Jim Collison:
[0:00] Welcome to Season 4 of The CliftonStrengths Podcast, where we'll dive deep into how CliftonStrengths themes build powerful partnerships and help teams thrive. I'm Jim Collison, Gallup's CliftonStrengths Community Manager.
Jillian White:
[0:10] And I'm Jillian White, Gallup's Subject Matter Expert on Culture and Leadership and our Lead Subject Matter Expert for CliftonStrengths.
Jim Collison:
[0:15] Today's theme is Intellection. We'll explore what this theme brings, what it needs and how it fosters collaboration. As always, Jillian, welcome.
Jillian White:
[0:24] Thank you, Jim. Excited to get into this one.
Jim Collison:
[0:26] So let's spend a little time talking about what it is. Let's back up a little bit and do that. Can you give us some clues?
Jillian White:
[0.33] Yeah. So just a reminder, anyone who's strong in those Intellection strengths, that is somebody who is characterized by intellectual activity. They tend to be very introspective, reflective individuals. They appreciate intellectual discussion. It is a Strategic Thinking strength. So it gets energy from that thinking. The image that I like to think of with this, I oftentimes say if Ideation is like a popcorn popper in your head, Intellection is almost like a crockpot on simmer in your brain. So think about they're able to take in complex thoughts and really reflect on those and let them simmer. They oftentimes have musings and wisdom that comes as a result of what they're deeply thinking about. Yeah.
Jim Collison:
[1:26] I want to be known for musings. I like that. I like that. It's just a cool word. It's kind of like being gruntled. But the, from your, from your consulting work that you've done, can you give us a great example of that?
Jillian White:
[1:38] Yeah, I was thinking back with a leader that I worked with who had very high Intellection. And she was leading a transformation for a company using a lot of Six Sigma, Scrum, Lean methods, right? And it was interesting because she was very, very thoughtful. That's a characteristic of Intellection is that thoughtfulness in your approach with how she was leading this change with her team. But what I remember specifically talking about in our conversations was a lot of what she had to do was in an open space environment with this team and how much of a struggle that was for her with high Intellection. For her, when she looked at her best days at work, and you'll hear this, with individuals that have high Intellection, they oftentimes feel like thinking is doing for them. So they will actually accomplish things through thinking. They'll figure something out. They'll, you know, muse on it and have an output that comes from that. And so a lot of what we spent time talking about was how to find creative ways to value and protect that thinking space for her leading through this transformation and just even creative things like, you know, booking a conference room or finding a quiet space. And she found that when she could truly have that thinking as doing time protected, she showed up as a stronger, more thoughtful, and even more efficient leader with her team because of protecting that need and gift of Intellection.
Jim Collison:
[3:10] I almost feel like we need, for Intellection folks, a moment of silence between each of these sections where they can spend some time musing on that as well. We have a new section in Gallup Access for everyone who's taking CliftonStrengths in the, in now the new Connections tab. In that, it's designed to share your strengths with other people. And we have in that section an area where you can study what, what this strength brings and what it needs for each one of you in that. We're going to practice that a little bit now. When we think about Intellection, what does it, what does it bring?
Jillian White:
[3:44] Yeah, you heard me talk a little bit about this, but if I'm partnering with somebody who's strong in Intellection, they are going to bring very thoughtful perspectives from their deep consideration. They have an appetite for thinking and for reflecting. So remember that phrase that I gave us, thinking is doing, oftentimes for these individuals. So they're going to bring that thoughtful perspective. They're also going to bring an ability to think through very complex issues thoroughly. They don't shy away from that. They may share their opinions well thought out. They might be able to take complicated subjects and be able to break it down into more simple terms. I oftentimes also find that because of that musing ability, they've been chewing on something for a while or thinking about it. There might even be a bit of a philosophical bent or a love of thinking about concepts. And oftentimes, as partners, they bring a lot of wisdom and insight that helps to guide the team or approach because of something they've been thinking about that helps the team operate better.
Jim Collison:
[4:40] Yeah. What about what it needs?
