“Leadership is about inviting people on a mission to do something extraordinary together.”

by Augustin Ruiz, via Flickr

This year’s Quality and Innovations Conference, presented by the American Nurses Association in April, included an offbeat presentation on ‘Superhero Leadership: How Everyday People Can Have an Extraordinary Impact.’ At this opening session, filmmaker Brett Culp shared a short film, stories, and advice, offering a perspective on leadership that managed to be both inspiring and poignant.

Using everyday skills as forces for good.

Culp may be best known for his 2013 documentary, Legends of the Knight (www.WeAreBatman.com), in which he relates the true stories of children and adults “who were inspired to become real-life heroes because of their love of Batman.” Batman has no superpowers, and therefore he can inspire others to use their own everyday skills and strengths as forces for good. The filmmaker suggests that nurses, too, should “embrace [our] inner superhero” when needed.

Culp emphasized that in his many travels he has seen that “the world is filled with good people,” and that most people want to make a difference at work and for their communities.

Leaders ‘hold space’ for what could be.

Culp believes that a pivotal role in the process of change is the person who steps up first, “creating space” for others to join them in their efforts.

This is a central job of leaders, he says—to hold space for what could be. This might mean “what could be” at work, or in your community, or for individual patients. Nurses interact with so many different people, and “creating space” is something that we naturally tend to do, not only with coworkers, but in our interactions with our patients.

“Although your mission is to help them heal their bodies, you know how important it is to heal their heart, and their spirit… You show people every day that they matter.”

The greatest impact of what you do is not always visible.

The idea of healing a patient’s spirit, and showing by your caring actions that they matter, is an example of creating space for them, making it possible for patients to move forward after an illness or injury. Culp reminded us that “the greatest impact you’ll ever make [is not always visible]. You may never hear the story of how what you did changed everything for someone.”

Maybe if we remember to tap into our own ‘superpowers’—skills that we as nurses often take for granted—we can survive the challenges of the work we do, and give heart to both our patients and our coworkers by creating space for them to meet these challenges, too.

Culp left us with this advice:

  • Have a clear vision of why you do what you do, and who it’s important to. Beyond the tasks, he says, “See the faces. Really see the faces.”
  • Stay anchored to your vision.
  • Believe in hope. “Hope is not magic. It’s not a strategy; you need a plan. But hope is bigger than a plan. Hope equals possibility.”