An Early Calling, a Late Career: Psychobiographic Investigations into Paulo Coelho’s Career Development

Abstract

How do extraordinary individuals develop their career? This question has been responded to from various theoretical stances, however psychobiographical research has seldom contributed to answering this question. This chapter explores the career development of Paulo Coelho throughout his life, thereby responding to Van Niekerk et al. (J Psychol Africa 25(5):395–402, 2015) request for further psychobiographical studies on career development. Methodologically, the study is based on a single case and uses the methodological frame of Dilthey’s modern hermeneutics. First- and third-person documents were collected and analysed through content analysis, focusing on particular events in the writer’s life. Ethical considerations were applied. This chapter is limited to the single case analysis of the career of Paulo Coelho throughout his life by using one selected theory. Findings describe the career development of the world-famous contemporary writer within the context of Greenhaus et al. (Career management, 4th edn. Sage, Los Angeles, USA, 2010) model of career development. The analysis shows that Coelho’s life only partly matches with the proposed career development model and expands it through concepts of spirituality, calling, life goals and serendipitous career development events. The chapter thereby contributes to new insights into career development theory and psychobiography with regard to the life and works of extraordinary individuals.