How smart are you? – Remember to learn

Long upcoming blog article. Short version – A hike on what I think when it comes to being intelligent. It is not consistent and there is no central message. I write just out loud.

This is a question that bothers me a lot.

For example, I know, I am an intelligent guy, but how is intelligent? And how it is I objective about the way I am intelligent?

But also, why is it important to be intelligent? What happens if I am not intelligent? Do I lose something? And how to become smarter? Because I am definitely smarter today than in my twenties, but have I reached an intelligent peak for my age and my life experience?

No, but really, why is it important to be intelligent? And who asks anyway?

Part of the social media challenge is that it can be very easy to create content that gives the impression that you are intelligent. A well -produced video. A beautiful infographic. A reaction video on something that someone said. A convincing piece of writing. Everything, and more, can give the impression that you are intelligent.

Some people who are intelligent do what they can continue to appear with credibility. They honor where they get their ideas. They attribute where they can because they recognize that other people do a good job / do good reflection / offering a precious overview.

And so I am constantly nourished by good content that helps my own thought. I think better because of the others, so I am definitely smarter because others help me understand what Smart looks like.

But, I am also embarrassed by people who think they are ultra-intelligent, but who are not smarter than the rest of us. I don't want to say great public characters, but people from our networks who say things like “I know what I think, but I want to know what you think”. As if to say, my thought is so intelligent that when I say it, it will influence you.

Conversely, I am also embarrassed by the people of our industry who are intelligent in certain things, but who really go beyond the overexpion of their contribution. For example, there is a professional of diversity and inclusion that I used to follow LinkedIn. They are a clear expert in being a Deib professional. I have no doubt. I learned a lot from their publications and increased my own understanding of the Deib subjects. But when they start too much to hear while trying to talk about knowledge in subjects out of their reach, this is where I lose the thread of what makes this person so intelligent. They have just rushed to focus on the ego and arrogant. This does not mean that people cannot or should not speak of important subjects for them, but it is different to speak with knowledge of something as if it was your lived experience than to show empathy and understanding the situations of others.

I am rambling. I want people to be intelligent. I want to be smart.

At work, being intelligent is an unwritten rule to progress. Although we can ask ourselves how or why someone could be a manager or a leader, if they reach senior roles, it is a certain way because he has a level of intelligence. Two things are likely to influence the way you progress at work. One is to know who you know – your internal network can do wonders to help your progress. I know people in superior roles that should really not be there, but because they rub their shoulders with the right people they are there. And I know people who are in superior roles because they are absolutely the right people for these roles, especially because of their intelligence and deserve to be there. I continue to aspire to be the latter.

And then I am also embarrassed by some people really believing that they could be polymathes. He really bothers me. To be a real polymathe means having such a knowledge and such an authentic understanding of several subjects, that you are recognized as a leader in separate and distinct fields. It is really difficult and rare to be a polymathe. You would be studied not only in your main craftsmanship, that you are already doing an excellent job, intelligent writing and recognition for your work, but also in another field – with the same level of work, exit, productivity and recognition. It is quite difficult for most people to do well enough in a professional life, not to mention a second or third field.

I suspect that there are people in L & D / HR / Coaching, who confuse and confuse very intelligently and by being polymathes. I know people from our industry I trust a lot in their intelligent sense and their work. But would I seek them for a different area of ​​interest? For example, it is one thing to understand and be a leader in organizational culture, but it is another thing to be an entrepreneur and to develop a business, or to be an expert in code writing for the development of applications in order to deliver a basic product. It is very possible to be intelligent for many things, but a polymathe that does not do.

I don't know if I have an end or a summary point here. I come back to the question of why it is important. Being intelligent is certainly important. I look at the state of British politics and what a low bar we had when Boris Johnson was Prime Minister and the cabinet he gathered. Most were out of their depth in the development of a real policy to advance the country. Now, with Keir Starmer in the role and a new cabinet with people who are apparently more qualified, I would like to think that we will have better British policy.

And I come back to the way we develop to be intelligent. It is not enough to read books, blogs or newsletters. Reflection is an important element in the development of being intelligent. What does it mean to have read something insightful that it makes you want to do something differently? In what situations is it convincing and where is it?

As well as reflection, discussion and debate are necessary. I developed a very good network of people around me with whom I can really test my reflection. Can I articulate a coherent message? What am I missing in my thought? How can I share my reflection? Who will challenge my thought? When I'm challenging, what does it mean for what I was thinking about?

And I like to go deep into subjects of interest. Resilience is clearly a subject of interest for me, so I spend time learning more in this space and find opportunities to give more about what I learn (beyond the writing of a book on the subject that is). I think the depth of knowledge is important to be intelligent.

I am really careful not to confuse things either. It was a piece of self-learning in progress. I can spring up a lot of things I have learned, but they are not always linked to the things I discuss or about at hand. So I had to learn to differentiate knowledge from something, with wanting to contribute something because I want to be heard in one way or another. I know when I contributed something useful because the others will take it and develop it further, or somehow make my contribution to the conversation.

And finally, I suppose, it is that I fully recognize that I have a bias in favor of being intelligent, but it is not always useful. It is more important for me to be empathetic than to be intelligent. There are so many people that we will know for whom empathy and kindness will do more than if I said or not an intelligent thing. It is also something that I continue to pay attention. When is it just for me to be smart? Because I can index the need to be intelligent too much, when I just need to be empathy and kindness instead.

Wowsers, I did not write a long blog article during an age. No final words here. It's a blog, it's my blog, and I use it to think in high voice. The above is only my process of thinking and creating meaning.

For more clarity, I do not try to dig anyone or take a sneaky blow on someone. If you read it and think: “Does Sukh mean me?” The answer is no.