Together is Our Superpower

By now, it’s probably no surprise to reveal that I love superhero movies.

It started when I was just a little kid, watching Christopher Reeve play Superman.

Over the years, I became familiar with numerous characters and storylines. I learned about countless different types of superpowers and came to innately understand the themes.

One thing that has always been central to these kinds of stories is the extraordinary hero. From Gilgamesh to Superman, Captain America to Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman to Wonder Man, we’re told the stories of remarkable individuals.

Yet, occasionally, we get a different story.

Exploring Reliance

From Black Panther to Guardians of the Galaxy, and central to the upcoming Fantastic Four, there are movies that bend or break the hyper-individual narrative in favor of a message of mutual reliance.

In these movies, no one has everything it takes to win.

They must actually rely on those around them — including their community, chosen family, and/or their real family.

In a standard hero-saves-the-day story, the closest we get to that idea is when our hero is helped by one person, usually their significant other, in a single moment of crisis. The message is still, “The hero actually had 90% of what was needed to save the day, but unfortunate circumstances forced them to need just one thing from someone else.”

We’ve come to expect our heroes to overcome all odds and any adversary through their own determination, strength, and intellect. Unsurprisingly, this is the same narrative we’re fed in the real world — stories of remarkable, visionaryindividuals.

• We hear it in business.
• We hear it in science.
• We hear it in social justice.

It’s the theme of the rugged individual, the genius inventor, or the fearless leader of a movement. If not for their unique superiority, we would have nothing…we’re told.

But it’s all fantasy.

Every. Single. Time.

From the pages of comic books to the pages of the New York Times featured interviews, no one accomplishes anything alone.

Go Ahead… Just Try to Show Up Alone

Thomas Edison died in 1931 with 2,332 patents to his name. He held the record for most patents until 2003. For every one of those inventions, he either worked collaboratively with others or built upon the work of those who came before him. Without all of those others, Edison might be little more than a footnote in our history.

If Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela had walked alone, we might not even know their names.

While we remember the names of individuals, we remember the outcomes that resulted from the combined actions of countless others.

I’ve talked about a lot of superpowers on this blog. While every one of them is important, the most powerful force is not held by one individual.

Our most powerful superpower is held collectively. It is the combined force of working together.

Together @ Work

Instead of revering the “genius CEO” and rewarding them with a salary and stock options equal to the GDP of a small island nation, we could recognize that they are completely useless without the genius, collaboration, and labor of everyone on the team.

Instead of trying to forge our own paths by leaning into our strengths and muscling through our struggles, we could embrace partnerships.

Instead of expecting anyone on our team to know everything or be capable of doing everything, we could find out what they need — or what type of work sets them up to contribute most effectively.

Should we fail to find our way back to relying on each other, we will continue to lose power to those that do.

No One Is Coming to Save Us

Right now, we are witnessing the growth of an increasingly unified and heavily armed regime. If we really want to fight back against the injustices bombarding us every day, we’re going to need each other.

No one is coming to save us… as much as we wish they would.

If we stood together, we could change the world tomorrow — which is exactly why the strategy of “divide and conquer” is so common. The forces that seek to consolidate power and impose their own agenda, for their own gain, know they cannot win against a united front.

This is where our individual superpowers come into play.

We Don’t Have to Be Cannon Fodder

It’s easy to think that with large enough numbers, the plan is to simply overwhelm the opposition, swallow some number of acceptable losses, and claim victory.

But that’s not much of a strategy — and we can do better than that.

Instead, when we come together, we start by identifying everyone’s superpowers.

• Some are armed with remarkable rhetoric.
• Some are able to blend in behind enemy lines and gain trust.
• Some have skills we won’t know we need until the moment arrives.

The key is being able to rely on each other — to trust each other in service of a common goal.

And when there are enough of us, in any battle, the odds are in our favor.

Together is our superpower. Not only is it the most powerful one we have — it might be the only one we have left.

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Thank you for reading Becoming Superhuman. One way to get together is to join The Impact Lab, an online community connected to this blog and my company, Super Impactful.

There is a free access tier where we can come together and talk about life and business.

There is also a paid membership level with lifetime access that comes with additional resources.