Superhero SWOT - Newsletter and Video

Superheroes are part of our culture and have been for a long time. The idea of individuals with remarkable and special abilities who protect or avenge us is woven into our day to day, especially in the past several decades with a seemingly endless line of comic books, films, and shows featuring such characters as Batman, Ironman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and of course my personal favorite, Thor. Superheroes face off against equally powerful villains who seek to defeat or destroy them, often at the expense of the innocent. We’ll get back to Superheroes in a moment.

Since the 1960’s when business leaders and analysts needed a tool to gain an understanding of an organization, they’ve been able to rely on something called a SWOT analysis. Familiar to many business majors, SWOT is an acronym that stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats." The visual representation of the SWOT analysis often shows four equal quadrants, with strengths in the top left, weaknesses in the top right, opportunities in the bottom left, and threats in the bottom right. When bisected horizontally, the chart is divided into the internal things the organization CAN control (strengths and weaknesses) on top, and the external things the organization CANNOT control but must manage (opportunities and threats) on the bottom.

The SWOT analysis has long been used for organizational analysis, but when I mentor others, it has also become my favorite tool for self-awareness and personal reflection. Using the SWOT approach to examine one’s personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can be an indispensable method of professional development. One application of the personal SWOT analysis is for individuals on the job search. Consider how the personal SWOT analysis can organize information and let us ask ourselves important questions ahead of applications, interviews, and new roles.

·??????Strengths are internal and within our control. These are the skills we possess and the things we do well. Our goal is to continue to develop our strengths and to accentuate them during interviews, networking opportunities, and in our jobs.

·??????Weaknesses are internal and within our control. These are things we do not do well or struggle with and that provide us with potential foils to our success. Our goal is to manage and address our weaknesses, NOT to avoid them entirely. Self-awareness is a path to addressing these weaknesses, whereas avoiding them allows them to remain undisturbed and unchallenged.

·??????Opportunities are external and outside of our control. Our goal is to position ourselves to take advantage of opportunities to earn wins and make progress. It’s worth noting that we can also create our own opportunities through our hard work and talent. Some people call this luck – I believe that luck is where opportunity meets preparation.

·??????Threats are external and outside of our control. Our goal is to manage these threats to prevent them from tripping us up or exposing our weaknesses. Threats, like opportunities, come and go, and we can create or exacerbate threats in our environment based on our own actions.

A completed SWOT analysis may read something like a road map of our own journeys, but what if we were to reframe our personal SWOT analysis? What if, instead of analyzing ourselves the way we would a business in a linear, albeit organized manner, we put ourselves into the pages of a comic book or on the screen as the superheroes each and every one of us truly is?

Let’s look at the first quadrant of our SWOT analysis – the strengths. Many of us can identify one or more of those skills that we feel most confident in. Let’s elevate our greatest strengths into a new subcategory of our personal SWOT and create our SUPERPOWERS. Batman and Ironman’s superpowers were their genius-level intellects. Superman could fly and had super strength. What is YOUR superpower? How would you use that superpower to achieve both your goals and the goals of your team, your organization, your society? Perhaps your possess super empathy, the ability to understand the feelings and emotions of others at a deeper, more meaningful level, and to adjust your leadership to best address their needs. Maybe your superpower is your ability to focus on tasks with such clarity that you are impervious to distractions and thus extremely productive. There are so many options for what our superpowers are, so don’t limit yourself – allow yourself to become that comic book character with the world-saving skill.

Now, it’s not all superpowers in the superhero world. Tony Stark’s weakness is his ego. Batman has a need to keep his identity a secret to protect his loved ones. And of course, Superman can be defeated with kryptonite. As uncomfortable as it may be, one of those weaknesses (or maybe a weakness you left off of your SWOT) is our version of Kryptonite – it’s our ACHILLES HEEL. What is the one thing our arch-nemesis would use against us given the chance? It’s important to note that our Achilles heel can be a result of our Superpower, too. A superhero with an incredible work ethic may be a workaholic who struggles with their personal relationships or their health.

Now lets look at our environment. One of the most fun part of the Superhero SWOT is assembling our team, so this third quadrant will be the ALLIES quadrant. Who are those friends and those co-workers and team members who will stand shoulder to shoulder with you during times of conflict and challenge? Do their strengths balance out your weaknesses the way Steve Rogers’ humility served as a balance to Tony Stark’s confidence? Do you have team members who can get their hands dirty and work in the trenches like Hulk to balance out leaders like King T’Challa? Look at who is on your team and take stock of the super powers and flaws that exist.

And then the final quadrant where we listed threats is where we will list our VILLAINS. This isn’t about naming names, but instead identifying anything in our environment that can serve to act as a detriment to us. Batman’s goal was to inspire the people of Gotham City to be better – yes, the Joker was his archnemesis, but APATHY was also a villain in Batman’s environment.

With a personal SWOT analysis, and now a SUPERSWOT, you are able to star in your own super hero story. Maybe you’re a charismatic leader who sees so much good in others that they are blind to their weaknesses, but you work closely with talented allies to face off against villainous mediocrity. Whoever you are, whatever your powers, suit up, assemble, and of course, thank you for spending time with me!

Chris Fitzpatrick (he/him/his) is a Human Resources Professional with 16+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, and Diversity & Inclusion. Chris is proud to be the Sr. Manager, Talent Development at Crestron Electronics, an industry leader in the AV Industry with an amazing team around him. Chris speaks professionally, loves hosting game shows, and golfs (poorly) for charity.

Chris can be found on Facebook and Instagram at?ChrisFitzpatrickSpeaks and coming soon via a new website at www.chrisfitzpatrickspeaks.com!

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