The Avengers: Strength-based Leadership

Sitting in the movie theater last week, I found one of the best examples of strength-based leadership that involves super heroes. The Avengers is not only a fantastic movie, but also a leadership parable. One of the major tasks of being a leader is delegating which is a skill that requires knowing the strengths of your followers.

In The Avengers, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) finds himself in a bind when Loki and his army threaten to destroy the Earth. He must go to the "council" to get a pragmatic option for dealing with these terrorists. Fury brings up the idea of using a group of superheroes, and the council immediately denies it assuming that they will cause more harm than help. However, Fury uses his own discretion, which leaders have to do sometimes, and he brings in The Avengers. Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Agent Romanoff (Black Widow), and Hawkeye all come to the rescue by - in leadership terms- organizing tasks by each of their strengths. In the final battle against Loki and his army, Iron Man attacks Loki at his Stark Towers and flies around distracting the monster things, Captain America works with the Hulk on the ground to fight off the smaller monster things and Hawkeye helps to shoot them with arrows from tops of buildings, and Agent Romanoff tries to close the portal. As the battle progressed as a group, they worked together using their own powers, skills, and strengths. Overall, this helped them to work more effectively, efficiently, and ultimately win the battle saving Earth from destruction.

So how can you use this in your life? You must've known I would get to it eventually. First on a side note, leaders just like Nick Fury sometimes need to use their own discretion when making important decisions. I always say to question authority, and sometimes it is necessary to successful leadership. To the main point though, delegating as leaders requires knowing people's strengths and skills. It is vital to being efficient and effective in group and team work. So how do you do that? I have one example from my own life. In my chemistry class, we did a lot of group work and mainly work where no one was really recognized if they did it all, so it was important for everyone to actually work together. In my own group, I always delegated based on strengths. In our lab groups of four, I would make sure the best person at observing and drawing conclusions was always nearest to the experiment; I made sure that the most meticulously detailed person had a pen and paper ready; and, I kept everyone on task regardless of skill. By allowing each person on a team to shine using their gifts, the whole group shines.

Next time you are in charge of a group, remember to use everyone's strengths just like in the Avengers. (Now I will end with a cheesy line..) If you use everyone's powers, even you can be a superhero.

Also, watch The Avengers. It's a really good movie.