{"version":"1.0","provider_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu","provider_name":"Warpwire","is_public":true,"duration":0,"has_caption":true,"links":{"caption":[{"label":"English","url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/api\/caption\/8BIIAA\/313408\/vtt\/?nonce=d8acd5db2194bdedaa630932bc115dbe&expiration=1787371200&signature=6487cfbe1a5d4ff04fe2fef2970501ffa6dd18c586d017113539f0466fe6a918"}]},"views":0,"upload_date":"2023-12-13T19:27:24+00:00","description":"Join our hosts and special guest, Stacia Solomon, Director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, as they discuss how to identify and affirm the forgotten superpowers in the workplace.\u202f \r\nWhen someone says superpower \u2013 what do you think of? What about when it comes to work? \r\nWhen you think of putting together a team, what are some of the superpowers you MUST have? \r\nWhat do we do when we don\u2019t see any superpowers in others or even in ourselves? \r\n\r\nTranscript: \r\n- Hello and welcome to the What's Career Got to Do With It podcast, where we hope to provide a space for honest conversation and information that encourages a listener to take the next steps in their career journey. Wherever you're at in this process, we hope this episode will meet you with affirmation, guidance, and maybe some laughs along the way.\r\n\r\n- On today's episode, we are joined by special guest, Stacia Solomon, director of the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. As we discuss an answer or many to the question, what are some forgotten superpowers in the workplace?\r\n\r\n- Hey Stacia.\r\n\r\n- Hey y'all. Good morning.\r\n\r\n- I appreciate y'all doing that cuz I just jump in. What's up? What are the superpowers?\r\n\r\n- Rudi. On ramp, ease into it.\r\n\r\n- I'm sorry, I'm bad at greeting people. In person too, I just wave. I'm just like, ert.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Just quickly.\r\n\r\n- Literally quiet that is your wave.\r\n\r\n- I'm working on it. Welcome Stacia. Thank you for joining us today.\r\n\r\n- Thank you for having me.\r\n\r\n- Of course, of course. We are excited to have our guests today and we are excited to continue to dive into this topic Further Superpowers. We've talked about it in many different capacities in many different ways, and superpowers of course means something different to everybody, but Stacia, superpowers.\r\n\r\n- Hmm.\r\n\r\n- What are they?\r\n\r\n- Superpowers.\r\n\r\n- Do you need more parameters here?\r\n\r\n- I might, because, you know, you can go a lot of different directions with superpowers.\r\n\r\n- So let's see, let's be good hosts this morning and let her know kind of what some people have talked about. So some folks have talked about superpowers, hidden superpowers in the workplace.\r\n\r\n- Mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- Folks have talked about superpowers and differentiating them between home and the workplace.\r\n\r\n- Hmm.\r\n\r\n- Superpowers in, superpowers that may not be realized for people, but they're valued within the workplace.\r\n\r\n- Mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- How's that for you?\r\n\r\n- That works.\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- That helps, that helps.\r\n\r\n- You're welcome. $22 please.\r\n\r\n- Okay, invoice me. So some of the superpowers I think of are maybe just some of those things that folks don't realize are unique to them. Like it might be your ability to take in large amounts of information and still remember it. Hello, as I'm like approaching a very significant birthday and that is no longer a superpower for me.\r\n\r\n- Me too.\r\n\r\n- Gotta write it down. Or maybe it's like that knack for people just to be drawn to you, you know, like, hello Rudi, like you just kind of naturally that person. But I think those are some of the things that I think of with superpowers, that it could also be some of those hidden things that maybe we don't consider as assets. Like maybe it's the fact that you come from a big family and that means that you really know how to handle many different personalities all at once and still hold yourself together. I don't think that's something that's brought out as a trait or an asset in a lot of different settings, but that definitely is a superpower cuz that means that when you get into a workplace where all those different personalities, if you allow yourself to kind lean into it, then you can be like, oh, you know what that's like Aunt Mae Mae, she's a little cray cray, I can deal with you.\r\n\r\n- Okay, Aunt Mae Mae.\r\n\r\n- I do have an Aunt May.\r\n\r\n- I don't know her, I don't know her. Okay, listen-\r\n\r\n- She's very sweet, but also maybe I don't- No, she's great. She will not listen to this.\r\n\r\n- Oh goodness. Okay. So Stacia, I got a question for you.\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- You talked about that in different spaces. So now that you've, you know, been working and you've been in the game for a little bit-\r\n\r\n- Oh yeah.