Episode 1

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Published on:

23rd Jun 2022

What's your leadership superpower?

Think you don’t have a leadership superpower… think again!

In the first episode of How to Take the Lead, we discuss how to find your leadership superpower and how you can use it for maximum impact.

In this episode we cover a lot of ground, including:

  • 03:11 – are leadership superpowers even a thing?
  • 16:45 - how do you identify your superpower?
  • 20:03 – can you lose your leadership superpowers?
  • 25:11 – how to harness your leadership superpowers

Top tips from us include making time to discover what your leadership superpowers are, asking others (you might be surprised), understanding how your superpowers can have impact and not allowing your own superpowers to become your nemesis.

In our next episode we talk all things power dressing and why we have given shoulder pads the shove.

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You can find out more about Lee Griffith via www.sundayskies.com and about Carrie-Ann Wade at www.cats-pajamas.co.uk

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Mentioned in this episode:

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Transcript
Carrie-Ann Wade:

Absolutely loving clarity to confusion that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

yeah, you've nailed it.

Lee Griffith:

Not clarity to confusion, that would be my anti

Lee Griffith:

superpower!

Lee Griffith:

You're listening to How To Take The Lead with Lee Griffith

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and Carrie-Ann Wade.

Lee Griffith:

Two corporate colleagues turned business

Lee Griffith:

besties, who question everything we've ever learned about

Lee Griffith:

leadership.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

What started with us putting the world to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

rights over a gin after work, is now a weekly show challenging

Carrie-Ann Wade:

myths and perceptions and exploring what leadership looks

Carrie-Ann Wade:

like in the modern day.

Lee Griffith:

We'll also be sharing our experiences and

Lee Griffith:

stories along the way.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

You can find our show notes at

Carrie-Ann Wade:

howtotakethelead.com

Lee Griffith:

Hit subscribe to receive new episodes every

Lee Griffith:

Thursday.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Plus we'd love for you to rate or leave a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

review of the show.

Lee Griffith:

And please share your thoughts and stories on the

Lee Griffith:

topics we cover using the hashtag how to take the lead.

Lee Griffith:

Hello, and welcome to episode one of how to take the lead, the

Lee Griffith:

podcast. Can you can you even believe it a year ago we were

Lee Griffith:

setting up for our first Instagram Live and absolutely

Lee Griffith:

cacking our pants. Now we're like oh yeah, go us we're just

Lee Griffith:

gonna do a podcast.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Here we are with five series' of live under

Carrie-Ann Wade:

our belts and we could turn this into a podcast no probs.

Lee Griffith:

So we are delighted to have you join us

Lee Griffith:

today. We have a great first episode planned now. This

Lee Griffith:

episode was inspired by something I saw on TV recently.

Lee Griffith:

So you know I love my detective shows.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Anybody who has ever come across you must know

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that you love your detective shows.

Lee Griffith:

And no it wasn't an episode of Murder She Wrote

Lee Griffith:

although I'm sure there'll be Jessica Fletcher inspiration at

Lee Griffith:

some point in this series, but it was a show called The Rookie.

Lee Griffith:

Have you seen it?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I haven't. I haven't. I've only got I've only

Carrie-Ann Wade:

got your say so that is worth and watch Lee.

Lee Griffith:

I'm not going that far but it's it's a American cop

Lee Griffith:

detective show, trainee cops anyway. One of the episodes one

Lee Griffith:

of the rookie cops was trying to figure out what his secret power

Lee Griffith:

would be. And he was able to recognise all the things that

Lee Griffith:

his colleagues were really great at but couldn't really pinpoint

Lee Griffith:

his thing. And the show was as it was you know, goes through

Lee Griffith:

different scenarios of which he's trying to fit. Is this what

Lee Griffith:

my superpower is? Is this is what my superpower is? By the

Lee Griffith:

end of it. He obviously had figured out what your superpower

Lee Griffith:

was. And for him it was empathy because he'd served some time

Lee Griffith:

wrongly, I say in prison, and so he could recognise in other

Lee Griffith:

people who were scared about going to jail or being arrested.

