Netflix PR image Source: Netflix One of the hottest shows on Netflix right now is Warrior Nun Season Two—it’s a story of a quadriplegic orphan who receives an ancient holy artifact, the halo of the angel Adriel, which brings her back to life and gives her some nifty superpowers. She teams up with the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a secret collective of women dedicated to fighting demons who have passed the halo down from leader to leader since the Crusades.
This show had me hooked from the very first scene. It’s totally binge-able and has earned a 97 percent score from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. I was moved by how diverse the cast was, and offered roles that demonstrated a rare combination of beauty with responsibility. Season One set up a choice for the heroine, between partying with her painfully beautiful influencer-type friends, or accepting an ancient heaven-sent destiny that would eventually lead to her ultimate self-sacrifice. It is this tug-of-war between the demonic and the divine, between “being an influencer” and working hard to make a difference in the world, that makes the show compulsively watchable, and a shining beacon for young people.
The final quote, as the nuns enter the final battle: “Fulfilling my hope, headlong, I go towards glory.” Was this a quote from the Bible, or Miguel de Cervantes, or Victor Hugo? None of the above. It’s a line from a song by the Talking Heads. It’s a subtle message that your generation will have an opportunity to do great things.
Even the term warrior nun is compelling. A nun is a woman who has dedicated her life to religious service, a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It would seem that being a nun is the antithesis of being a warrior, but these terms meld into something that reveals the deeper meaning of warrior. A warrior isn’t a soldier, she's anyone who possesses a warrior spirit. Thus, being a warrior isn’t about being despicable or relishing in your power to fire people. It's about fighting for something bigger than ourselves, showing compassion, leading by example, and focusing not on what our country can do for us, but on what we can do for our country. Or humanity. Or the planet.
Warrior Spirit for Executives and Entrepreneurs
The subtext of this show is all about entrepreneurship and leaning in to achieve success. There are two paths to power in the corporate world. The outer path relies on your ruthlessness, your ability to defeat the competition, to raid and takeover companies to rip them into shreds for the breakup value. But at the same time, there is an inner path, that relies entirely on developing a warrior spirit and developing new models for leadership in the 21st century.
The inner warrior calls you to make a stand, to work hard, and to be stoic as you sacrifice to win the war. It values strength and courage. Casualties are to be expected in the service of victory. It embraces the idea of boot camp as a process for turning a wimp into a warrior. Consider the greatly misunderstood Elon Musk, when he recently issued the ultimatum to his remaining staff, demanding a commitment to "be extremely hardcore" and display "exceptional performance." Otherwise, hand in their resignation. He wasn’t berating his staff, he was announcing a trial by fire for transforming Twitter. He’s actually looking forward to this boot camp period. He’s made a really big bet, and he knows if he pulls this off, he’ll win big. Really big.
Warrior Archetypes
There are different archetypes of warrior executives; there are warrior sages, warrior caregivers, and warrior magicians. Warrior sages are able to see farther into the future, and deeper into the human condition. Warrior caregivers are able to inspire a sense of altruism and offer effective training to help conscripts to survive and succeed. Warrior magicians are sort of like Jedi in the Star Wars movies, they use the power of the force to intuitively guide the company to success.
THE BASICSNow as you embody the warrior spirit into your psyche, which of these archetypes are you? How fearless are you? How hard are you willing to work? How much are you willing to sacrifice? How indefatigable is your spirit?
It’s fine to take workshops and engage in visualization exercises and affirmations, but at some point, you have to engage in battle. You have to shift from training to be a warrior to actually being one and getting your hands dirty. That it is warrior energy that propels a new business venture, to make a risky career change, decide to start a new relationship, or get married. Courage, grit, determination, and resilience, it’s all required to embody the warrior spirit. All you need to do is recognize that your inner warrior has been dormant within you all along, and it just needed to be activated. Let this reading strike the match that activates your inner warrior, that empowers you to finally take concrete action.
Everyone has an inner warrior and an inner wimp. It's like that native American parable about the two wolves within us, who fight. But in our case, one is a wimp – filled with envy, regret, greed, indolence, fear, and ego. And the other is the warrior – striving to be fearless, kind, empathetic, compassionate, resilient, hopeful and like the warrior nun, imbued with the quality of faith. Which will win? The one you feed.