Superheroes are known for their superpowers. Superman could fly and possessed incredible strength. Captain Marvel could levitate. Wonder Woman had x-ray vision. Hercules could self-heal. Iron Man could become invisible, and Stretch Armstrong was a shape shifter. Cartoon characters are bestowed with amazing superpowers and always seem to find themselves in situations that call for the use of those powers specifically unique to them.
Successful entrepreneurs also have their own unique superpowers. Discovering and utilizing such powers can lead to some amazing results. As we progress through our careers, we become more and more aware of our superpowers. The earlier in life we can discern our special abilities, the sooner we’ll be able to focus them and realize our full potential. Just like most of the superheroes, we entrepreneurs can’t lay claim to all the superpowers which is why we need to understand what ours is and how to use it. Here are a few ideas on the subject.
Creativity and Imagination are foundational superpowers for many entrepreneurs. Probably one of the most creative individuals ever to walk the planet was Steve Jobs of Apple fame. Jobs had a vision that was unmatched, and he transformed society by imagining things that had never been done before. He envisioned the iPhone to have on-screen features rather than the old buttons that were used on other cell phones.
Tesla’s Elon Musk exemplifies the superpowers of Perseverance and Resilience. Another of his enterprises is a company called SpaceX which is attempting to commercialize space travel. Even though there have been countless setbacks including rockets that failed to function properly or exploded in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2015 and 2016, Musk continued to stay the course to reach his goal of making space travel affordable and colonizing Mars. And SpaceX has had numerous successful launches since the earlier failures.
McDonald’s would not be the company it is today had it not been for its founder, Ray Kroc and his superpowers of Optimism and Ambition. Very early in his career he met Earl Prince, the inventor of a five-spindle milk shake machine called the Multimixer. He spent 15 years selling the machine to a variety of customers including two brothers in San Bernardino, California. Dick and Mac McDonald entered an arrangement with Kroc to expand McDonald’s beyond a single restaurant and the rest is history. Because of his Ambition, Kroc was able to effectively push the expansion plan. And his Optimism was contagious and enabled others – franchisees, suppliers, bankers, and investors, to believe in him and his plan.
When we think of Amazon, we understandably think of its founder Jeff Bezos. Here is a man who is not afraid of failure because his superpower is seeing the world as a laboratory in which to Experiment. Is there any doubt that he’s done exactly that? He started selling books online, and today sells EVERYTHING through the Amazon website. In addition, Amazon Web Services, is a subsidiary that provides a cloud-based computing platform to the business community. Bezos convinced investors to back his approach of experimentation from Amazon’s launch in 1995 to 2021 when it achieved annual sales of $469 billion. He advises entrepreneurs to focus on process not failure, and further to “deconstruct products, processes and ideas.”
Building and serving Relationships are Reid Hoffman’s superpowers. Hoffman was the COO of PayPal and co-founder of LinkedIn. He likes to build deep, long-term relationship that give insider knowledge. Says he, “If you reverse engineer the relationships of many successful entrepreneurs as I have, you will realize that many people work with the same people over and over in their careers.”
What is your superpower? Once you find it, focus on it, refine it, and exploit it. It may not enable you to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but it may be just what you need to build a successful and sustainable organization.
This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.
An Entrepreneur's Words to Live By 