Lee Griffith:

So that was his superpower, you don't need to watch the episode

Lee Griffith:

now I've basically just told you the story.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

We should have done a spoiler alert, if anybody

Carrie-Ann Wade:

wanted to watch it.

Lee Griffith:

But anyway, it got me thinking about superpowers in

Lee Griffith:

leadership. My train of thought, if you bear with me, was that

Lee Griffith:

often we talk about the fact that as a leader, particularly

Lee Griffith:

if you're a senior one, you've got to be across everything. But

Lee Griffith:

that doesn't mean you have to be great at everything. And we know

Lee Griffith:

that there's a lot of strength in knowing where you excel, in

Lee Griffith:

the same way as knowing where you're not so great that you can

Lee Griffith:

make sure you've got the right teams around you. But I don't

Lee Griffith:

think I ever really thought about my superpowers until I

Lee Griffith:

left my corporate role and was trying to figure out life where

Lee Griffith:

I fitted in the world. And what I wanted to do next, and this

Lee Griffith:

episode really got me thinking about that and how much

Lee Griffith:

awareness do leaders bring to what is their superpowers? So

Lee Griffith:

Carrie-Ann you know, was this an epiphany moment for you as

Lee Griffith:

well?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Yeah, when we started having this conversation

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about leadership superpowers, I was like, they are actually a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

thing but I don't think I've ever really considered them as

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers before. So it got me thinking they're definitely

Carrie-Ann Wade:

real, but I'm not sure how I thought about them before

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers came into my vocabulary about it. So I guess

Carrie-Ann Wade:

really, for me when I started to reflect on it, I started to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

think about things that as, not necessarily just as leaders but

Carrie-Ann Wade:

as individuals, as people, that we are naturally and innately

Carrie-Ann Wade:

good at things that just come naturally to us to be within our

Carrie-Ann Wade:

gift to do really well. They might be skills, they might be

Carrie-Ann Wade:

certain behaviours that arepossibly very unique to you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

because they're based on your skills and experiences. But I

Carrie-Ann Wade:

don't think until very recently, I'd ever considered talking

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about them as superpowers but now that we have started to have

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that conversation I am all over the leadership superpowers.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I want a cape and I will probably wear my pants over my

Carrie-Ann Wade:

trousers again. Yeah, I'm loving the leadership superpowers

Carrie-Ann Wade:

conversation now. Definitely.

Lee Griffith:

So obviously, I need to know what your

Lee Griffith:

superpower is. I mean, I think I know what it is from what I've

Lee Griffith:

seen from you over the years. But you know, how would you

Lee Griffith:

describe your superpower?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Oh my, this is such a hard question because I'm

Carrie-Ann Wade:

one of those people I find it really cringey having to talk

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about myself.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

So I was I was trying to think about how I would sum this up

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and I'm not quite sure even as a communicator that I've got the

Carrie-Ann Wade:

words right, but I definitely feel like my superpower is

Carrie-Ann Wade:

around enabling people to be able to contribute and come into

Carrie-Ann Wade:

a conversation, into a topic, helping to facilitate them

Carrie-Ann Wade:

having a voice and facilitating getting an outcome. And doing

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that, I think, diplomatically so for me, I feel like there's

Carrie-Ann Wade:

something for me about facilitation and collaboration

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and bringing people together to get hopefully a positive outcome

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and reach a good solution on something.

Lee Griffith:

Fabulous. With my coaching hat on I'd be saying

Lee Griffith:

you've got great self awareness because that's totally how I

Lee Griffith:

would be nailing what your superpower was as well.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I'll just make little note of that for myself.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

And I'm sure we'll get on to asking for feedback from others

Carrie-Ann Wade:

at some point in this conversation. Thank you very

Carrie-Ann Wade:

much, Lee, much appreciated.

Lee Griffith:

You're welcome. You're welcome. So a bit of a

Lee Griffith:

philosophical question.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Woah, woah, whoah. What's your superpower?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

You can't make me say mine and feel really awkward and cringey

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about it and then not tell me what yours is.