\r\n\r\n- And seen some time. What are some of the superpowers that you've seen in teams you worked with that you really were like, oh wow, we really need that, that made that come together?\r\n\r\n- Yeah. You know, something that I really value on any team that I get a chance to be a part of and lead is one that can like solve a problem in the moment, right? Like, challenges don't just bring everything to a screeching halt. That to me is a necessity. You gotta be able to keep it moving in a moment. You can commiserate about it later, but when things come up, cuz they will, especially with like event planning, programming, things of that nature. When it's showtime, it's showtime, and you gotta put it on. And for somebody to be able to problem solve in the moment, handle stuff, switch it, change it, whatever it needs to be done, and then keep it moving. That to me is something that's necessary on every team.\r\n\r\n- Hmm, I know if we a few people like that.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, I do too.\r\n\r\n- So I got another question for you then.\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- What did you find that your superpower was that you didn't realize was your superpower?\r\n\r\n- Mm. God, that's hard. What did, okay- So see, I am one of those people that suffers from really thinking that everybody can do everything that I can do. So I have a hard time realizing what's special about me, if that makes any sense. I'm like, oh yeah, of course that's normal. Everybody can do that. But maybe it is really being able to function in the middle of chaos and to bring organization within the midst of a chaotic situation. Even though it stresses me, it's also a place where I thrive, which is bananas. That is normal.\r\n\r\n- See, that's normal for you, right, Nicole?\r\n\r\n- Okay.\r\n\r\n- Exactly.\r\n\r\n- Yeah. It makes me smile. It's like a warm hug.\r\n\r\n- It is, it is. But see, Nicole, you have the nice calming voice that goes along with it. You're like, okay, and what do we do now? I'm not that calm. Listen-\r\n\r\n- I don't know.\r\n\r\n- But we get it done.\r\n\r\n- Very much so.\r\n\r\n- So I have a follow up with that, right? So you work with young people.\r\n\r\n- Mmm.\r\n\r\n- Able Ambassadors, all that fun stuff. So how would you kind of guide our young people into digging into their superpowers and maybe starting to discover them, right? If they're freshman, sophomores, I guess the understanding the value in superpowers.\r\n\r\n- Yeah. Okay, so now I'm gonna like lean into my career center days because-\r\n\r\n- Lean on it.\r\n\r\n- I know, right? I mean, I just think that the self-awareness is so critically important, especially for this generation that we are dealing with. And especially now, I was just talking about this the other day with some colleagues, I think we're really seeing the impact, now we're starting to of COVID on the students that are coming into campus. Excuse me. And just their ability or inability or challenge with dealing with situations with other folks, knowing how to accept defeat, disappointment.\r\n\r\n- Mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- And then really asking themselves, who am I and what do I really want? I think when you have a deeper level or sense of self-awareness, then that will help you to be able to articulate and realize what your superpowers are. Until then, I think you're just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok or whatever the flavor of the day for social media is, and they're just attaching themselves to the things that they like, but that is not always authentic to who they are. I think it's especially, especially here at Duke, because there's all these students, the majority of them are such high performance and they've been like going towards this carrot for the majority of their lives that they haven't even had a chance to sit back and ask themselves, who am I? What do I like? What do I like to do? Why am I doing this? Why am I here? Who really are my friends? And what is a friend? And how do I become one? You know, like those things because they've been so stuck on achievement, but when they allow themselves to pause and to really dig deep into those questions, I think then they kind of discover what their superpowers are or it could be who. Hey, it could be who.\r\n\r\n- We all need a who superpower.\r\n\r\n- Exactly.\r\n\r\n- I think that's tough. I think that's tough to call out to students and saying, Hey, just because you see something doesn't mean A, it's your superpower or that it's a superpower at all.\r\n\r\n- Right.\r\n\r\n- And then also, just because you're seeing all these things doesn't mean you're embodying them, that you're taking on these things and nor do you have to all the time, you don't. Because somebody can fly doesn't mean you need to fly or try to fly.\r\n\r\n- Right.