Superpowers For Good--Skills to Leave Your Mark on the World

Devin: What do you think of as your superpower? Andrew: I would say that I do have some, some skills that are useful, and one of them is I have the ability, I think, to connect things in ways that make them easier for other people to understand, to be able to take, say, a story in this area and use that story to illustrate maybe a more complex or nuanced concept in another area. I think I’m a pretty good teacher. Andrew Hill is the co-founder and CEO of BurnBright.TV, a microlearning...

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Devin: Abhi, what do you think of as your superpower? Abhi: Devin, I have no idea... What is my superpower? Something I’ve heard often is actually the ability to have these kinds of open, hard, vulnerable conversations with people and see that turn into something meaningful for the other person and myself. “Just because this person is wearing a hat that has the opposite message of what I believe doesn’t mean that we can’t have a meaningful conversation,” says Abhi Nangia, founder of...

Devin: What is your superpower? What do you think of as that singular strength that helps you to be so incredibly successful? Jill: You know, I have a really good friend, Marion Fredman, who told me once when I was a young leader at my first nonprofit Museum of Children’s Art, she said, “Jill, we’re many different people in our lives.” I think similarly, we have many different superpowers. I think more recently, the superpower that has given me the most success has been my ability to...

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Devin: Justin, what is your superpower?Justin: What is my superpower? Oh, man, you know, if I was a fundraiser, I’d answer this differently than if I was the founder of a company. So, I would just say, and I’ll kind of explain this a little bit more, but I’m an incredibly optimistic person, which allows me to make big bets and take big risks without the consequence—without the fear of what the consequences might be if we don’t hit that target. Justin Wheeler, CEO of Funraise, a complete...

Devin: Laurie, what is your superpower? Laurie: I think if I have—I’ve succeeded in anything to a certain extent, I think it is by helping to start movements. You know, social movements, professional movements, educational movements. Laurie Lane-Zucker’s success comes from his ability to build a movement. After 30 years working in sustainability and a decade after launching his Impact Entrepreneur network, he’s launching his latest effort with Impact Entrepreneur Magazine. Patiently...

Devin: What is your superpower? Mark: I don't know if I have one, but I would say it's what we just talked about; it's a focus on return investment when applied to giving that I execute on. Mark Gerson is the husband of Rabbi Erica Gerson and is devout in their shared Jewish faith. They are raising their four children in that model; they attend Jewish day school. It is notable, therefore, that he helped found, chairs and is the chief funder for a Christian nonprofit, African Mission...

Chapter 60: Patience and Optimism - Bill Gates Devin: A few years ago, you wrote about superpowers in your annual letter. What is your superpower? Bill: Well, if I have one, it has something to do with optimism about scientific innovation and being able to gather teams of people. My experience at Microsoft was assembling teams of engineers and understanding what was on track/off track, being patient for things that, in that case, usually took five or six years. In the world of medicine,...

Devin: Bill, what is your superpower? Bill: I think it’s, you know, really being able to to have a vision. But I think a lot of people have vision, but really being able to stay on task because I tell you this has been a really up and down process. You know, when I talk about crowdfunding for the culture, it’s not as though crowdfunding for the Black community is different. But when I say that I am talking about someone in the Black community who has really tried to start a business and...

Devin: Melissa, what is your superpower? Melissa: I think it might just be that stick-to-itiveness. In the early days, we were a nonprofit and I was doing that full time. I had a master's degree. I was in my late 20s and was doing plasma to pay for groceries. I'd go at 6:00 a.m. because it was really embarrassing to run into people when I was at that level and those were the options I had. I was doing that. I was running dogs for money. I was teaching dance classes in my roommate's...

Devin: What do you think of as your superpower? Tim: I feel like I am a problem solver and that, and I’m doing things that I have never had any exposure to—environmental cleanup or large housing development or things like that. But I know how to learn enough to understand the issues. I know how to work through a problem and find solutions to it. I think the other part is I seem to be able to identify and focus on the things that matter the most. Sometimes I neglect the things that aren’t...

Devin: Sanam, what is your superpower? Sanam: Sometimes, I think that my superpower is the power of the powerless speaking truth to power. Devin: Malalai, what’s your superpower? Malalai: So I would like to speak about it, not as an individual, but as part of a group, the group of women, peacebuilders whose superpower is building peace. I have always been inspired by those women building peace in the most dangerous conflict zones under harsh situations. I am personally pro-peace, and I...

Devin: Marc, what's your superpower? Marc: I don't think I have any. I really think anyone can do what I'm doing. If you are passionate, if you are disciplined, if you know how to connect dots, I think you can do anything that I'm doing right now. Building this company, honestly, was a bit unique, and I did not think I was capable of doing it until I actually started putting the dots together. The guy [Roy Glasberg] at Google that I met amazed me when he said the following, "I don't have...

Devin: Ina, what is your superpower? Ina: Oh, I might have that Wonder Woman costume right under my top—I'm not sure. My superpower is that I'm fearless. I am never reckless, but I am fearless. You can watch the full interview with Ina here: ina.s4g.biz. Ina Pinkney began learning to be fearless as a childhood survivor of polio. Ina could climb the three flights of stairs to her assigned room but needed extra time, so school administrators allowed her to enter the building early. During...

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Devin: Mari, what’s your superpower? Mari: I love to learn new things, and I like to think that other people in this organization are motivated to learn new things because I’m constantly sending out Slack messages, e-mail messages, you know, about, check out this new article. Did you see what so-and-so said? Think about the implications for this. I find all this work incredibly important, incredibly fascinating. The other thing that I’m incredibly grateful for is that this has been a job...

Devin: Shaun, what is your superpower? Shaun: My superpower? I think about two things; a key one is listening. It’s just so important to listen well. It’s something that doesn't happen enough in the world. So who are my customers? Who are my stakeholders? What are their needs? What are their aspirations? How do I reconcile those needs and aspirations of my stakeholders— stakeholders being farmers, community leaders, investors, industry? So listening really well, I think with an empathetic...