Claire HayekFounder, Mind. Soul. Purpose (MSP) Teambuilding · Pressure-Proof Leadership | Neuroscience-based leadership

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION, IGNORE THE DOUBTERS

28 May 2024 · 3 min

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2:35

In this motivational monologue, the speaker recounts the true story of how Stan Lee created Spider‑Man. He describes the initial pitch to his publisher, the publisher’s harsh objections—spiders are feared, teenagers are sidekicks, superheroes shouldn’t have personal problems—and how Lee persisted by slipping the character into the final issue of the struggling anthology Amazing Fantasy. The story ends with the unexpected success of Spider‑Man, prompting the publisher to launch a dedicated series. The speaker uses this anecdote to illustrate a broader lesson: when you believe in an idea, ignore naysayers, stay true to your vision, and take pride in your work, because the satisfaction of creating something you love outweighs external criticism.

Chapters

I'm gonna tell you how Spider-Man came into being. It's a true story. My publisher came to me and he said, Stan, I want you to come up with another superhero. I thought, what can I come up with now? And the most important thing in a superhero at first is the superpower. Once you get that, everything else comes along. If I could get a superhero that could stick to walls and crawl on 'em, man, that would be cool. So I thought that was good. Now I needed a name. Let's see, Fly Man. Spider-Man. Mosquito Man. I got down to Spider-Man. And then I figured just for fun, I'm going to give him personal problems. And then I thought I'd make him a teenager. I ran into my publisher's office and I told him. The reaction he gave me, Stan, that is the worst idea I have ever heard. First of all, people hate spiders, so you can't call a hero Spider-Man. You want him to be a teenager? Teenagers can only be sidekicks. And you want him to have personal problems? Stan, don't you know what a superhero is? They don't have personal problems. Well, I left the office disappointed, but obviously a much wiser man. And I couldn't get Spider-Man outta my system. So we were about to kill a magazine. I think it was called Amazing Fantasy. It wasn't selling well. When you do the last issue of a magazine, nobody cares what you put in it. Just to get it outta my system, I put Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy, featured him on the COVID forgot about it. A month later, all the sales figures came in. My publisher came racing into my office. Stan, Stan, you remember that character we both loved so much, Spider-Man? Let's do him as a series. Now, why am I telling you this? If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don't let some idiot talk you out of it. And if you can take pride in it after you've done it, no matter what it is, You can look at it and say, I did that, and I think it's pretty damn good. That's a great feeling. So just do your thing. Whatever you do, give it your best shot. You'll be glad you did.