Managing your Talents [8] - Intellection

According to Gallup, the essence of the talent theme of Intellection is the following:

“You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life."


But a talent on itself is quite meaningless unless you develop and manage it. That is why we believe that "a well managed talent becomes a strength, but a mismanaged talent becomes a detriment".

How do you manage the talent of Intellection?
  

First, you need to embrace the fact that this, odd as it seems, IS a talent.  Many people with or without this talent, struggles to see how this can be a talent. It is. Intellection forms a recurring pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving....and it can be productively applied.
Of all the so called "Strategic Thinking Talents", Intellection is probably one of the most intense when it comes to the deep thinking aspect.  This "power" is unique in the sense that everyone thinks, and many people think deeply...but those with Intellection gets drawn into their heads in a way that is diffucult to describe if you do not have this talent. You are introspective beyond limits.  You experience reality in your thoughts in such a way that it may even sometimes be difficult to distinguish between the events, experiences and conversations that took place in your head alone, and those that took place for real. This in itself is probably one of the most difficult, and most important aspects to manage when it comes to Intellection.  This is also why people struggle to see this as a talent.  How can something so "personal" and so "individually private" be applied practically as a talent?
Well, think about it this way:  what if we take the introspection, philosophy, intense reasoning etc out of the human equation?  Much of the human development and progress came exactly out of this:  deep thinking. Intellectual exercise.  But, you need to manage the "inward" aspect of this talent.

How?
As soon as you recognize the fact that you have this talent and it is different from those who do not have it, you can celebrate it.  And only then can you manage it.  This aligns with the principle we use at Africanmosaic in coaching and training: "If you know your talent, you can grow your talent."  Then, as you understand the effect this talent has on you - like becoming aloof, or not being "in the present", not hearing people etc, you need to accept that this is a quality of Intellection that needs to be managed. This aligns with our second principle:  "If you understand your talent, you can command your talent."
You ARE in control of your thoughts, and you can control it.  You need to apply healthy boundaries regarding when you give Intellection space and freedom to "take over". A boardroom, when a meeting is taking place, is for instance NOT a good place and time to let your Intellection take over.  the same goes for when you are in conversation with your spouse, or with anyone for that matter.  They can see you "leaving planet earth", and it does not come over well when it happens.  You need to have control and command over the time and place your Intellection kicks in.  This takes practice, but it can be mastered.
When then can you count on Intellection, and let it fly?  This is exactly where our third principle is so practical:  "If you know when you need your talent, you can feed your talent."  Knowing the boundaries of when you can let your Intellection loose, is a skill that you should master.  The best way to do this, is very simple.  Make time for it.  Special thinking time.  I call it "download time".  Your Intellection needs time to download all the facts, conversations, expereinces and hgappenings on a regular basis, because when you download, you process, and when you process, you can apply in practice.  Mostly this special time should be alone..  You can download when driving.  Or when showering.  Or when excercising. Or simply by closing the door, sitting down and ... yes  ... think.

Try it.  You will be amazed how your Intellection will thrive as a supporting talent to your other talents!


A second issue in the management of this talent, is that the Intellection talent can be so "withdrawn", that is has a detrimental effect on relationships.   I have so often heard how spouses or even colleages has a negative experience in this regard. Living or working with a Intellection can be challenging.  You are not in the head of the Intellection person.  You cannot see what they see or hear what they are thinking - even when they think and experience (for real!) that they are talking to you.
This could lead to a lot of frustration later on.  "You never spoke to me about it."  "Of course I did!  Just yesterday while we where driving!"  "You never said a word, the whole way..."  Etc, etc...
Or, it can seem to people that you ignore them when you are in Intellection mode.  Because you honestly often do not hear them.

How?

It is important to manage this aspect of Intellection.  One of the best ways to do this is to inform those around you how this works, and that it is a reality. Then give them permission to help you "snap" out of the Intellection mode.  Something that works very well, is that people simply touch your arm when they see you "dissappearing" into your head.  Give them permission to tell you:  "If you are talking to me, your lips aren't moving." Or simply:  "We need you here now."
Make others more aware of how this talent works.  Also, take responsibility yourself to intentionally focus on your surroundings when you need to.
It also helps to share your thoughts with those near to you.  This can help a lot, as you can then develop a clear boundary between your thoughts and reality.

You have "thinking superpower".  Embrace it.  Engage with it.  Muse. Think. Intellectualize.


- by Dries Lombaard, founder and owner of Africanmosaic and TALENTmosaic.

Important note when reading this: in this series, I simply focus on the specific talent in isolation. I do not take the crucial element of Talent Dynamics (two or more talent themes combining) into consideration. This is very important as any Coach should take that into consideration when coaching people in their talents. But you need to understand the challenges that the talent theme on its own might hold. Therefor the challenges in managing the talent as explained below might not be applicable to everyone, as the dynamics with some of their other talent themes might override the specific challenge and "make up for it". But, knowledge of the most common management challenges in every talent theme still is crucial in talent development and when turning the talent into a strength.