During an interview, have you ever had someone ask if you could be a superhero, who and why? Aside from that being what I call a ‘gotcha’ question, I view it as an opportunity to toot your own horn. With all of your amazingness, you are already a superhero. But maybe you’re not sure in what way. I’m taking it back to high school algebra to show you how to solve for X when it comes to naming and claiming your superpower.
My Superpower Formula
Part of my coaching program is helping people understand their uniqueness to combat negative self-talk and imposter syndrome. One of the techniques I use is to have them state their superpower, or what they do better than anyone else in the world. We go through several exercises before we get to this point, but I’m about to TL;DR it for you.
Here’s my formula:
(Skills + Talents)*X = Success
Recall, that when you solve for X, you have to move it to the other side of the equation, like so:
(Skills + Talents)/Success = X
The X represents the unique way in which you leverage your skills and talents to bring about results. Your point of view is as individual as your fingerprint. No one has had your exact experiences. Because of that, you bring a different perspective to the table. Even if someone else possesses the same skills and talents you do, they don’t wield them in the same way. And that’s your X-Factor.
List Your Superpower Skills
Grab a piece of paper and split it into four columns: skills, talents, X, Results/Success. In the skills column, list your skills related to your profession, expertise, or business. For example, your skills may include brief-writing, legal research, litigation, and negotiation if you’re a lawyer. These are those things you are average or above-average at doing that are also expectations of your job.
As an entrepreneur, your skills may include financial modeling, negotiations, team-building, marketing, and raising capital. As a product manager, your skills may consist of customer voice, demand planning, digital marketing, and storytelling.
Also, include those skills that are agnostic to your industry and function. For example, creating presentations, social media influencing, public speaking, and written communications.
Your list may end up being long. That’s okay, don’t spend too much time overthinking this.
Determine Your Superpower Talents
Review your list of skills, and in the second column, you will choose those skills in which you are above average to exceptional. As a lawyer, your talent may be negotiations. When you negotiate, your clients consistently get the best deal possible, better than expected. But perhaps your research skills are just okay. You will list negotiation in the talent column. As a product manager, you craft stories that convert people into believers and buyers; as an entrepreneur, you consistently attract key investors and raise capital.
Another way to think about your talents is those things that people want to “pick your brain” about. These are the topics or skills you are widely known for excelling at or the things you find yourself continually repeating. You know what I’m talking about. Whenever a new person pops in your inbox or slides in your DM, they always want to ask you questions about these two or three things. For free, no less. This list should be shorter than the skills list because these are the areas where you shine.
List Your Superpower Successes
If you do a performance review annually or quarterly, you should have this already. If you have a resume or a website, your successes are readily available. In the fourth column, skipping X for now, write down your key accomplishments.
As a gifted negotiator, perhaps you have won settlements above the average. As a product manager, you have increased sales by 35% through your captivating storytelling.
Take some time with this step. List out as many items as you like. This exercise should give you all the feels.
Determine The Common Denominator Of Your Superpower
In front of you is a list of your skills, talents, and successes. For some, the aha moment will be immediate. Start to look at common themes in your accomplishments and ask how. How did I negotiate that multi-million dollar settlement? What steps did I use to secure millions in startup capital? What techniques worked best when creating stories that drew people to my product?
Write your thoughts down in the X column. Don’t overthink this. A great way to frame this part of the exercise is STAR. What was the situation, the task you needed to complete, the action you took, and the result?
You will begin to see some themes surface. For me, I was gifted at bringing order to ambiguity. I can take an idea and manifest it by distilling the primary vision or objective, crafting strategy, making and working the plan to achieve goals. When I’m working with startups or companies, I say my superpower is closing the strategy-to-execution gap. I’m able to go from a 12,000-foot strategy to 12-foot execution. This is why I’m able to work across multiple functions and industries. My brain processes information the same way regardless of the environment – it sorts through and organizes data to find the signal in the noise.
Write Down Your Superpower
Now that you have determined your X-Factor, write it down. Create a few different versions that are geared toward specific audiences. When I work with high school students, I don’t say I close the strategy-to-execution gap, I say ‘I take what’s in your mind and help you make it a reality.’
By the way, this doesn’t have to be strictly professional. Maybe you’re trying to uncover your superpower as a mother, father, spouse, partner, or human being. This formula works the same way.
Share your superpower below!
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