I recently spoke to the finance group at one of the biggest global brands in the world. The topic was Unleashing your Financial Superhero, which started me thinking more broadly about how one goes about identifying his or her superpowers. And, for that matter, what exactly are “superpowers?”
Your “superpowers” are the strengths and unique abilities you possess that set you apart. And the reality is you can’t ask others to identify your superpowers until you have identified them for yourself.
One question to ask yourself is what is the one thing that people are likely to miss when you are not at work. Branding guru and General Manager at Turner Classic movies Jennifer Dorian encourages people to identify some of the things their co-workers, manager or even friends come to them for.
What follows are some other questions you can ask yourself:
*What do people frequently compliment you on or praise you for?
*What adjectives do people consistently use to describe you?
*How do you do what you do? And
*What makes the way you achieve results interesting or unique?
While technical proficiency and product knowledge are often essential, those are not the only qualities that can make you a superhero.
Often our real value lies in how we treat others and how helpful, trustworthy and dependable we are. Or, as Zeus, the Greek God/Disney hero is quoted as saying, “a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the size of his heart.”