What's your SuperPower?

I got asked this today, at yet another awesome lunch hosted by Treehouse.red

What is your superpower?

It made me pause, and I have continued to ponder the question in the hours that have followed.

I'm not sure how many of you recall the TV series Heroes, but each person, as they came into their superpower, also struggled with an aspect of not being "normal", and also when or how to use their power - either for selfish gain, or for the greater good.

So what was my answer?

I thought about what I had learned about myself from strengthfinders 2.0 - which had set me free from the burdens of trying hard to be something I was not, to instead sharpening my most powerful skills - being a Maximizer (one who brings out the best in others), being a Context (leveraging lessons learned to strategy), a Relator (developing relationships to work together to achieve a common goal) to become more effective and satisfied as a person.  But those are not necessarily superpowers...

I answered... I'm a translator.. any thing, any language, any jargon, I tend to translate to meaning for others.  This skill of mine has been pointed out to me many times...

My college professor had surgery on his larynx and as a result of the surgery and the cancer that had driven the need for the surgery, he could not speak.  After his surgery he returned to light duty at the university while he waited for his "electronic" voice box to arrive.  It was a tough time for him - his entire career relied on speaking.  He met one on one with his graduate students, and tried to carry on - mouthing, mumbling, and straining to communicate.  After a few weeks he got his box, which he had to learn to effectively control to be comprehensable.  He told me, after a month had gone by, that the whole time, I was the only one who understood what he was saying.  He attributed it to the possibility that I may have been unconciously lipreading. 

Years later, I had a few global travels for work with one coworker - we crossed paths with people that spoke only german, only french, or were having conversations in Hindi.  At first, my coworker assumed that I was some polyglot with an arsenal of languages, because he noticed that I was usually ignoring the person translating, having already absorbed at least 60% of whatever conversation was taking place.  After one particular conversation he was having with a friend on the phone in Hindi, where I garnered the remaining plans for the day listening to half the conversation in a language I did not know, he commented on my "gift" of comprehension.

I do the same translating technobabble to something non technical people can comprehend.  When my kids were young, I spent more times than I can bear to count in the emergency room, or dealing with medical specialists.  Inevitably, the doctor or nurse would go into medical mumbo jumbo, trying to figure out when I would get lost, but I didn't.  Then some would ask... are you a doctor? Nope.  I just absorb lingo... just fine.  Yes I have technical training - which helps me not be terrified by the lingo, but I somehow understand it.

In my work - I translate technical issues, and trends, and complex matters into stories, messages, and illustrations that my peers can act upon with confidence.  Yes... that's my super power.  I hear it, I understand it, and I make it comprehensible for others.