Lee Griffith:

Do you know I thought is she going to ask me

Lee Griffith:

or not. But then I thought, oh, it's a bit egotistical if I go

Lee Griffith:

hang on, let me just tell you what my superpower is, thank you

Lee Griffith:

very much. So my superpower I think, interesting, you know,

Lee Griffith:

I'd love to get your reflections on it, but my superpower I think

Lee Griffith:

is around being able to get clarity from confusion so you

Lee Griffith:

know, you know I love organising stuff. Love a Trello board, but

Lee Griffith:

can also be I love helping people sift through sort of out,

Lee Griffith:

filter their thoughts and their information and ideas, and all

Lee Griffith:

these things that might conflict and try and streamline it into

Lee Griffith:

something that's really simple and easy to understand and help

Lee Griffith:

them to communicate it. So that strategy and planning type stuff

Lee Griffith:

but taking that confusion and bringing it into something

Lee Griffith:

really simple, I think is what I love to do.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

You, love to do it but also you are excellent at

Carrie-Ann Wade:

it. I nearly dropped a swear word and I was gonna say your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

bloody excellent at it. Absolutely loving clarity to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

confusion that yeah, you've nailed it.

Lee Griffith:

Not clarity to confusion. That would be like my

Lee Griffith:

anti superpwer.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

See this is why I need a Lee in my life because

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I need that superpower.

Lee Griffith:

Yeah, I'm not gonna be paying you to do my

Lee Griffith:

marketing anytime soon.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Confusion to clarity, get it right confusion

Carrie-Ann Wade:

to clarity. I think you've nailed it and I think that you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

have other superpowers but that's definitely one of your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

total supercharge boost superpowers.

Lee Griffith:

Right. Can I move on now?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Yes, please move on quickly.

Lee Griffith:

So my philosophical question. I don't

Lee Griffith:

actually know if it's a philosophical question. I might

Lee Griffith:

have to ask my husband this. But is a superpower something you

Lee Griffith:

either have or you don't have? Or is it something that you

Lee Griffith:

develop your powers in over time? Are we like saying for it

Lee Griffith:

to be a real superpower then it's got to be really innate in

Lee Griffith:

you.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

So my personal view on this because it was a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

bit of a nature versus nurture type scenario, I think. I think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

there are things that you are naturally brilliant at, that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

you're very gifted in and that are innate, and I think they are

Carrie-Ann Wade:

definitely 100% your superpowers. Now I don't think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that's to say that you can't nurture those even further with

Carrie-Ann Wade:

practice and learning. And it doesn't mean that you can't

Carrie-Ann Wade:

learn over time, I don't think, to get better at those things

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that you're innately good at. But for me, I do think if it's a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

genuine superpower, it's something that just feels like

Carrie-Ann Wade:

it comes very naturally to you. You might not even know that you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

do it really well. But that it's there and you do it. Obviously

Carrie-Ann Wade:

as a leader or as a human being, there are other skills and

Carrie-Ann Wade:

things that we can learn to help complement those superpowers but

Carrie-Ann Wade:

for me, it feels like it's definitely very much more of a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

nature thing. I don't know about you Lee, you've got a look on

Carrie-Ann Wade:

your face that says you might disagree, which might be the

Carrie-Ann Wade:

first time ever in Take The Lead.

