Mike Tomaino
Superpowers, part 2
By Bruce Webber
Posted 2021-04-04 in general
At a recent meeting of the Spiral Dynamics Integral group, Mike Tomaino gave a presentation on his book How To Be A Superhero, relating sections of the book to developmental stages described in Spiral Dynamics.
(You can see videos of the Spiral Dynamics Integral meetings on YouTube. Spiral Dynamics is a theory created by Clare Graves and later extended by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan. Ken Wilber includes Spiral Dynamics in his Integral Theory.)
How To Be A Superhero is an illustrated book geared toward kids ages 8 through 12. According to Mike, “the book combines my 10+ years working with kids and positive psychology to help readers find their real life superpowers, train their bodies and minds, and go off into the world as a superhero.”
In this short video Mike relates some of his experiences as a teacher and his motivation for writing the book:
How To Be A Superhero Book Trailer on YouTube
After Mike’s presentation, we broke into small groups and discussed our superpowers and how we can use them.
Leadership
One of my superpowers is leadership. Although I have experience in traditional leadership roles — serving my church as president, teaching classes and facilitating meetings — my view of leadership is broader than that.
I think of leadership as making things go well. From this perspective, anyone can be a leader at any time. It doesn’t require a title or role. A person can identify a problem and resolve it themselves, organize a group to address it, or let others know about the problem.
Perspective
Another superpower I have is perspective. I’ve been in meetings where people misunderstand each other; perhaps they agree but are using different terms to describe the topic. Sometimes I can ask a question which reveals this difference and allows increased understanding.
More recently I’ve become more comfortable talking with people with various world views. Although I may disagree, I look for truths in what they’re saying, and try to see what is compelling about their point of view.