By Sean Wise

You’ve decided to become a Business Superhero. Good for you – the world needs more Business Superheroes. So what comes next? Expose yourself to gamma radiation? Hang out in labs, hoping to get bitten by a radioactive spider? Watch the night skies for alien ships? I’m happy to tell you nothing that strange is required. To become a Business Superhero, you simply have to decide to be one and then follow the Ten Golden Rules for all Superheroes.

Even superheroes need coffee breaks. Toronto photographer Ian Pool depicts superheroes in everyday situations.

GOLDEN RULE #1: DO NO EVIL
In Oliver Stone’s classic 1987 film Wall Street, billionaire corporate raider Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) espouses the virtues of greed, proclaiming, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right; greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”

“Greed is good” is painted on the wall of my office. But you have to read the whole quote to understand Gekko’s true meaning. First, greed is the spirit that drives you to acquire more (more money, more information, more success). Second, Gekko depicts greed as aspiration in action; it is the essence of the evolutionary spirit, and of progress. Only when greed forces you to do evil things (as it does to Gekko) does it become a problem.

This illustrates a fundamental lesson Business Superheroes should learn: like greed, goals are for the most part neither good nor evil – it is the means you employ to pursue those goals that render your actions praiseworthy or blameworthy.

Is it wrong to want a big salary? Not if you aim to acquire it honorably.

Is it wrong to want to succeed? Not if you can do so without harming others.

Is it wrong to negotiate a deal? Not unless you use unethical means to do so.

The quest for and acquisition of wealth are not vices in comic books. In fact, many superheroes are millionaires in their civilian identities. In 2007, Forbes created a list of the top 15 richest fictional characters. Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, came in eighth with personal holdings worth approximately $6.5 billion. (Fake Steve Jobs was 11th.) Contrast Bruce with Lex Luthor, Superman’s arch-nemesis and fourth in the 2005 Forbes list: Both are billionaire industrialists, yet only one’s actions are painted as evil. Why? As in so many things, it is the means – not the ends – that define the actions.

GOLDEN RULE #2: SWEAR AN OATH
When superheroes recite an oath, they are reinforcing their promise to commit to a specific action and/or pattern of behaviour. The most famous is the oath taken by the Green Lantern each time he recharges his power ring:

In the brightest day; In the blackest night.
No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship Evil’s might,
Beware my power…Green Lantern’s Light!

In addition to helping you focus on your goals and values, a Business Superhero oath – or personal mission statement – helps you communicate your value and values to others. My own mission statement is, “Wise counsel for smart companies.” Not only does this reaffirm my selected purpose in life (that is, adding value), but it also conveys my goals to others in a simple and powerful way. My mission statement appears on all my cards, websites and promotional material. NEXT: Establish your MO.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 1:35 am and is filed under Career Track, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.