used to bring has been replaced by a skillful neutrality that no one can quite call out, because technically, you’re still “engaged.”
You tell yourself that it’s just a rough quarter, that leadership will eventually listen — therefore you hold back your best thinking until the right moment comes. But those moments are rare. Meanwhile, the meetings multiply, the inbox fills, and the space to care shrinks. It’s not that you’ve lost your talent; it’s that you’ve stopped auditioning for a role you no longer believe exists.
You’re not cynical. You’re tired of pretending not to care.
☑️ You’ll find company — and recovery — in Herding Cats and the bonus worksheet on psychological safety.
Poll: What’s Your Biggest Collaboration Struggle Right Now?
📅 Endless meetings that go nowhere
📢 No one listens to ideas
🎯 Lack of clear priorities
🛑 Blocked from contributing
🔄 Constant change with no stability
🚀 The Entrepreneurial Visionary
Big ideas. Big dreams. Medium chaos.
You’re the founder, the firestarter, the frustrated innovator. Your team has talent — but they’re not rowing in the same direction. Sometimes they’re not rowing at all. You imagine the momentum you could have if everyone saw the same horizon you do — but each new initiative feels like pushing a grand piano uphill while your best musicians are still debating the sheet music. Your instinct is to work harder, talk faster, and add more vision — therefore your team feels both inspired and overwhelmed, unsure which project is the priority and which is just a spark from your ever-burning creative fire.
You’re not the problem. But your systems might be.
☑️ Collapse & Rebuild and the Tiger Team Transformation session were built for you. Literally.
🧠 The Curious Team Player
You’re ready to help — if someone would just let you.
You ask good questions. You listen. You see gaps in the process that no one else seems to notice — but every time you volunteer, the answer is, “Not yet” or “We’ll keep you in mind.” You want to contribute more than your job description allows, yet your career feels like it’s waiting for a train that keeps skipping your station. You’re eager, capable, and motivated — therefore the underuse of your skills becomes its own frustration, making you wonder whether you’re learning patience or simply collecting dust.
You’re not junior. You’re just underutilized.
☑️ Start with the Pack Leader Toolkit or join us at a launch event. This is your seat at the table.
🧭 The Veteran Leader Facing Change
You’ve seen it all. Now you want to fix it.
You built the thing — but the thing keeps changing. The org chart you once designed like a sturdy oak now feels like a tangle of ivy, adapting to new demands faster than you can map them. Hierarchy used to work — but the people you lead now expect flexibility, autonomy, and transparency. You want to honor their needs without dismantling the stability you’ve spent a career building.
You’re not out of touch. You’re on the edge of evolution. Therefore the question isn’t whether you’ll adapt — it’s how you’ll adapt in a way that leaves a legacy instead of just a vacancy. The leaders who thrive now are the ones who blend their hard-earned wisdom with a willingness to re-learn. That means letting go of the illusion that control equals strength, and embracing the reality that collaboration equals resilience.
☑️ Synergy Circle or the Full-Day Collaboration Lab are ideal for leaders like you.
Poll: Which Team Archetype Are You Today?
🧯 Overwhelmed Manager
🪨 Disillusioned Employee
🚀 Entrepreneurial Visionary
🧠 Curious Team Player
🧭 Veteran Leader Facing Change
⚠️ A Quick Note on Labels
These archetypes aren’t flaws. They’re patterns — signals. And the good news? Every single one is a starting point. None of them define you. But recognizing yourself in them? That’s where transformation starts.
Next Blog in the ‘Collaborate Better’ PreSale: Guided by the North Star
Therefore, the question isn’t “Which archetype am I stuck with?” — it’s “Which archetype do I want to grow into next?” That’s the work we’ll do together in Collaborate Better. The moment you spot yourself here is the moment you open the door to new tools, sharper instincts, and a stronger team.
The only thing standing between where you are and where you could be is the decision to step forward. That’s why the Collaborate Better PreSale exists — to turn this recognition into momentum while the insight is still fresh.
📍 Join us now at CollaborateBetter.us and claim the tools, workshops, and conversations that will define your next chapter as a leader. Your archetype got you here — your evolution will get you everywhere else.
So... Which One Are You?
Drop it in the comments. Forward this to your team. Reflect, compare, gently roast each other. Then grab the PreSale tier that matches your path.
Because Collaborate Better isn’t just a book. It’s your first step out of the loop.
“We don’t need heroes. We need teammates who are willing to build together.”
Let’s build.
— Mark
💬 Your Turn: We’ve all worn one (or more) of these archetype hats — sometimes in the same week. I’ve been all five at different points in my career (which is as exhausting as it sounds).
So… which one feels most like you right now?
🧯 Overwhelmed Manager
🪨 Disillusioned Employee
🚀 Entrepreneurial Visionary
🧠 Curious Team Player
🧭 Veteran Leader Facing Change
Drop your pick below — and if you’ve cycled through a few lately, share that too. Bonus points for a story, a metaphor, or a good-natured roast of your own archetype.
Because the real magic isn’t in “having it all figured out.”
It’s in recognizing where you are… so you can grow into where you want to be.
— Mark