Jillian White:
[4:42] Yeah. So think about everything I've been saying about Intellection. It is that Strategic Thinking theme. It's best when it has thinking time. You've heard me say this before, but I oftentimes feel like, at least in our Western culture, we very much value doing. And I think this is a theme that needs thinking time. It needs it calendared. It needs it protected. They are at their best when they have that. I also think if I'm partnering with somebody that has strong Intellection, remember that in your partnership. These might be people who you send an agenda in advance or some questions or things to think about, and then you follow up later, right? Having that built-in thinking time, they are stronger when they have it. They also need opportunities for intellectual discussion, exploration of ideas, and they also need some help translating things they're thinking about into action or influence.
Jim Collison:
[5:36] One of my friends in college, one of my best friends in college, had Analytical and Intellection high. And one of the things I loved, when we think about partnerships or powerful partnerships, was I needed him to kind of think for me. And so I intentionally would give him, ask him questions and then say, I don't need it now. Like, can you think about this for the next day or two? And then come back to me with an answer. And he loved that. He would give me something to chew through. Just let me think of some things. Obviously, you can't do that all the time. There's times decisions need to be made quicker than that, or whatever. But for, for our relationship was kind of built on that, I'd kind of, on that premise, I'd give him, Hey, I'm thinking about something. I have all this Ideation. We're going to talk about partnerships here in a second, but I have all this Ideation. And so I'd just throw out a whole bunch of stuff. Go think about it. Go, go, go and think about it. We have this section, we now have this new section in our top five, in our new top five report, where we've added theme dynamics to it. What two themes look like together for individuals. We're going to spend a little bit of time thinking about Input, I'm sorry, about Intellection and how and what it most commonly pairs with. What is that?
Jillian White:
[6:52] Jim, you just gave it away. That's all right. You let us know. So it is, it is Input is the most common theme that Intellection tends to pair with. And, you know, think about that. Input loves to collect something because it might be useful. And Intellection likes to think deeply and philosophically about something. And so think, think about combining those and having something that you think deeply and philosophically about, but that is also practical and useful for others. So that's a, that's a really neat combination to look at.
Jim Collison:
[7:26] Sorry, I read too far in advance. I shouldn't do that.
Jillian White:
[7:30] That's alright.
Jim Collison:
[7:32] In partnerships, this idea of theme dynamics, what might we use or how might we think about this in partnerships?
Jillian White:
[7:39] Yeah, and Jim, I think your example is actually a fantastic one. You've heard me say I oftentimes feel like people really light up when they get to partner with some other strengths and in the same domain as the strengths. So you gave the example of you've got high Ideation and that roommate had a high Intellection. Think about that powerful combination. It is fueling things that that Intellection can chew on or muse on. So any Strategic Thinking themes that add some depth of thinking, Ideation, Input, Learner, Context, Futuristic, all of those are going to be some fuel for that high Intellection. So complementary partners always like to address anything that could be a potential blind spot. So Intellection, remember, it tends to love to introspect and to process things, right? So it might need some help moving from thought to action. So similar to what we talked about with Input before, something like Activator, Achiever that helps move that thinking forward and operationalize it could be very helpful. I also think, and I tend to think of these, once again, on a spectrum, they're not necessarily opposites, but Intellection tends to be an internal processor. Think about a strength that tends to be an external processor, Communication, right? So oftentimes, actually pairing those very different ways of processing information can be powerful, because the danger of having high Intellection is you have all these wonderful thoughts, and they just stay in your head, right? Communication or someone that helps you take those thoughts and actually get them out, extract them, and be able to share them with others, that can be a powerful way to help complement that Intellection.
Jim Collison:
[9:27] And in my example, I would use Activator.
Jillian White:
[9:31] Oh, that's a good one.
Jim Collison:
[9:32] So, hey, I thought about all these things, and then I'd say, OK, let's go do this one. Are you OK with that? And then we would start, you know, we would move forward on that one. So it was a fun partnership. I really enjoyed it. I kind of miss, I kind of miss those days. So we have some tips for leaders, teams and individuals. Let's talk about leaders first. How can leaders really recognize and harness Individualization? I'm sorry, Intellection. These "I's" are all kind of mixing. You know what?
