We each have inherent strengths. Acquired skills. And growth-through-experience.
Then, there’s professional magic.
I believe that each of us has something special – a “superpower” – that really can’t be replicated by someone else, because it’s in our wiring.
I also believe that businesses have superpowers.
We can spend a lot of time lamenting all the abilities we don’t have – I have indulged this fruitless waste of time and mental energy for decades. But what if we could identify something in our makeup that is outstanding, amazingly helpful to others – yet we are so used to it, we don’t even recognize the magic for what it is?
I remember having dinner years ago in Manhattan with an entrepreneur who was lamenting certain “lacks” in his makeup – yet his superpower was quite evident to me. He intuitively recognized holes in the marketplace and envisioned how they could be solved – then simply acted.
He didn’t need 10 other superpowers, or even 15 other moderately-cool powers. This one bit of magic was quite sufficient in making him a success.
I even devoted an entire chapter in my book, Clarity Wins, to this topic (and in the book, I reveal my wife’s uniquely-named superpower)! It’s that important.
Ability to visualize ideas and strategies and make them clear to others graphically? Magic. Ability to not only teach, but motivate and excite students? Magic. Ability to put anybody at ease within 30 seconds? Magic.
So, where is your superpower hiding, and how do you find it? Here’s the secret:
Several of my sons of have magic-levels of people engagement power, which is totally bizarre considering the introvert-ish wiring of both of their parents. This is one reason why I think some of this superpower stuff isn’t learned. It just is; and then, you cultivate it.
Maybe instead of obsessing first over what our purpose is, we should give preference to asking, “What is my superpower?” Best guess is that once we know that, our purpose will become a lot clearer.
