How to Discover Your Professional Strengths (The Superpower Email Challenge)

Jun 20

Written By Dave

The "Superpower Email" Challenge: Discover What Your Friends See in You

Most professionals can list their weaknesses faster than their strengths. This exercise fixes that and takes less than 20 minutes. I shared the steps and my in my recent TEDx talk.

What is the Superpower Email Challenge?
The Superpower Email Challenge is a self-awareness exercise where professionals ask 10–15 trusted contacts to identify their single greatest strength. Responses reveal patterns invisible through self-reflection alone, giving leaders an objective, externally validated view of their core competencies.

In the talk, I shared a personal journey of self-discovery that led me to a three-pillar framework for growth I call "The Root Down." The first pillar is simple yet daunting: Know Yourself. To really get clear on who I am and what I bring to the table, I recommend an exercise I call the "Superpower Email" Challenge. Here's how it works, why it works, and how you can try it yourself.

The Core Premise

I think we're often our own worst critics. We can rattle off our flaws and missteps without a second thought, but we tend to overlook our actual strengths. I learned this firsthand when I took a risk: I asked the people who know me best to tell me what they thought my "superpower" was. By stepping outside my own head and seeking honest feedback from people I trust, I started to see a pattern emerge, one clear, undeniable strength kept coming up: communication.

How I Ran the Challenge

This challenge takes a mix of vulnerability and curiosity. Here's the approach I used, and one you can adapt for your own self-discovery:

Curate your list: I picked about 15 people from different stages and parts of my life, childhood friends, colleagues, mentors, clients, and family.
Draft the email: I kept my request simple, direct, and open-ended so I wouldn't lead people toward a particular answer.
Embrace the vulnerability: Hitting "send" took some nerve. I won't pretend it didn't feel uncomfortable, but I recognized that discomfort as part of the growth.
Analyze the feedback: As replies came in, whether a single sentence or a full paragraph, I started looking for common threads and overlapping language.

The Email Template I Used

Feel free to adapt this to your own voice and relationships:

Subject: A quick, unusual question about my "superpower"

Hi [Name],

I'm currently doing an exercise in self-reflection and personal development, and I could use your honest perspective.

Knowing me from our time together, what would you say my "superpower" is?

There are no wrong answers, and it doesn't need to be long, just whatever comes to mind first. I truly appreciate your time and insight.

Thanks,
[Your Name]

WRITE THE EMAIL

Decoding My Responses

As the replies rolled in, I noticed a lot of varied phrasing pointing toward the same underlying trait. I built a simple matrix to help decode and organize what I was hearing:

  
      Respondent Phrasing
      Underlying Core Strength
      Application in Daily Life
    
      "You always know how to explain things so I get it."
      Communication & Translation
      Bridging gaps between technical and non-technical teams.
    
      "You never panic when things go wrong."
      Crisis Management & Resilience
      Leading high-stress projects or conflict resolution.
    
      "You make everyone feel included at parties."
      Empathy & Community Building
      Fostering team culture and psychological safety.

Why Self-Knowledge Is the Foundation of Effective Leadership

I've come to believe that knowing your strengths is like putting on your mask before helping anyone else. Once I had a deeper, more objective understanding of what I'm actually good at, I found I could move through life and with the people and organizations across Nashville and beyond who I serve.

This left me with a lot more confidence and clarity. The "Superpower Email" challenge was my first step toward that foundational self-knowledge, and it might be yours too.

KNOWING YOURSELF IS THE FIRST STEP OF THE ROOT DOWN. Here’s what’s next…