\r\n\r\n- You can do some other things or you may have other talents that you may not know of and it takes time to really figure that out. I appreciate you from the standpoint of you mentioned, what are my superpowers? But there was this ability to bring people up to your level of expectations that you would empower people to be and get to the place that you wanted them to get to. And that's important, that's hard to do is to elevate other people so that they can do or perform a job that they may not see within themselves. That's a superpower.\r\n\r\n- Hmm.\r\n\r\n- And I think it's important that we call those things out when we see them with people in our lives, but then also when people don't see them.\r\n\r\n- Hmm.\r\n\r\n- How do we help our students see them? How do we help, we talked about knowing themselves and all that, but how do we really dive in when they really faced with like kryptonite, when there's something blocking them from even being able to acknowledge that, Hey, I can do something special?\r\n\r\n- Hmm. You asking me that, huh? Google that question. I mean, since you're the guest. Hello, special guest. I have a special question.\r\n\r\n- There's so much expertise in this room though, but how do we help them see that? I do think that it more than likely takes a conversation. Like one of the things that, to start at least, this generation, they're, I believe, less comfortable with one-on-one real time in-person interactions. They're used to the social stuff, they got the virtual thing down, but having those one-on-one interactions can be really difficult, really challenging for them. So, you know, asking them some of those questions in those one-on-one settings I think can help them to get to that and then helping them to recount what their true victories were, like what are their wins? What are some things that they've accomplished? And then also helping them to see who has been in your corner, if anyone, nine times outta 10, somebody has been, even if they didn't really acknowledge that person, somebody has been, somebody's been egging them on. And then helping them to set some goals and things that are attainable for them so that they can strive towards those. So I mean, but the foundation of that, it starts with having a conversation. Like really simple. Really simple. I think, I mean, I was having a conversation with a student who had a challenge with their roommate and they were going on and on about all these issues they were having with this person. And I asked him simply, have you talked to them?\r\n\r\n- What an idea.\r\n\r\n- You mean text them? You mean DM them?\r\n\r\n- No, no like, have you sat down and had a conversation with them? And it was like, oh-\r\n\r\n- I'm sorry.\r\n\r\n- Yeah. And she did finally, she's like, I think I'm gonna do that. I said, yeah, do that. And then it's our next meeting, you know what? I had a conversation. It was really good. That helps, conversations help, you know, and you know what I realize, I realized some things about me too in the conversation with her. Bet you did, bet you did cuz you're not as perfect as you think you are, you know? And so that, I think that can be foundational to help them to realize just starting there, like that's the impact of COVID, we were so isolated. Many of them in high school during those formative years where they might have been walking the halls with their classmates, they weren't, they were at home on a computer texting and Zooming in or whatever and that's not good. We are supposed to be social people, so-\r\n\r\n- That's a good one.\r\n\r\n- I piggyback to that then when you were talking about, you know, having the conversations and starting it, I think with that and trying to help them see those superpowers, some form of relationship is created, right? So then at that point while you're having those conversations, you're asking them questions to make them think about things you're able to see how they absorb, how they see things. And then for me, along with what you said is the push to exposure. You know, maybe saying, Hey, you should go try this or look at this project or do this. Just something small, something not overwhelming so that they can see. And then there can be even more conversation of like, okay, so how did that feel?\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Like, did you like that? Okay, let's do something bigger. So for me, with the conversations, helping them figure out what they want, then now let's expose you to some things so that you can open your thought processes even more.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, yeah, I definitely agree with that. Like I believe I had a pastor that used to say, exposure expands you.\r\n\r\n- Mm.