I never … ever … saw a Spiderman movie or read a Spiderman comic book although this Superhero was the rage dating back to his birth in the 1960s. Obviously I wasn’t drawn to do either. I can’t say why … I just wasn’t. That is until a couple of weeks ago. While channel surfing from the sofa on Sunday afternoon I came upon a Spiderman movie and thus, my introduction to this Superhero and his earthly alter-ego, Peter Parker. Rather quickly I was hooked. Voila … I feel behind the times no more.
As it turns out, this beginning wasn’t the end of my exposure to Spiderman for the week. I came upon an article in Forbes on-line this week by Geoff Loftus pertaining to Spiderman and his lessons of leadership. I was intrigued at the connection between leadership – a very real skill, a talent and need on one hand … and a fictional character who spun webs on his way to stopping bad things going on around him. So once again I found myself caught in his spun web. The perspective is definitely interesting and I’ll draw from the article to share it with you.
Lesson # 1 – With great power, comes great responsibility. And this was told to Peter Parker by someone who didn’t even know that he and Spiderman were one and the same.
Don’t leaders have responsibility to the well-being of all those inside and outside of the organization wherever it is they operate? And does it make any difference if you lead a single department in a big company or the entire, smaller organization? The fact remains with the job comes responsibilities that reach out in several directions. And regardless of how big or little the area or group you oversee, or the amount of power you wield, having responsibilities goes hand-in-hand with the job. Your success IS related to your willingness and ability to face up to them.
Lesson # 2 – Be who you are, do what you have to do. Recognize your power (abilities and talents) and use it. Spiderman gained his powers and skills because he was bitten by a radioactive spider. You weren’t. Your abilities and talents got you your job. It’s important to own our abilities & talents and use them in executing our role as a leader.
Lesson # 3 – You don’t have to go solo. Spider-Man doesn’t hesitate to reach out to other people in seeking the knowledge and help he needs to accomplish his mission. So, if our superhero readily admits he doesn’t have all the answers, it should then be easy for us to team up with regular folks who do have a needed skill. The message here is that effective leading does not mandate you go it alone or even that you have all of the answers. As an effective leader, reach out to those who do have what you need. Use them.
Is it hard for you to get your head around lessons from Spiderman? After all, he’s just a fantasy Superhero. Of course that’s your choice. However, as the Forbes article’s author indicates “… you never know if your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is going to be around when you need him. Comments?
Mike Dorman
Dear Friendly neighborhood Spider-man, Keep spinning. We need you. Dr. Linda
Keep spinning is the key. Just avoid getting caught up in our own webs. Thanks for your comment Dr. Linda!
Love this Mike thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate it!
The goal of fiction, fantasy and art is to tell the truth. Non-fiction stories can be full of lies and still attract attention. Fiction, especially fantasy, must be true to human nature or the stories would not connect with ordinary people. We demand that our fiction be true. Spiderman keeps his every day identity secret, why? I suspect that he is telling us that it is our duty as human beings to do good without expecting to be rewarded or acknowledged. We do good even if by doing so we get on the bad side of some of our colleagues. Spiderman’s mask is a symbol of the importance of behaving ethically even when to do so might mean that some of our friends turn away from us. I encourage the use of fictional characters to reveal the hidden treasures we possess in our character. Which superhero would you emulate?