Jillian White:
[9:58] I'm going to take responsibility for some of this, Jim, because I never update your portion of this with what this is current strength is.
Jim Collison:
[10:05] I should have caught that part. So let's just forget I said that. How can this happen?
Jillian White:
[10:10] There we go. Yeah, Intellection. If you're a leader working with somebody who has that really strong Intellection, provide time for reflection for them. We've been talking about this. They need that. They need time to think deeply. I would even be a bit patient with their process as you're leading someone who has this. So they're not going to be at their best when you demand an answer right away. Anytime you can give them time to think about it, they are going to be better for it. So I would encourage bring that as a leader. I would also say give them opportunities to have intellectual discussion. Ask them for their insights. There's likely things they've been thinking about. Give them some of your team's most complex either projects or things that you need to think about. They're not afraid to go into something that's a bit complex and really work through it. And then finally, as we talked about with powerful partnerships, think about how to pair them with some action-oriented team members. So, you know, that intentional partnership on teams as a leader can help bring out the best of an individual person's strengths as well.
Jim Collison:
[11:17] What should teams know about thinking or working with someone with this and, or maybe even onboarding them? What kind of tips would you have for them?
Jillian White:
[11:26] Yeah. Maybe another way to word what I was just talking about is build in absorption time with these individuals. So I even think about it, if I'm facilitating in a room that has high Intellection, these are the people, they might not be speaking up right away, right? But they're probably thinking about something. So I want to give them some absorption time, maybe even a little quiet time to work through something. Remember that as you're partnering with them, because they may not be the ones who want to work it through with you. They may want to go on their own and think it through and come back. Then do those check-ins. Those check-ins are good opportunities to say, Hey, what are you learning? You know, where are you at with this? So provide the information, give that absorption time, check-in. That's a good process with that Intellection.
Jim Collison:
[12:10] As we wrap our discussion today and we think about an individual working in partnerships with Intellectual, what could they, what are some tips for them?
Jillian White:
[12:19] So a couple of things I would keep in mind. If you have that high Intellection, you're thinking about what you can bring to your partners, I always think help claim your strengths. Think about where others might potentially misinterpret your strength, right? If you're quiet, they might go, are you paying attention? Help other people know that thinking is doing for you and that you're at your best when you get to bring some of your great ideas forward and you've had time to think about that. So claim that. And then I always think, how can you use your strength to be a gift to the people around you who you are working with? Use that deep thinking to be a sounding board. Jim, I even think about your example of, you know, asking someone to think about something. What a beautiful way to contribute that Intellection to a partnership. Because ask people, hey, is there something deep you're thinking about right now? And bring your contributions, bring your observations, be that bridge builder between ideas, that sounding board. That can be a powerful way to kind of contribute your gift of Intellection through thoughtful reflection that helps your partners.
Jim Collison:
[13:28] I love that question, what are you thinking about right now?
Jillian White:
[13:31] Yeah, is that a good one? Anybody with Strategic Thinking themes?
Jim Collison:
[13:34] Yeah, what are you thinking about right now? What's important to you right now? What are you thinking about? What are you grinding on? And you can.
Jillian White:
[13:40] Change that question based on the domain that you're working with. If you're working with Empathy, what are you feeling right now, right? If you're working with Input, Intellection, what are you thinking about right now? If you're working with Achiever and Executing, hey, what are you doing right now? What are you working on? You know, relationship, what, what relationships are you focused on right now? You can speak to people's strengths.
Jim Collison:
[14:00] There you go. A bonus tip for you. But that will remind everyone, take advantage of all the resources we do have available for you inside Gallup Access. Log in, choose the Resources tab, upper left, choose the Resources tab, put in Intellection, and all the resources we have available will show up there for you. can think about those and study them all you want. Take all the time that you need to get that, to get that done. If you're listening live, thanks for joining us today and being a part of this. If you're listening to the podcast version of this, we'd love to have you listen to the next one. So thanks for doing that. Thanks for coming. Thanks for coming out with that. We'll say goodbye, everybody.
Jillian White's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Input, Learner, Belief and Responsibility.