Today’s blog is inspired by a conversation I just had with my cohost, Mery, on our podcast, Coachtaku.

(If you haven’t checked out Coachtaku yet, I highly recommend it. It's about making anime your new life coach. We go into the lexicon of amazing anime – both retro and current – and point to the life coaching themes that occur in these shows. We even offer some coaching pointers to some of the characters, as if they existed in real life. It's amazing.)

The way coaching and animate transitioned into leadership coaching, this week, was during the recording of an episode around coaching teams. Specifically, how do you elevate the voices of every single member of your team?

In the podcast, we used a volleyball anime as a reference. But this metaphor works in any pop culture team dynamic, whether you love the X-Men, Captain Planet, Power Rangers, football teams like the Giants if you love to be hurt again and again yet you’re still a loyal fan…

Anyway. What do I mean when I say “elevate all voices”? I believe that even if you are the leader or the manager of your team, it's super important to make sure that you receive the contribution and the input of every member of your team. And that matters for two reasons.

For one, it ensures that you are connected to your team and therefore, they're more likely to respect you and follow your vision.

And the second reason why it matters is because every single person has their own unique gifts and abilities. If you're not actually listening to people or inviting them to contribute, you're missing out on the superpowers that they could be bringing to the project or team.

This is why love Captain Planet. In case you don’t know, Captain Planet was a cartoon from the 90s. It was about kids that possessed power over the elements through these rings. And when they brought all the rings together, they formed Captain Planet, who is this badass superhero that helps save the world from environmental disaster.

But what was interesting to me about the show was that even though Captain Planet himself was the courageous guy who swept in to save the day when things got too big or too unwieldy for the kids to on their own, they still had their own unique abilities and powers. Their powers were things like control over fire, air, water, earth, even heart (is that even an element?) And you notice that during these kids’ adventures, they have to use their powers and showcase them and demonstrate them and wield them where they would be important and valuable. Even if Captain Planet hadn't been summoned, they could still use their individual powers to effect change.

The same thing applies to leadership. I think most leaders make the mistake of not realizing that technically, if you are a member of the team, you're also a leader of the team, even if you don’t have the title or the hierarchy.

I'm going to say that again: If you're a member of a team, you're also a leader on that team.

You may not have the years of experience, but if you're a member of the team, you have something unique that only you can bring to lead your team closer to success.

Now, if you are the titled leader of the team, it’s important for you to relate to all of your members as equal to you in that regard. How do you do that? How do you actually practice elevating all voices?

It's really about creating open communication with your team. Specifically, it's helpful for you as a leader to know what your own strengths and gaps are. Here’s a free quiz to help you get uncover gaps.

The reason it matters so much is that you'll notice some situations will call for you to expand on your capacity as a leader and practice new things. And other times, it might actually behoove you to pull the support from someone who can do what you can’t do naturally. It could be personal-based – such as being able to connect with the team, motivate others, celebrate – or more tactile traits, like being better organized, having more efficiency with goal-setting, or is quick to follow up with every lead that you have available.

Clear communication is key. Knowing your gaps and strengths is key. And lastly, knowing the strengths and gaps of your team members is also important.

I invite you to consider not deciding what those attributes are by yourself, but to actually ask your team members. Set up conversations with them and create feedback loops for each other. Help them identify for themselves what their superpowers are and what they could be working on.

I guarantee that if you all feel like you're “in the know” together, you will operate more cohesively as a unit. It worked for Captain Planet and the X-Men and the Power Rangers. Why couldn't it work for you?

If you found this content useful, feel free to leave a comment. Let me know of another superhero team where everyone shows up with their own ability. If you’re an anime fan and you want me to cover that team in my podcast, let me know.