I was at a conference recently, and one of the main discussion topics was “what is your superpower?” This is an interesting question to ask your team, because you can better understand how others think, along with gaining insight into what they value.
Leadership superpowers are essentially unique skills or ways of tackling problems that make you a valuable asset to your team. It could be something like breaking a problem down into more digestible pieces for the team to solve, or translating highly technical material into language that the C-suite can understand.
Through my discussions, I discovered three superpowers that require only a simple shift in mindset to drive significant impact for both teams and individual careers:
Galvanizing Teams to Drive Impact
When trying to get a team to do something — whether it’s adapting to a new process or shifting focus to achieve a new goal — it’s not enough to simply tell everyone what they should be doing. A crucial step for ensuring success is to influence and motivate the team to accomplish the mission.
“Influence” and “motivate” may sound too generic when describing a true leadership superpower, so instead, let’s aim to galvanize teams. To galvanize means to inspire or energize someone into decisive action. Achieving this requires not only a purposeful set of actions, but also a deep, nuanced understanding of emotional intelligence. It’s about sparking excitement and urgency within the team, empowering them to work with passion toward a shared vision.
When you master the superpower of galvanizing teams, your missions become more effective, because you do more than simply set goals or mandate change — you actively shape and transform the team’s culture, creating an environment primed for lasting success.
Keeping Calm and Avoiding Taking the Bait
In high-pressure situations or during conflicts, emotions can run high, making it easy to react impulsively to provocations or criticism. As a leader, it’s important to recognize that sometimes you will have to be the punching bag when your team feels frustrated, rather than becoming a fierce opponent.
Imagine this scenario: you’re new to a team and propose a solution, only to be met with sharp comments questioning your proposed idea. In this moment, you have two choices: (1) respond with equal sharpness insisting you are right, or (2) calmly ask for an explanation on why they think your idea is wrong. While it’s essential to advocate for yourself in both scenarios, the ability to remain calm and avoid taking the bait becomes your leadership superpower.
By maintaining your composure, you deny others the opportunity to undermine your credibility as a leader under pressure. Instead, you demonstrate your capacity to lead, even when faced with difficult personalities. When you keep calm and avoid taking the bait, you might not win every battle, but this superpower will help you win the war.
Adapting to Fill Voids in Teams
Every team has different needs. Not everyone can be the leader, the idea generator, or the person constantly playing devil’s advocate. You need implementers who can turn ideas into action, problem solvers who can troubleshoot challenges, and people who document information to enable clear knowledge transfer.
A true leadership superpower is recognizing which role or personality is missing from the team and stepping up to fill that gap. This adaptability creates balanced, well-rounded teams that can efficiently and successfully execute their objectives.
While adapting to meet your team’s needs is key to ensuring collective success, it’s equally important to consider your own career trajectory. As you step into different roles to fill the team’s void, take time to understand your top strengths and identify the roles you enjoy most.
At some point, you might need to walk away from a team, if the void you fill is misaligned with your career aspirations. But as you try more and more roles, these datapoints will support future career decisions.
Each of us has our own unique leadership superpower, and we should all go through the exercise of exploring these superpowers with our teams.
No matter whether your superpower is galvanizing teams, staying calm under pressure, adapting to fill gaps in teams, or something else entirely, understanding the unique leadership skills you bring to the table will help you become a more effective leader and advance further in your career!
