Here is the description of the talent theme Intellection from the Gallup Business Journal:
“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.”
Intellection is characterised by deep thinking, and solo time for that activity. A person with high intellection may be seen as an introvert, and face pressure by others to fit in.
During one of our meet-up sessions, a member with high Intellection shared something very interesting. He said, and I paraphrase, that StrengthsFinder helps people to understand themselves, and also allows them to be themselves. It allows them to understand that people are not weird, just different and unique. A person with high intellection who understands that he has a need to spend time alone need not feel pressured to be like the other more out-going people who love to go out together and chill out at pubs.
Let’s give people with high intellection the space to think and be alone, without passing judgement or expecting them to conform to our own expectations.
One interesting observation about this theme is that people with high Intellection often are not aware consciously of the needs of this theme. People with high intellection may end up describing another theme which shapes their intellection theme. For example, a person with high intellection and learner often ends up describing their learning activities and find it hard to separate the two. This is common because intellection shows up as the need for time alone, and to do deep thinking. But the object of thinking is often described by other dominant themes.
Another interesting observation about people with high intellection is that they often offer very insightful ideas and thoughts as a result of their time spend on deep thinking. My interactions with them showed me that they often contribute by drawing us into deep thoughts and discussion. My discussions with them have always been engaging, and at times scary because of the depth of questions they sometimes ask. As I don’t have the same level of depth of thinking (my intellection is #15), I often find myself spending more time thinking about the conversation I had with them to catch up with their train of thought.
Have you spoken to someone with high Intellection recently? What have you experience been like?
