Tapping Into Your Superhero Leadership Trait

If you ever watched Spiderman and you were paying attention to all the various parts of the storyline, not just the action sequences, I’m sure you saw the scene where the wisdom and experience of an old man was passed down to the young Spiderman who was filled with youth and strength. There was a scene in the movie when Peter Parker’s grandfather looked at him and said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” and this rings true not just for those who have super powers, but all leaders in every aspect of life and work.

Just as the town people expected Spiderman, other comic book or movie superhero to be responsible for saving their city, or even the world, in some cases from evil because they had super powers, leaders are expected to fulfill thier roles of leadership and carry the weight of being responsible for those they lead. The same way Spiderman, or Superman had to make sure to be responsible in using their powers for the good of the people around them. all leader are responsible for using their influence and authority to positively impact the lives of those who are under their leadership.

So if you look at if from this simple angle, you will see that leadership is not that much different at all different from being a superhero. Well, you may not have super powers like Superman and Spiderman, but you do have the authority to lead other people towards success; and this is a much greater and stronger influence simply because it is a power that can be used by real people in this real world in a real way.

As a leader, you are required to possess a great sense of responsibility towards the people you lead; and this is something every successful leader strives to attain in every aspect of their leadership.

This power to lead people towards achieving a common vision, comes with responsibilities like making sure they are on the right track; being aware of each and everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, tasks and mistakes, and helping them find their way back on the right track when they get lost or confused. Who said it is easy to be a leader? Well, it is not…because it comes with tons of responsibilities—yet, true leaders are always willing to accept them all.

Of course there are many instances where sometimes it would just make us feel better to blame somebody or something else when things don’t work out according to plan, or when something goes wrong—that’s just our human side wanting to find the easiest way out. However, this should not be practiced, especially by a good leader!

As a good leader you should always take full responsibility for any task – because as much as you are responsible for your team’s success, you should also be willing to accept the responsibility for any failures. You represents the whole team so whatever happens to it, you are ultimately responsible.

It is important to note that making excuses and blaming others for failed jobs or mistakes is not a quality of a good leader and if you practice these actions, you soon won’t have anyone to lead. What should be done instead, is to accept the fact that something goes wrong with the organization, even if it is not your fault, you take responsibility to sort out the problem.

Now we all realize that it is indeed normal to make mistakes, as a matter of fact, making mistakes are as much a part of life as succeeding, and because of this fact, we understand that mistakes are often great opportunities to learn to do something better or to improve in some area for higher productivity the next time around. So ss a leader, it is also your responsibility to ensure that your team members learn from these mistakes so that these errors can be avoided next time.

Even though you may never have full control over others and you are not expected to have full control over their actions, what you do have full control over is your own reactions. Knowing what to do over unexpected and unpredictable situations will make you responsible, hence giving you true power as an effective leader.