Your Superpowers Might Be Draining You

You don't need to hang it up, you need to use when it's needed.

We love to talk about strengths. Whole industries are built on finding them, amplifying them, leaning into them. But there's a side to strengths we don't talk about enough: what happens when you overuse them.

Because when you're good at something, people will ask for it more. And if you're not careful, you'll start equating your worth with your usefulness. Your cape becomes your identity.

I've seen it in clients. I've lived it myself. The very thing that made you successful can become the thing that burns you out.

Being detail-oriented becomes perfectionism. Being collaborative turns into people-pleasing. Responsiveness morphs into reactivity. Strategic thinking spirals into overanalysis.

Your superpowers become your kryptonite when you don't take the cape off.

The Leadership Shift: Use Your Strengths Strategically

Great leaders don't abandon their strengths—they learn to deploy them intentionally. They:

• Recognize when their go-to strength is hurting more than helping

• Pause before automatically jumping in to "save the day"

• Give others space to step up, even if it means letting things be imperfect
  

One of my clients - a brilliant problem-solver - noticed that her team had stopped offering ideas. She was always the first to answer, and often the last word. It wasn't ego. It was habit. Her strength had become a blocker.

With a few shifts like asking more questions, holding back her own answers, she saw her team re-engage. Her leadership got better the moment she stopped leading with her cape on.

Want to test this yourself?

Here’s a quick reflection:

• What's one strength people regularly praise you for?

• When has that strength served you well?

• And when has it gone too far—to your own detriment or others'?

• What does it feel like in your body when you're in overuse mode?

• What would it mean to trust that you're valuable, even without always proving it? (even if you are just proving it to yourself?)
  

The goal isn't to drop your superpowers. It's to use them with discernment. To wear the cape when it's needed, and hang it up when it's not.