Lee Griffith:

I don't disagree, per se but I do think that there

Lee Griffith:

is probably a bit more of nurture, in my view point than

Lee Griffith:

than perhaps you. I kind of think your superpower is a bit

Lee Griffith:

like your muscles and you need to exercise them a bit. You

Lee Griffith:

know, I've got a six pack somewhere hiding under this top,

Lee Griffith:

but I need to work out to kind of really get it popping,

Lee Griffith:

workout a lot to get a popping.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

No, was that my key to go no you don't Lee, you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

look fabulous?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

So I think you know, yes people are going to be naturally

Carrie-Ann Wade:

skilled in certain areas, but I do think that there are

Carrie-Ann Wade:

nurtured side comes in a bit.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Yeah, I don't disagree with you actually Lee. I think that's

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about people not, like it hasn't been identified. They haven't

Carrie-Ann Wade:

identified for themselves yet what their superpower is and

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that they maybe need somebody to say you are really good at this,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

like you should do this more or you should practice it more or

Carrie-Ann Wade:

understand a bit more about kind of the impacts that you have

Carrie-Ann Wade:

when you operate in this way. So yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't

Carrie-Ann Wade:

disagree with that point. And I think sometimes it takes another

Carrie-Ann Wade:

person to maybe say to you, you know, you're in this situation,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

you're really good at doing this. I think that's a brilliant

Carrie-Ann Wade:

thing that you can do, which might actually for you just be

Carrie-Ann Wade:

part of how you operate on a day to day basis. You might not

Carrie-Ann Wade:

perceive that as a superpower but other people might, so I

Carrie-Ann Wade:

definitely think there is something about identifying what

Carrie-Ann Wade:

they are and how you can get better at them and how you can

Carrie-Ann Wade:

utilise them more in your leadership journey, I guess.

Lee Griffith:

So there's definitely something for me

Lee Griffith:

about when I look at leaders that I've worked with, who have

Lee Griffith:

perhaps had a limiting self belief or negative self talk

Lee Griffith:

about they just can't do something so I don't like

Lee Griffith:

presenting. I'm not great at presenting. Then you work with

Lee Griffith:

them. You develop them, they'd get more practised at it. They

Lee Griffith:

realise it's not as scary as they thought. They start getting

Lee Griffith:

good feedback. It boosts their confidence. And then suddenly,

Lee Griffith:

they're in lecture theatres, giving presentations and they're

Lee Griffith:

not even thinking about it and then really connecting with

Lee Griffith:

people, so I do think there is a journey that is is not

Lee Griffith:

necessarily always just feedback. Some of it's your own

Lee Griffith:

self internal work you have to do as well.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's

Carrie-Ann Wade:

part of what we're about when we talk through how to take the

Carrie-Ann Wade:

lead isn't it, about how you go on that journey and how you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

identify some of these areas that you might need to work on.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

So I don't necessarily think that you are born with your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superhero cape on day one, like you know what it is and you're

Carrie-Ann Wade:

going to be brilliant at it. But I think over time you start to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

identify those things that you are really good at and that you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

want to spend more time practising getting better at,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

enacting in your daily life, in your leadership life. I also

Carrie-Ann Wade:

think there's something for me around you know, we've talked,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I've talked about identifying what yours are in terms of

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers, but I think there's also something about knowing

Carrie-Ann Wade:

where maybe you don't have those superpowers, and that's okay,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

too. And actually, as a leader, I think don't be afraid to build

Carrie-Ann Wade:

your team around bringing in other superpowers that you don't

Carrie-Ann Wade:

have. I think that's absolutely okay to do that. And it's a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

really important part of being a leader and kind of knowing

Carrie-Ann Wade:

actually what you're maybe not so good at and that you need to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

bring some of that into your team to help you lead

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Lee Griffith:

If you're enjoying this episode of how to take the

Lee Griffith:

need, please hit subscribe and go leave a review or rating.

Lee Griffith:

We'd also love to hear your stories and thoughts on today's

Lee Griffith:

topic. Please DM us on LinkedIn show notes or tag us into your

Lee Griffith:

socials using the hashtag how to take the lead.

