what superheroes can teach us about leadership development

Jan 23

It’s a bird … it’s a plane …

When I was a little kid, I really wanted to be a Superhero. It seemed like the best job in the world. Superheroes’ lives were action-packed; they were always saving the world from all sorts of evil. While I did my best to learn how to fly and develop super-strength, I eventually realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would never have superhuman powers. It was a very dark day for my 10-year old self.

But nonetheless, it was a great lesson that I still think about. Today, I often see organizations make a similar mistake when they think about talent, particularly leadership talent. Most organizations define an ideal image of what a great leader is and expect others to “develop” into this image that is usually the equivalent of Superman, full of behaviors and attributes that no human being could actually possess.

Here’s a scenario. Does this sound familiar? Acme Co. recruits Wonder Woman for a leadership role. She gets the job done but in a different way than Acme expects, so the organization is still disappointed. She gets feedback to adjust her behaviors to be more like Superman. So, she sheds her magic lasso and dons a cape to meet the organization’s definition of a great leader.

Then the organization loses an opportunity to leverage Wonder Woman’s natural talents. Wonder Woman will likely disengage after having to adapt to be someone she is not. There has to be a better way.

And I believe there is. There are some powerful tools out there that help us better understand people’s natural talents. Leadership development programs should capitalize on these to understand each leader’s actual potential. These programs should change their focus to identify a leader’s natural talents, customize an individual growth plan, and educate leaders on how to leverage the natural talents of others.

Au Naturel—Identifying Natural Talents

You see, every Superhero has natural talent that she uses to achieve her goals. No two Superheroes use the same natural talents in the same way to fight evil. Other than being aligned around the common goal to protect the world, they all bring something unique to the table. There is no governing body out there defining what natural talents a Superhero needs to have—as new natural talents emerge, new Superheroes are developed.

So, how does this apply? Well, one of the biggest reasons traditional leadership development programs have limited effectiveness is because of where they start. Instead of starting by defining what makes an ideal great leader, leadership development programs should start by determining a leader’s natural talents and aligning her growth to a position that is best suited to these.

When people are working in a role or on an assignment that aligns to their natural talents, they thrive. They’re their most productive. And guess what? They’re also engaged, because they like what they’re doing and are good at it. They find value and purpose in their work.

There are great formal assessments that can help an organization determine the natural talents of its workforce. This should be the first step to any leadership development program. When an organization is able to identify and tap into the unique natural talents of its workforce, its potential is unlimited.

One Size Does Not Fit All—Customizing Growth Plans for Maximum Results

Since Aquaman has superhuman strength and speed, should he develop his ability to fly like Superman? This seems like an obvious “no.” Yet in the business world, many organizations apply a “one size fits all” curriculum to develop leadership talent into their defined image of an ideal great leader.

I am sure the creators of these programs are well intentioned. But let’s be real: this often leads organizations to try to develop leaders’ skillsets across a wide variety of areas, some of which may not be naturally suited to them. This can lead to disengagement as the leader might be great in one aspect but not another, or frustration as the leader tries to be a square peg in a round hole.

A better approach is to customize an individual’s growth plan based on her natural talents and the position that is best suited for her. This could include formal education, coaching, mentoring, stretch assignments, or targeted training for specific skills. But the reality is that someone whose natural talents are in sales leadership will require a very different growth plan than someone whose natural talents are in operational leadership. And trying to force them into one leadership development program would be a missed opportunity for them to truly obtain the skills they need to be effective in leadership roles.

Super Friends— Capitalizing on the Natural Talents of Your Team Members

Our Superhero friends are masters at understanding their limitations and when to bring in support to complement their natural talents. Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and others work together to defend the world as part of the Justice League. While they all have superhuman strength and speed, they use these natural talents differently to solve a problem. The Superheroes know when to leverage each other’s unique talents and as a result, realize that they can tackle significant challenges much more effectively together.

This is such an important skill to have and one that is often missed in traditional leadership development programs. Because so many of these programs try to ensure leaders are equally adept at strategy, sales, operations, and human capital, a leader can start to believe that she is ready to take on any challenge, whether it’s aligned to her natural talents or not. It’s a recipe for failure when a leader does not realize what she doesn’t know and when to seek help. This is very hard to teach, and especially more difficult in traditional “one size fits all” leadership development programs.

A growth plan should include a component on when and how to leverage the natural talents of others. For example, if a leader’s natural talent is aligned to strategic leadership, he should learn how to leverage talent in sales and operational leadership to achieve an overall goal. This is more than “throwing a problem” over to someone else to solve. It is a deeper learning to understand how people with different natural talents think, act, and consume information so a team can effectively work together while being respectful of each other’s differences.

Wonder Twin Powers … Activate!

Most organizations will tell you that traditional leadership development is not as effective as it needs to be but is an absolute “must have” to achieve their goals. I believe our challenge is to improve leadership development programs by finding new ways to identify and develop leaders who are engaged and productive and can effectively operate in today’s increasingly complex world.

So maybe you can think about your own organization in terms of Superheroes. Do you have a Wonder Woman with a magic lasso, who can’t fly? Who is flying like Superman? Who can swim like Aquaman which Superman and Wonder Woman can’t? Are you enabling each of your team members’ growth based on their natural talents?