You already have superpowers! Seriously. Not everyone can do what you can do. Even if it comes naturally to you. And if you’ve had to work hard to gain your skills and abilities, that’s awesome, too!

Superpowers can be anything from riding a bike, to wielding the Lasso of Truth, to managing projects, to . . . you name it. And since we all can do different things well, it’s important to identify your unique combination of superpowers. Of course, some of these will be more useful in a work environment, and some less so, but it’s great to claim them so you can decide which ones to highlight in your personal brand.

Identifying your superpowers is the first step in creating your personal brand. Click To Tweet

Claiming Your Superpowers

Whatever your superpowers are, own them and celebrate them. Think about a time when you rocked a presentation/analysis/design/audit/whatever it is that you do. How did you uniquely do it? What about YOU made it special and successful?

Creating a list of 3 to 5 superpowers can help you get in touch with what you do well and which skills and abilities you want to be known for. You can use them to help set your personal brand, and they show up well in resumes and bios. They’re also a cornerstone of  True Leadership.

When you make your list of superpowers, they should have an action component — these are things you DO (things that you ARE show up in your Principles). 

For instance, if you’re good at projects, put a strong verb with it: “managing projects” or “directing projects” could be a good superpower for you. Maybe you’d like it to be more specific: “managing cross-functional projects” or “directing multi-phase construction projects.” Whatever they are, be sure they’re clear and to the point.

What if You Hate Your Superpower?

Stuff we’re great at isn’t always what we want to continue doing or necessarily what we want to be known for. What should you do in that case? A mix of reality (what do you have proven experience with?) and forward thinking (which parts of your experience can help in the future?) is the key. 

If you’re fantastic at arranging meetings, but you’re not inspired by that work (and don’t want to be known for it), think about that superpower’s component parts. Arranging meetings requires great organizing and maybe some negotiating skills. Those are great to highlight, and may be more consistent with the kind of reputation you want to have and the work you want to do in your organization.

Remember, they’re your superpowers, and you get to define them however you want! Be sure your abilities match up with what you’re claiming, though — you want to be able to follow through on the promise your personal brand makes.

Revealing Your Superpowers

To be authentic, you need to be yourself. All the time. But you do have choices in how the real you shows up. What do you want people to notice about you? What do you want them to notice first?

I’m not talking about hiding or denying who you are, or deliberately making yourself appear less than you are. Especially if you’re a woman or person of color or someone otherwise marginalized in our society. Heaven knows we’ve had enough of that conditioning. This isn’t about conforming to what other people think you should be. It’s more about a conscious and deliberate placement and positioning of who you are to serve you better. 

Many people I know spend a lot of time and energy putting their biggest superpower out first. That may not always be the best idea. If you have a big, big brain, or if you’re a super-driver, or if your selling skills are the tops, don’t you think people will notice, anyway? And if you are truly great at thinking, driving, or selling, it might be a bit intimidating, or even off-putting to certain audiences or in some situations.

I mean, think about it. Do you really need LeBron James in your face about his basketball game? When he brings his comedic acting chops or his business sense or his identity as a father first, it’s really appealing and relatable . . . and it doesn’t take anything away from his mad skills on the court. It just proves he’s multi-dimensional. And funny as hell!

On the other hand, if you’re on the basketball court, LeBron will bring his basketball superpowers, and they will — and should — be front and center.

What are your superpowers? And how do you show them? Let us know in the comments below!

Principles are your deeply held values; they’re what you stand for. Things like honesty, a sense of humor, perseverance, and strength, are all principles. These are things that you know about yourself, down deep. They show who you are and what you care about (note: things you DO show up in your Superpowers).

Acting according to your principles is the essence of authenticity and integrity. When you’re in sync with your principles — even in the face of resistance or challenge — you’re showing others that they can trust you, and exactly how you can be trusted. 

Your principles are essential to defining your personal brand, and becoming a True Leader requires you to know what you stand for.

Acting according to your principles is the essence of authenticity and integrity. Click To Tweet

Discovering Your Principles

Make a list of your top 3 to 5 things you stand for. Here’s a short list to get you started: Adventure, Ambition, Balance, Cheerfulness, Clarity, Community, Courage, Decisiveness, Efficiency, Fairness, Flexibility, Hard Work, Impact, Innovation, Kindness, Passion, Reliability, Responsibility, Teamwork, Truth, Wisdom. Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s meant to spark your thinking.

If you hate the idea of a list, there are other ways to access your principles. For instance, take your 5 favorite characters from books and movies. What do you like about each one? How do they act? What do they have in common? Answering these questions will help you identify the characters’ principles. And they’re likely to match up with things you value in yourself.

To test out your principles, fill in this sentence with your top 3, and see if it feels right: “I stand for <principle 1>, <principle 2>, and <principle 3> in everything I do.” If it works, that’s awesome! If not, find 3 principles that really resonate with you and that feel represent your true self.

Now that you have your list, take a few minutes to clarify your principles. What do they mean to you? The same word can have different meanings — this is your opportunity to get clear on what you stand for.

Well done! You can use these principles in all sorts of ways. Knowing where you’re in alignment with your principles and where you’re out of alignment is a great start.

Principles Alignment

We are drawn to people, organizations, and even books or other things that share our principles. When people and organizations align with your principles, you’ll feel good — fulfilled, even. 

People

The people you most like to spend time with will likely share at least one highly-ranked principle with you. For example . . .

• One of my close friends shares two top 10 principles with me: Equality and Collaboration. We love to work together on projects that have themes around equality. Our discussions are deeply satisfying because we’re in harmony.
• Another friend and I share the Productivity principle. She’s the one I seek out when a meeting is particularly non-productive — I know she’ll be as frustrated as I am! 
• And I absolutely adore chatting with another friend about our kids; we share Family Orientation as a key principle.

Organizations

When organizations share principles with us, we often want to join them or do business with them. And when an organization’s principles align in both actions and words, the organization comes across as more authentic. Here are a couple of examples:

• A non-profit based in my hometown has a mission to serve women, and they are doing that through a nationwide network of young people. Because our principles line up, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them.
• My daughter was exploring universities to study environmental science. One school made a big deal about their commitment to sustainability on their website, which she thought was cool. When she visited the school, the food in the cafeteria featured organic vegetables grown at the school’s farm, recycling and composting was featured, and there were no trays (students had petitioned the administration to remove them, due to the water and energy it took to clean them). The alignment of the sustainability principle from the curriculum to the website to the campus made a powerful impression on her, and she chose to attend the school.

Principles Conflict

When you find yourself feeling judgmental, chances are good that whatever it is you’re judging is in conflict with your principles. Your principles are intensely personal, though, so the things that infuriate you will be, too.

Chefs and gourmands will likely be more offended by careless restaurant cooking than others might be; judges may react more forcefully to people lying, artists to things that are not esthetically pleasing, and veterinarians to animal cruelty. 

If you meet someone who doesn’t share at least some of what you stand for, it’s hard to find common ground, and you may not want to spend time with them.

From an organization perspective, if your principles don’t align (or actively conflict) with those of an organization, you may not want to have anything to do with it. And when organizations acts in conflict with their own stated principles, they comes across as inauthentic.

Once you discover your principles, you’ll start seeing them all over the place. When you read a book or watch a movie, when you’re in a meeting, at a sporting event, or even sitting in traffic, there they are!

What’s the principle that’s most important to you? Tell us about it in the comments below!