Lee Griffith:

You know I love Google so I googled leadership superpowers

Lee Griffith:

and a whole load of articles popped up and they were talking

Lee Griffith:

about the secret or hidden skills that leaders have. And

Lee Griffith:

what surprised me, and it's something that we talk about all

Lee Griffith:

the time, things like empathy, listening communication, these

Lee Griffith:

so called soft skills, and I say in bunny ears because I hate

Lee Griffith:

that word. But these are the same things that people either

Lee Griffith:

belittle or don't think it was important when they're

Lee Griffith:

recruiting people or developing people. And I just thought it

Lee Griffith:

was really interesting that actually, for many they're seen

Lee Griffith:

as superpowers yet in their day to day working people don't

Lee Griffith:

appreciate them.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Yeah, well,we've talked about this in

Carrie-Ann Wade:

many other episodes of how to take the lead when we were doing

Carrie-Ann Wade:

our lives. I know and I think there is something about in this

Carrie-Ann Wade:

day and age needing to just think differently about what

Carrie-Ann Wade:

we're recruiting for from a leadership perspective. And I

Carrie-Ann Wade:

think you know, it isn't necessarily always about being a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

technical expert in a field. It's actually much broader than

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that in terms of kind of what you're bringing to the table as

Carrie-Ann Wade:

a leader and we talk a lot back it being about connection,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

building relationships, and actually you need to have all of

Carrie-Ann Wade:

those superpowers and some of that well, some of them might be

Carrie-Ann Wade:

your superpowers, some might just be powers because maybe

Carrie-Ann Wade:

like you say, you do have to nurture them a bit more

Carrie-Ann Wade:

understand how you can kind of enact these powers bit more, but

Carrie-Ann Wade:

definitely for me, I mean it, aggravates me when people call

Carrie-Ann Wade:

them soft skills. I think they're actually just skills you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

should expect every leader to have but being able to be

Carrie-Ann Wade:

empathetic, for example, is really important. But I guess it

Carrie-Ann Wade:

goes back to that nature versus nurture point because some

Carrie-Ann Wade:

people are naturally more empathetic than other people. So

Carrie-Ann Wade:

it's kind of how do you test some of these things when you're

Carrie-Ann Wade:

looking at building your leadership team?

Lee Griffith:

Yeah, yeah. And test do they have it versus

Lee Griffith:

could they get it, which is really interesting, which I'm

Lee Griffith:

sure is a whole other topic that we cover in another episode. If

Lee Griffith:

you're, you know, someone's listening to this now, and

Lee Griffith:

questioning what their superpowers are, a bit like, you

Lee Griffith:

know, the guy in The Rookie at the beginning of the show, how

Lee Griffith:

do you even go about starting to identify what your superpowers

Lee Griffith:

are?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

So I think for me in terms of that sort of how

Carrie-Ann Wade:

to question, take some time to work out what your superpowers

Carrie-Ann Wade:

might be. Think about what you're good at what you feel

Carrie-Ann Wade:

you're good at where you feel most confident that you're

Carrie-Ann Wade:

having an impact, you know, in the workplace as a leader, and

Carrie-Ann Wade:

don't be afraid to ask other people for some feedback around

Carrie-Ann Wade:

it. Like ask other people because they might recognise

Carrie-Ann Wade:

things in you, as we've said previously, that you might not

Carrie-Ann Wade:

highlight yourself as a superpower and you might not

Carrie-Ann Wade:

realise how important that is for your team, for your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

organisation for you to be kind of acting in that way. So that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

would definitely be one of my tips. And I think on the point

Carrie-Ann Wade:

of impact, as well. Understand, you know, once you've got a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

sense of what you're bringing to the table as a leader, what you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

perceive and others perceive to be your superpowers, and you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

might have more than one which would be brillian, I also think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

it's really important to reflect on where they can have the

Carrie-Ann Wade:

biggest positive impact so that you are a bit more considerate

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about where you might be using those superpowers and putting

Carrie-Ann Wade:

them into action because you want them to have a positive

Carrie-Ann Wade:

impact. So are you really clear where you can have that impact

Carrie-Ann Wade:

in your organisation or team?

Lee Griffith:

I completely agree about the sense checking with

Lee Griffith:

other people. And when I was doing, setting up the business

Lee Griffith:

or thinking about what I wanted to do next, I actually drew out

Lee Griffith:

a Venn diagram of what people told me, if this sorry, this is

Lee Griffith:

the super organiser filter and sorter coming out. I drew out

Lee Griffith:

what people told me I was great at what I thought I was good at

Lee Griffith:

and then what I loved doing because I do think there's a

Lee Griffith:

difference between what you enjoy and what you excel at.