\r\n\r\n- And I really held onto that because it really does, like a lot of times people don't know what they don't know until they've been exposed to something and that couldn't be more true for our young people. So when they are exposed to things, then it opens up a realm of possibilities for them. And especially when you're talking about historically underrepresented students, not to stereotype at all, but there is a higher percentage of, when you look at first generation students, they skew towards those students who are historically underrepresented. And that means a lot of times their exposure to certain things has been less, or their framing about things that they have been exposed to is likely from a deficit model. So when you help them to reframe some of the things that they have been exposed to, or expose them to things that they may have originally thought of as being out of reach, then it really, it's opening up an oyster for them. And they're like, wow, now I can view this thing in a different way or I have the courage to explore something different or now I'm going to challenge myself to do something that I haven't done before or I'm gonna open myself up to this different friend group, which could then introduce them to more opportunities that lead them down a path that maybe they would not have ever considered otherwise.\r\n\r\n- That's another superpower, being able to help people to see that, to open up that oyster and say, there it is.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, I will say at the same time though, one of the things that I always do and it took me some time in getting old also, is to be a cheerleader, but be a realistic cheerleader.\r\n\r\n- Oh yeah.\r\n\r\n- Cuz I do think that, you know, again, when we talk about social media and different things of that nature, sometimes that can create realities that aren't realities for folks.\r\n\r\n- That's right, mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- And definitely trying to mimic somebody else's superpower and really that's AI generated or something. So also remembering to keep that grounded in a realistic setting. Like, you can do this, but also let's think about some other things, possibilities, backup plans, and maybe sometimes just know that's dumb and be able to say that to people Cuz I think sometimes that helps, right?\r\n\r\n- It does.\r\n\r\n- Particularly with some, you know, there some people may have some personalities where they were always told yes or everything was a great idea or you know, everybody gets a trophy.\r\n\r\n- Everybody's a winner.\r\n\r\n- Right, everybody gets a trophy. You're the MVP.\r\n\r\n- Yes, right, like you got a trophy. And then my thing was like, yes baby, you got a trophy. I love it. Let's try to get a bigger one next time, right? So that being that that realistic cheerleader, so you know, affirm you, but also keep you humble in here as well too.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, yeah, that's definitely necessary because you're right, especially for our high achieving, high performing students, they have always been the one that walked away with the trophy, with the award, with the accolades. So getting here, everybody ain't getting the trophy, Boo. Yeah, you're not gonna get it.\r\n\r\n- Everybody's getting the same trophy and that's okay.\r\n\r\n- And that's okay.\r\n\r\n- Cool, let's all rejoice in that.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- It's not a failure. It's not your less than.\r\n\r\n- No, it's everybody got one, yay!\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- You know, maybe let's figure out a way to get the money next time if there's, you know what I'm saying? So like, it's okay.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- You're fine. You did it right.\r\n\r\n- Right.\r\n\r\n- What's next?\r\n\r\n- Right, but I think that also goes back to the self-awareness though too. Because when you're aware of yourself, then you will shoot for targets that you're more likely to hit. But when you have this conflated idea of who you are or you see yourself through the lens of these social media folks or whatever, or your friend group who's doing some things or have some access to things that maybe you don't have or haven't had, but you're still trying to align yourself in those ways, then it's gonna be disappointing. You going to hit more L's than W's.\r\n\r\n- And I think you're talking about social media and friend groups, y'all, please be cognizant of who you keep in your circle.\r\n\r\n- See.\r\n\r\n- I know.\r\n\r\n- Just that's a hidden superpower though.\r\n\r\n- It is, it really is and it takes some time. You gonna take a L or two? We'll be honest about it. However, I think back to my undergraduate days and I had a core group of friends and half of us were student athletes, half of us were not, but it didn't matter cuz all of us were going to study hall and we would drag the ones that weren't student athletes with us. Because you keep-\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- You keep a good core group. And when stuff was wrong, it'd be like, listen, girl.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- Let's have a conversation.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- And so it's very important to think about who you keep in your circle and understand that some people are here for a season.