How to unlock the superhero within you

What superpowers do you have?

The question might sound funny at first, but thinking about the untapped talent you might possess can actually change your life.

Linda Cureton is the former Chief Information Officer at NASA and author of the book, The Leadership Muse. She spoke about how she learned to unlock her own ‘superpowers’ during an opening keynote speech at the NextGen Summit today.

“You have the power to save the world. We all do,” she said.

Cureton stressed that a new kind of leadership is required, especially because the pace and complexity of change keeps getting bigger. The world is connected in ways in which it never has been before, and this means that a new approach to leadership is required.

This can be done by anyone if he pays attention to his inner strength, need for justice, and passion.

Cureton cited people like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Joan of Arc as real people who looked inside of themselves and were able to accomplish extraordinary feats by tapping into these special traits.

This is something that everyone should be able to do — and Cureton says it’s actually not as hard as you might think.

Often, all it takes is turning a negative into a positive, “Fear is a good thing. Use fear in order to … get you to where you need to be.” Instead of shrinking away from something that scares you, she added, you should face what’s bothering you and draw strength from adversity.

Cureton also reminded the audience, though, that the road to becoming a good leader can be tough, especially in today’s market.

“Being a hero is tough. And being a leader in government is tough … and the statistics are against us. Federal workers aren’t as empowered as they need to be. So, we need heroes. Heroes like you.”