Lee Griffith:

I've been told that I've been really good at stuff that I've

Lee Griffith:

absolutely hated and found really unfulfilling. So it was

Lee Griffith:

important for me that I had those three dynamics. And then

Lee Griffith:

from that, I was able to identify the two or three things

Lee Griffith:

that were cropping up, you know, in common across the three

Lee Griffith:

areas. And they made me feel really excited and thought

Lee Griffith:

actually, I can make a business just out of focusing on that. So

Lee Griffith:

I thought that was a really helpful exercise. People can't

Lee Griffith:

see me but I am doing a Venn diagram with my hands.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Excellent. I would just say sorry, I'm just

Carrie-Ann Wade:

going pick up on a little point I noticed there Lee, when you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

said it was what other people thought you were great at but

Carrie-Ann Wade:

what you thought you were good at. Come on, big yourself up a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

bit more. This is aboutour superpowers. It's got to be what

Carrie-Ann Wade:

you think you're great at as well.

Lee Griffith:

If I knew anything about superhero films, I'd

Lee Griffith:

probably throw in some analogy here about Spider Man losing his

Lee Griffith:

powers or something but I don't so I'm just gonna say

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and Superman. There's something with that as

Carrie-Ann Wade:

well, but I don't know enough about it.

Lee Griffith:

Is it possible to lose your superpowers?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I think, I don't think maybe ever

Carrie-Ann Wade:

completely lose them. But I think there is something around

Carrie-Ann Wade:

how motivated you are to use them. So I think motivation can

Carrie-Ann Wade:

play a big part in how much you choose to use your superpowers,

Carrie-Ann Wade:

or not. And I think a lack of motivation means that you might

Carrie-Ann Wade:

find it much harder to tap into your natural superpowers or

Carrie-Ann Wade:

complete lack of motivation might mean that you're like, no

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I've disengaged with this, it's not for me. So for me, I think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

there is a bit of a connection between motivation and your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

leadership superpowers.

Lee Griffith:

Yeah, I always say certainly with people I work

Lee Griffith:

with that any strength that you have if you overplay it can

Lee Griffith:

become a weakness and I do think that would be the same for your

Lee Griffith:

superpowers. So you know, a great leader is someone who is

Lee Griffith:

really adaptable, who works on their skills and recognises when

Lee Griffith:

they need to take a different approach and it's really

Lee Griffith:

important that you don't become complacent and overplay that one

Lee Griffith:

trick thing that's yours.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

You don't want to be the one trick pony.

Lee Griffith:

No I know that I love finding ordering things,

Lee Griffith:

for example, but I also know of myself that if I do that too

Lee Griffith:

much, I can become really indecisive. I can feel quite

Lee Griffith:

overwhelmed with too much information. So my strength

Lee Griffith:

becomes my greatest weakness, but it's something I'm aware of.

Lee Griffith:

It's something I work on and I say the same to leaders that I

Lee Griffith:

work with, you know, how can you make sure for example, your

Lee Griffith:

attention to detail doesn't become micromanaging other

Lee Griffith:

people. So it's a really fine balance sometimes.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

And I think really important to have that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

awareness of what you've just said and kind of test it out a

Carrie-Ann Wade:

little bit. Like, if you're going spend the time considering

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and thinking about what your superpowers might be spend the

Carrie-Ann Wade:

same amount of time thinking about, as we send about that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

impact, like if I do this too much, what's the impact going to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

be? What's the potential negative impact? So yeah, I

Carrie-Ann Wade:

think that's a really good, I think that's actually a really

Carrie-Ann Wade:

good tip. And something I'm thinking that I might need to do

Carrie-Ann Wade:

for myself

Lee Griffith:

