Intellection - my inner nerd
By popular demand, this is part 1 of a 5-part series unpacking my Top 5 CliftonStrengths. I am a certified Clifton StrengthsFinder Coach, specializing in managers and leaders - whether that’s an individual leader, a team leader, a community leader, or an executive leader.
Interested in how my coaching practice can help uncover and aim your strengths? Let's talk!
Intellection - what does it mean?
“People exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.” - Gallup CliftonStrengths
Those with intellection as a Top 5 Strength tend to be inquisitive, enjoy mental activity, and like to stretch their brain in new directions.
What does it mean to me?
For me, the key word in the description above is ACTIVITY.
Simply put, I like to think. It’s about the process of thinking; the mental activity. Some call it a “hum” of mental activity that is constantly pushing, pulling, digging around and keeping my brain stimulated. It’s not about how academically deep or esoteric the topic is - it’s about process of pondering, reflecting, developing wisdom, and asking more questions for ongoing analysis.
How does it show up in my life?
The earliest and most recurring sign of this in my life is my love of bookstores and libraries. Notice I didn’t say my books at home or the books in my backpack! The idea of walking into a bookstore or library and just knowing how much knowledge, how much intellect, how many years of thought and wisdom was in those books - that has always made me giddy with excitement.
One interesting part of my Intellection theme is that I could never really connect with reading fiction. I was drawn more to nonfiction, biographies, memoirs. These writing styles had facts, had historical rooting, has links to other areas of intellect. Even cookbooks were of interest to me - it was about the lists of ingredients, the methods, the scientific ways flavors combined.
Pure thinking, to me, is productive behavior. No, I'm not just staring off into space - I am actually deep in thought and I've learned that I need it in my life to stay sane. On days when I am running around getting multitudes of tasks done (post office-grocery store-work emails-cleaning-calling mom-errands- on and on), I sure do feel accomplished but I also haven’t had a lot of deep mental thought. That time spent on deep mental thought helps me gain clarity and energy, in a way.
As a student, my Intellection theme pushed me to not only excel, but also gain deep lifelong interests and curiosities in many academic areas. I often exclaim “I just want to know EVERYthing!!”, showing exasperation that there is just not enough time to soak every angle of every subject in.
At work, I use my Intellection to constantly seek out root causes, to explore what other groups are working on, to find connections and ways to expand on our collective knowledge. I also use my Intellection to push people - using “what if” and “how might we” style thinking common in Design Thinking methodologies.
I’m attracted to "big thinkers” - it doesn't matter what the subject is, to be honest. I value intellectuals and those that thirst for knowledge of any kind. Knowing that I can have an intellectual discussion with you is such an exciting moment for me: I feel like I've found an equal, a partner to explore with. The process of debating or analyzing an idea with a partner or a group is absolutely thrilling to me. An ideal evening would be philosophizing or discussing intellectual topics over a few glasses of wine. Luckily, I have a parter who also loves this (although sometimes he tells me I’m crazy).
It's important to note that Intellection is NOT about being right, being smarter that someone else, or having more expertise. It's truly about the process of thinking and exploration - both in breadth and depth.
Admittedly, I struggle with shallow thought processes and folks who don’t have that urge to know more about the world they live in. This exemplifies my need to manage my Intellection in some contexts and groups. In fact, some of the people I hold dear in my life who do not have high levels of Intellection often do help me relax, laugh, and just enjoy the moment without overthinking things. As CliftonStrengths stresses, we all need each other!
Do you have Intellection in your TOP 5? How does it show up for you?
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photo credit @patrick-tomasso from Upsplash.
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