3 Unexpected Ways to Leverage Your Sensitivity as a Superpower in Your Career

Melody Wilding, LMSW
5 min readOct 25, 2022
Photo by Laker

Did you know that the superpower of sensitivity can become your greatest asset at work?

Yet all too often we continue to hear, “don’t be so sensitive.” It’s a phrase that’s often thrown around as a jab or criticism.

Many of my coaching clients have been told that they need to “grow a thicker skin” and quit “wearing their heart on their sleeve.”

If you are a Sensitive Striver, then you may also be used to these kinds of critiques. You are likely someone who thinks, feels, and experiences the world more deeply. You’re highly attuned to subtleties in your environment, as well as others’ emotions.

Personally, I’m also a Sensitive Striver, and my life was similarly peppered with insecurity and judgment from others (and even myself). I grew up feeling like an oddball and came to believe that I was defective. I frequently pushed myself to the brink of burnout trying to live up to other people’s expectations, along with the impossibly high expectations I create for myself.

If you recognize parts of yourself in these statements, you may also be a Sensitive Striver. Maybe, at one time or another, you have also come to perceive yourself as weak, attributing it to the way you’re “wired.” What’s worse is that instead of…

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Melody Wilding, LMSW

Author of TRUST YOURSELF. Executive coach to Sensitive Strivers. Human behavior professor. Featured in NYT, NBC, CNN. https://melodywilding.com/book