Commentary

The Secret Superpower Of Powerful People

What do Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have in common?

It’s the secret superpower of powerful people.

Not just people who already are powerful -- it's the secret superpower for people to become powerful.

And not just people, either. It’s the secret superpower of some of the most valuable brands on earth.

It’s free.

It’s accessible to everyone.

And yet most people don’t take advantage of it.

This superpower is, quite simply…the willingness to have an opinion.

Last year, AOC asked an understandable question of people who had voted for both her AND Trump: Why?

Why would you vote for two people simultaneously who hold completely different views on just about everything?

How can you back the country’s most progressive candidate while also backing its most conservative one?

How can you put these two characters in the same basket?

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An actual answer (maybe the actual answer?): “I feel like Trump and you are both real.”

Alex M H Smith, who wrote the book "No Bullsh*t Strategy," says that, “in a competitive environment, being ‘right’ isn’t enough. You have to have an angle. You have to have a particular point of view. Which means, ultimately, that you have to have an original opinion than other people might disagree with… [T]his opinion is the most valuable thing you own, because it’s the axis on which your entire business is going to hinge.”

It’s surprisingly tough to have an opinion. We are hard-wired to be part of our group. When you take a stand people could disagree with, you’re actively courting rejection. Why would anyone put themselves at risk like that?

It comes down to one thing: whether you want to fit in or whether you want to belong.

Fitting in means thinking the same as everyone else. Saying the same as everyone else. Doing the same as everyone else.

Plenty safe, but here’s the downside: when you think and say and do the same as everyone else, no one will value your opinion.

Why would I want to know what you think when I already know it’s the same as everyone else?

It’s what Wes Kao calls a “spiky point of view”: “A spiky point of view is a perspective others can disagree with. It’s a belief you feel strongly about and are willing to advocate for. It’s your thesis about topics in your realm of expertise.”

We’ve adopted this concept in my company. We call them spovs, and I can tell you it is a muscle that needs developing. Asking for each other’s spovs showed us how often we fail to share them. So I might be asking what we want to do about this particular topic and someone says, “What’s your spov?” and now I have to be willing to have an opinion.

Because we use it so often, we’ve developed that muscle. It’s now the norm to say, “What should we do about X? My spov is Y.”

When you disagree for the sake of disagreement, people run from you, but when you disagree because you have an opinion, people listen to you more. They seek you out more. They value you more. You are the one who provides the insights. You are the one who expands the perspectives. You are the one who may have the as-yet-unthought-of solution.

Smith gives examples: AirBnB founder Brian Chesky believed people will sleep on strangers’ couches. Podcaster Joe Rogan believed podcasts should be over 3 hours long. Brene Brown believed showing vulnerability makes you more powerful.

The willingness to have an opinion is an absolute superpower, free and accessible to everyone. Are you taking advantage of it?

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