What’s your Super Power?

Last week, I was talking to a couple of women entrepreneurs whom I happened to meet by chance at a restaurant. We started sharing our experiences in the corporate world. In the conversation, the topic of Super Power came up. I love the term. I bring it up in my conversations often while mentoring, speaking on panels, and in my one-on-one conversations with participants at events. Being passionate about Power of Positivity and using it to create a path to success, I think it is really important to know what your Super Power is, what your USP is, and what do you bring to the table that sets you apart from the crowd.
I have the “Make it happen” power and I talk about it often, like recently at the Girl Geek X event. Some people are good with strategic ideas, while others are good at creating the execution plan. My super power blends the two.

I have the power to dive deep into a problem, create a solution strategy and create an executable plan for that solution.

It was about 12 years ago when one of the senior VPs in my previous organization told my team that I had the “Make it happen” power. At that time I didn’t even know about the super power term and I had never tried to figure out what mine was. I was just doing my job. It took me a few years after that to understand what the term really meant. I noticed that I was constantly assigned ambiguous, high priority engagements which involved creating a solution and then operationalizing the development of the solution. While my leadership relied on me to deliver successfully, my team relied on me to help them create executable plans. I am a very hands on person, and have strong project management skills that help me effectively manage situations even when the risks materialize.

Everyone has a super power. Some people know what their super power is, others take some time to figure it out. So how do you identify your super power, if you do not know what yours it yet? Here are some tips:
• Ask others: The easiest way is to ask others- your family, your friends or your coworkers. You will be surprised to hear what they have to say. Attributes or qualities that you think come naturally to you, nothing extraordinary or “super”, might be what they consider your “super power”.
• Review situations: Analyze situations when people appreciated you for something. Try to find a pattern. Make a note of those attributes. If you dive deep, you will see a pattern in the qualities that people recognize you for. One of those qualities might be your super power.
• Analyze your work assignments: Try and find a pattern in the kind of projects you are assigned. Do they require any special skills? One of those special skills might be your super power. Even if you think the projects don’t require any special skills, write down all the skills that each project requires. You will see a pattern. Keep narrowing it down and you will find your super power.
• Identify what makes you happy: ask yourself what really makes you happy. For example, some people love to collaborate, others love to problem solve. I have seen that the super power is typically tied to what brings you happiness.
Let me know when you identify your super power. And now that you know yours, don’t forget to let others know their super power when you notice it.

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