Hey everyone—look who’s here! It’s you and we have questions we think you can help us answer about how we connect with each other. Please go to the comments section and give us your point of view.
First of all, we need better words to describe the gifted side of professionals. We seem to avoid the G-word —gifted. Why is that? Do we think that will isolate us further in a world that barely keeps up with our speed and multidimensional perspective? We have a big need for deep relationships and high-quality conversations. We’re just fine with 20 people we could meet for coffee instead of thousands of followers.
What is a better way to say gifted? Liz Guthridge is a connector of exceptional people and suggested we might say “Too smart for your own good.”
We struggle to find a label or one word because we want people to “get” us without losing interest in a lengthy explanation of multidimensional purposes and career shifts.
Well then, has anyone come up with a description of the adult, who is a professional and seems to communicate easily and brilliantly, and was born with a brain that is gifted? The neuroscience community doesn’t agree on one term. The neurodivergent behavior professionals don’t agree on one term.
Credit Gerd Altmann
We need to depend more on storytelling and writing about our unusual life stories and careers.
One example of a good story is the book Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World by Ginni Rometty. The former Chair and CEO of IBM describes this book as a “memoir with purpose.” What pops out from this well-written, fast-read on life and business lessons is how Ginni used her power for the greater good.
We may find a better way to say gifted by understanding our own transformations—just as Ginni did, through three levels.
First comes transforming yourself—the me. For most, this starts early in life. Then comes transforming the work—the we. That seems to happen over and over as we figure out what work means to us and who we need to do our work. Then we experience the third level which is transforming society and constant thinking and living in terms of us—the greater good.
Here’s what it’s like inside the gifted mind: We have always thought in all three layers, all of the time, our whole life. We are evolutionary thinkers in that we are equally good at mastering the tactics, along with the strategic elements, plus the visionary elements.
I don’t think Triple Decker Thinker is any clearer to most people, but it may help us identify and connect with each other.
Maybe we have been this way our whole life but we did not know how to harness all three at the same time and got frustrated when we noticed all experts are not equal.
We know that it’s impossible to get through life or advance in our profession as a solo. We know we need others and that can be more challenging for the professional who thinks and speaks in 3 dimensions while others are flat-out comfortable with only one X and Y.
When you think in three levels at the same time, you see more possibilities and you become more sophisticated in your thinking. If you are dealing with an expert who is only on one level, such as tactics and processes, they seem close-minded and you will get frustrated. Essentially, your spatial perspective is different and presents everything in well-structured, multiple-color, physical images.
As you become more aware and more mature you become more selective about who you hang out with. Life and time are more and more precious. This is why we formed the community for Gifted Professionals and Communicators. We are happy here with others who get us and love to think three or four moves ahead about everything.
So, what is a better word or way to identify who you are? Are you too smart for your own good? Do you have a better way to say this is who I am and these are the gifts I offer the world?
If you enjoyed this article, the greatest compliment you can offer me is to share this article with a few friends and encourage them to subscribe (below). Maybe it’ll start an important conversation. It’s super simple and your friends (and I) will thank you. You can make sure I keep writing and focusing on what matters to you by sending people to the main website. There you see how to collaborate and work with me, professionally (beyond free).