It's something that we don't do because we all

Lee Griffith:

like to be in our comfort zones as well. So it can be so easy

Lee Griffith:

for us to just fall into the thing that we like to do, but it

Lee Griffith:

can put you into a quite destructive cycle if you are

Lee Griffith:

someone that just completely goes OTT with it.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I also think one of the other things around

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers is sometimes once other people know what yours

Carrie-Ann Wade:

are, they want to utilise them a lot and sometimes that can feel

Carrie-Ann Wade:

quite constricting in the workplace. So like if your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

organisation, your leadership team, whomever, know that you're

Carrie-Ann Wade:

really good at something you sort of become the go to person

Carrie-Ann Wade:

for that thing all of the time and sometimes you can feel like

Carrie-Ann Wade:

actually I want to stretch myself outside of this and we

Carrie-Ann Wade:

need some other people to be able to help lead some of this

Carrie-Ann Wade:

and be good at it as well. Otherwise, I think that can feel

Carrie-Ann Wade:

like quite a difficult scenario to be in.

Lee Griffith:

So what would your advice be if someone is in that

Lee Griffith:

situation where they're going, you know, oh, hang on a minute,

Lee Griffith:

this is the fifth time this month I've been told to do this

Lee Griffith:

project of this type for example. Why can't someone else

Lee Griffith:

pick up the slack?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

I think you have to be able to have that

Carrie-Ann Wade:

conversation. And you know, there are lots of ways around

Carrie-Ann Wade:

that conversation. Some of it might be about actually I don't

Carrie-Ann Wade:

feel like I'm getting any learning opportunities because

Carrie-Ann Wade:

you're always expecting me to lead the same thing. And

Carrie-Ann Wade:

actually I need that opportunity to grow that might be one part

Carrie-Ann Wade:

of the conversation you need to have. Some of it might be about

Carrie-Ann Wade:

your capacity as in you know, often what can happen is you get

Carrie-Ann Wade:

given extra things because they are of that type because people

Carrie-Ann Wade:

know your superpower is going to make it happen. And I think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

sometimes you have to have that conversation about I don't have

Carrie-Ann Wade:

the capacity to take that on because I've got all of this

Carrie-Ann Wade:

other workload that I need to be responsible for. So I think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

there's different ways around having the conversation

Carrie-Ann Wade:

depending on the impact that it's having. But I think

Carrie-Ann Wade:

definitely you have to have that open conversation otherwise you

Carrie-Ann Wade:

might become a bit resentful that you you know you're not

Carrie-Ann Wade:

getting those other opportunities to use your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers in different ways.

Lee Griffith:

Yeah, and I think that's a really good point for

Lee Griffith:

leaders in general to be aware of when they're looking at

Lee Griffith:

perhaps their teams and how they're dividing tasks or giving

Lee Griffith:

opportunities to people you know, if you think about a chief

Lee Griffith:

executive, who might be looking at their executive team going

Lee Griffith:

right, well, I know so and so's really great at doing the staff

Lee Griffith:

facing stuff so I'm going to just keep pushing it to them all

Lee Griffith:

the time. But then they're actually causing an issue where

Lee Griffith:

you've not got great visibility by the you ever executive

Lee Griffith:

members, internally, for example. So as a leader, it's

Lee Griffith:

not necessarily just about you looking at your own skills, but

Lee Griffith:

looking at the broader skill sets of your team and their

Lee Griffith:

superpowers and not letting them be overused as well.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

We are building the superhero team. I love it.

Lee Griffith:

To wrap up, every episode we're going to bring you

Lee Griffith:

the how to, so this is the bit you can skip right to the end of

Lee Griffith:

the episode for if you just want the headlines of what we've been

Lee Griffith:

talking about or some really practical takeaways. Although of

Lee Griffith:

course, we do hope that you stay and listen to the whole thing.

Lee Griffith:

So in today's how to we're going to focus on how to harness your

Lee Griffith:

superpower, obviously. Carrie-Ann, what would be your

Lee Griffith:

kind of key tips or takeaways?