\r\n\r\n- Ooh.\r\n\r\n- And some people are here for a lifetime. Some people are in the words of Madea, some people are leaves on a tree, some people are branches and some people the roots. Who are you in that group and who are the people in the group? Who are they to you?\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- I'm done.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, that's good. That's really good. That's also something that yeah, definitely need to learn.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, how did people treat you when you were at your most vulnerable? Did they take advantage of you or did they try to find an advantage to help you get out of that space?\r\n\r\n- Ooh, I like that question.\r\n\r\n- The good people helped me.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- The bad people took advantage of me.\r\n\r\n- Yeah, that's a good Litmus question.\r\n\r\n- And, yeah. And that helped me learn, which is why I'm very much, I sit back and watch before I start fully engaging because your vibe has to sit right with me. If it doesn't sit right, I will be cordial, but you not gonna get all Angela, right?\r\n\r\n- Mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- So I think that's why it was important that that group of ladies that were my friends were very much like, okay, I know you down, but it was also some tough love. You can't stay there, you know?\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- It's okay, but come on. So I think that was so helpful.\r\n\r\n- Yeah.\r\n\r\n- And that's an everyday thing.\r\n\r\n- Mm-hmm.\r\n\r\n- That's an everyday thing. And I think that's the thing we've been doing in the series is discussing that superpowers, yes, we think of flying x-ray vision, all these wonderful things, but at the end of the day, it is the day in, day out simple tasks that turn into something that's extraordinary. The things that we don't realize that end up being something that are much more important in the grand scheme of things.\r\n\r\n- Mm-hm.\r\n\r\n- And we're right at time, so I do wanna close this out in this series. And I do want to ask-\r\n\r\n- Oh, you closing us out? Go ahead. I'm the closer. Yay.\r\n\r\n- You ready?\r\n\r\n- Me?\r\n\r\n- Yeah, you gotta wrap.\r\n\r\n- I gotta wrap?\r\n\r\n- No, I'm kidding.\r\n\r\n- Wait a minute, y'all didn't tell me but I got on suit. I got bars.\r\n\r\n- Y'all see that she just got from stars.\r\n\r\n- Okay,\r\n\r\n- No, that's all I got. It ain't gonna get no deeper than-\r\n\r\n- Next season we get a camera in here.\r\n\r\n- So who's gonna start the beat?\r\n\r\n- Oh, you are. No, we are not doing that.\r\n\r\n- Really? We're rapping?\r\n\r\n- No, no, we're not, we're not.\r\n\r\n- I would tag, I was, we're not excited. Okay.\r\n\r\n- What's your outgoing advice to students seeking that superpower or trying to identify people around them with superpowers?\r\n\r\n- I would definitely say be true to you. And if you don't know who you are, get to know yourself. That's foundational. Like you can't even build any really true relationships without knowing who you are. And after you do that, then you're gonna be way more confident to meet people, really get to know them and explore yourself. And you won't be intimidated by whatever their superpowers are. So in knowing yourself and it takes courage to do that, right? Like it takes courage to not only look at what are the great things about you, but also where are some areas where I need to do some work? Where are some areas where I'm challenged and be able to articulate that. I think that creates strength and that also is a superpower cuz there are way too many people out here who are the biggest fans of themselves and they have huge blind spots. So I'm serious. Like there's some people that like, I'm the queen of my fan club, I'm all that and you ain't, but it is okay. But definitely getting to know who you are, being comfortable, having the courage to be around other people and not be intimidated and treating people the way you wanna be treated is really important. I'm old school like that cuz I think everything that goes around comes around.\r\n\r\n- And you heard it here first on the What's Career Got To Do With It podcast. Special thanks to our guests. It's time to fly y'all.\r\n\r\n- Bye.\r\n\r\n- Great.\r\n\r\n- Bye y'all.\r\n\r\n- Bye.","author_name":"Sandhya Pakala","html":"\u003Ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/8BIIAA\/\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media; camera; microphone; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E","height":360,"width":640,"thumbnail_height":360,"thumbnail_width":640,"url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/w\/8BIIAA\/","type":"video","title":"S3 E8 Forgotten Superpowers with Stacia Solomon","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/warpwire.duke.edu\/img\/10ED13AE-DB77-4E78-BDAA-21F9B14D30E1\/08232A12-63A0-4691-A3F5-32F74DB95CE6\/large\/"}