Leadership in full colour!

What if a single image could help you remember the kind of leader you want to be, right when it matters most?

Over the last few months, my colleague Dr Cathryn Lloyd and I have been exploring a set of coaching superpowers. Simple yet powerful mindsets and behaviours that support leaders and teams to grow, connect, and lead with intention.

We didn’t just name them, we also drew them.

Each superpower - curiosity, self-awareness, flexibility, and others, has been captured in a hand-drawn image paired with a single word.

These visuals are textured, human, and perfectly imperfect, because leadership is too. They reflect the real, imperfect, evolving nature of showing up and leading well.

🧠 Neuroscience tells us that visuals activate different neural pathways than words alone. They catch our attention, evoke emotion, and make ideas stick. They prompt us to pause, reflect, and respond, not just react.

In this case they help visualise leadership behaviours and mindsets, making them more tangible and easier to connect with. Together they paint a picture or leadership alive and in motion - always evolving.

Think of it as a palette of leadership superpowers - something you can draw on depending on the moment, the challenge, or the context you find yourself in. 

In our coaching and facilitation sessions, we’ve seen how these visuals act as anchors to:

⚓ Reflect rather than react

⚓ Deal with complexity

⚓ Practice presence and find clarity

⚓ Create a shared language

We’re sharing these superpowers more widely, in our workshops, our coaching, and here on LinkedIn.

If you would like a copy of our full superpower guide, please email cathryn@maverickminds.com.au or Helen Zink helen@growtobe.co.nz

We're also curious to know:

❓ If you were to add your own superpower image and word what would it be.

❓ If your team were to draw their superpowers what would they be.

We’d love to hear your ideas.

Image:Cathryn Lloyd 

“These are a few of my favourite things…”

Mountains, snow, glaciers, ice, and salmon (not pictured) are definitely my favourite things and I’ve been indulging in them big-time the last few days. 

I’m making the most of the region after spending the weekend at a wellbeing retreat in Tekapo. 

One area heavily emphasised over the weekend was nature – the awe, freshness, shape, smell, sound and even light of it. And I'm in the right place to indulge. This part of the country is a stark contrast to my everyday life mid-city - man-made objects, hard edged shapes, bright lights and sound pollution. 

Back in the city I'm very conscious of the environment and often work with clients outside (circumstance permitting). It opens up the senses and triggers different neural connections. 

If you’d like to find ways to build connection with nature into you, or your team’s, everyday routine, get in touch. Give it a try!

Snapshot of 10 coaching superpowers for leading teams

Hi, we’re Helen Zink and Dr. Dr Cathryn Lloyd. We partner closely with leaders and teams, and we understand the array of challenges leaders face. Over the past few weeks, we've shared 10 (plus a bonus 11th) coaching superpowers for leaders to experiment with. We’ve highlighted why these superpowers are essential in today’s complex and unpredictable world and provided actionable insights to help you apply them, whether for yourself or with your team.

The attached infographic summarises all superpowers - we hope you find it useful. Feel free to download it and use it as a visual reminder.

 Here’s a snapshot of all 11:

⭐ Superpower 1: self-awareness

The foundation that powers all other superpowers - understanding who you are, what drives you, and recognising your triggers. 

⭐ Superpower 2: curiosity

Stimulates growth, innovation, exploration, learning, and collaborative problem-solving.

⭐ Superpower 3: character

Trust, integrity, and consistency. Leaders with strong character create a culture of psychological safety, and positive impact.

⭐ Superpower 4: flexibility

To stay effective and resilient in a rapidly changing and unpredictable environment and thinking “what is possible”.

⭐ Superpower 5: candour

Authentic and vulnerable leadership is essential for establishing trust, accountability, and a culture of learning within teams.

⭐ Superpower 6: sensing

Actively picking up on signals, patterns, and dynamics in the environment, anticipate change, and enable proactive rather than reactive decision-making.

⭐ Superpower 7: learning

Encouraging reflection, feedback loops, knowledge sharing, and normalising failure.

⭐ Superpower 8: linking

Noticing and linking dots, understanding context and systems, embracing diverse perspectives, and encouraging innovation. 

⭐ Superpower 9: resourcing

Recognising potential, advocating, clearing obstacles, and tapping into networks to create opportunities.

⭐ Superpower 10: resiliency 

Bouncing back from setbacks, adapting to new challenges, and maintaining focus in changing environments.

⭐ Bonus superpower 11:  investing

Developing superpowers requires sustained investment of time and energy.  Allocating some current resource to enable maximisation of future resources. 

If you would like to know more, we’ve created a superpower guide with extended content. For your complimentary copy, please email Cathryn (cathryn@maverickminds.com.au) or Helen (helen@growtobe.co.nz).  It’s free to “good homes”. 

Superpowers infographic.pdf

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