Carrie-Ann Wade:

My key tips would be take the time to work

Carrie-Ann Wade:

out what it is if you don't already know. And if you're

Carrie-Ann Wade:

anything like me, you probably find it quite cringey thinking

Carrie-Ann Wade:

about io you might need to make that time to work that out. And

Carrie-Ann Wade:

ask for feedback to help you with some of that because one of

Carrie-Ann Wade:

your superpowers might be something you don't consider to

Carrie-Ann Wade:

be one. And then my third kind of top tip or takeaway could be

Carrie-Ann Wade:

to really take that time to understand where your

Carrie-Ann Wade:

superpowers can have the biggest positive impact to make sure

Lee Griffith:

Well, mine you've stolen two of them. So the whole

Lee Griffith:

you're focusing them and your energy in the right place.

Lee Griffith:

mapping what you love and what people say you're great at, I

Lee Griffith:

think if you do that as an exercise, then you'll start to

Lee Griffith:

realise where your superpowers lie. And then I would just end

Lee Griffith:

with the remember if you overuse your superpower, it can become a

Lee Griffith:

weakness.

Carrie-Ann Wade:

That is honestly, yeah, I'm glad I

Carrie-Ann Wade:

didn't steal yours because that was your top tip. But that is

Carrie-Ann Wade:

the top tip of the episode. I think that's what I'm going

Carrie-Ann Wade:

reflect on.

Lee Griffith:

Excellent. Well, that's it. End of Episode One.

Lee Griffith:

We've done it!

Carrie-Ann Wade:

Look forward to seeing you, hearing you, talking

Carrie-Ann Wade:

to you for Episode Two.

Lee Griffith:

Well, I can see you but no one else can!

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About the Podcast

How to Take the Lead
Unfiltered conversations for the modern leader
How to Take the Lead is a show exploring all things leadership.

Every week we'll be exploring a different part of life as a leader, questioning everything we've ever learnt and sharing a few of our own stories along the way.

If you want to learn how to do leadership your own way, join hosts Lee Griffith (from www.sundayskies.com) and Carrie-Ann Wade (from www.cats-pajamas.co.uk) as they debunk myths, tackle stereotypes and generally put the leadership world to rights.

New episodes are released every Thursday. To get involved, share your thoughts and stories or to ask questions visit www.howtotakethelead.com or DM us via instagram, LinkedIn or twitter.
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About your hosts

Lee Griffith

Profile picture for Lee Griffith
Lee Griffith is an executive coach and leadership communications strategist who works with CEOs and senior leaders to maximise their impact, which means helping them to increase operational effectiveness, improve staff engagement and build a reputation based on high-performance and a great culture.

A former award-winning communications and engagement director with over 20 years of experience, Lee has supported everything from major incidents to reconfigurations, turnarounds and transformations. She specialises in helping leaders build their authority and influence to deliver their organisation’s vision and strategy.

As well as being one part of the How to Take the Lead collaborative, Lee also hosts 'Leaders with impact', a podcast sharing the stories and strategies of success from those who have done it their own way.

Find out more via www.sundayskies.com.

Carrie-Ann Wade

Profile picture for Carrie-Ann Wade
Carrie-Ann Wade is a communications director in the NHS with over 20 years of communications and marketing experience. She is also founder of Cat’s Pajamas Communications which focuses on mentoring communications professionals to grow and thrive in their careers.

She has most recently been a finalist in the inaugural Comms Hero Fearless Trailblazer award and shortlisted in the National Facilitation Awards 2023. She was named one of F:entrepreneur's #ialso100 2020 top female entrepreneurs and business leaders, and Cat’s Pajamas has been recognised in Small Business Saturday's UK #SmallBiz100, as a business with impact.

She is one part of the How to Take the Lead collaborative, and cohost of a podcast with the same name, exploring the challenges and opportunities of modern day leadership. Carrie-Ann also hosts ‘Behind The Bob, Diary of a Comms Director’, a podcast supporting aspiring communications leaders.

Find out more via www.cats-pajamas.co.uk