How to discover your superpowers, own your story, and unlock personal growth

Donna Lichaw, an executive coach and author of The Leader's Journey, formerly a product manager and designer, discusses story-driven leadership. The conversation covers why leaders should examine the personal stories they tell themselves, how to test those stories against real feedback, reframing 'kryptonite' and discovering superpowers, and experimentation as a tool for personal change.

01Key learnings

• Treat the stories you tell yourself as hypotheses: check them against real feedback from colleagues instead of assuming they are true.
• Start leadership growth from the inside out: lead yourself first, then one-on-ones, teams, and the wider business.
• Ask how a limiting habit or belief, like imposter syndrome, currently serves you before trying to suppress it.
• Identify superpowers by mapping peak experiences from childhood, recent years, and your career path, then look for recurring themes.
• Play to your strengths rather than fixing weaknesses; avoid tasks that drain energy and outsource or redesign them where possible.
• Share a personal OS or README so teammates understand your working style, which can change how your silence or quirks are perceived.
• Run small in-the-room experiments and track head, heart, and body responses before committing to big changes.
• Begin personal goal-setting by imagining a desired future in vivid detail, then work backward to the steps needed to reach it.

02Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.