Creating Super Heroes - not just hard workers
If you do not have children or access to them then you may not have found and adequate excuse to see the animated movie “The Incredibles”, but you should. There is a great HR lesson told in the back ground of the plot of a modern family of “Super Heroes”.
In the beginning of the film Mr. Incredible can no longer perform his duties as a super hero, so he must get a regular job. This is where I believe the lesson begins. Because Mr incredible cannot exercise the gifts that make him special, or pursue and be engaged by the challenges that he is drawn to and driven by, he quickly turns into a lifeless semi-depressed drone. Not only is he of limited value to the company he works for, he gradually becomes a liability. His detachment from purpose carries over into his family life, which becomes stressful and un appreciated as well. Mr Incredible, an idol and example of “all the right stuff” becomes un-impactful in both work and home. Scary subplot for a kid movie isn’t it. Good thing children have no concept of a life-less drone and can find simple humor in the expressions and actions on the screen.
Minutes later in the film Mr. Incredible finds a way to re-align himself with propose, value and even passion. That change is also reflected in not only his attitude but his family life.
There is a magic that comes from doing what we feel we are meant to do. It is empowering, energizing and even intoxicating. We are almost always good at what ever it is, and are constantly in pursuit of getting better at it. If leveraged by an organization not only is it valuable, is it uniquely valuable.
In a world where individual contribution by employees have never been more closely aligned with corporate performance on all levels; and the mobility of human capital a universal expectation in modern business; are your staffers , sources and trainers empowered?
Are you aligning you employee “superheroes” to take advantages of their special powers or are you stripping them of their super powers by forcing them to be safe predictable and average?
If you believe that your success is the result of something other than extraordinary individual efforts of organized and talented people; then you are the “super villain”. You are a villain to your team, to your company and to the industry of modern Human Resources. And you had better sharpen your skills and find a secret hide out; for there are Heroes on the horizon coming to kick you but!
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