High-Cognitive-Ability Leaders - Giftedness in High-Stakes Leadership

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩? Call it giftedness, high IQ, add some other type of neurodivergence into the mix or don't – either way, it's a question that strikes me as surprisingly underexplored. Perhaps by accident, or perhaps not, over the past few years I have found myself working time and again with a particular sort of leader: They are often exceptionally intelligent, sometimes neurodivergent, and almost always possess an unusual capacity for building expertise and understanding complexity. They're natural innovators who intuitively grasp systems, connect seemingly unrelated ideas, and do all of this at astonishing speed. So much for the obvious advantages. The challenges, however, are far less discussed: The experience of being out of step with one's surroundings. A loneliness that exceeds even the familiar isolation of leadership itself. The constant work of translating one's thinking into forms (or indeed a pace) that organisations and people can actually absorb. An emotional and sensory life that might, in some cases, be as vivid and demanding as their extraordinary cognitive capacity, yet much less visible to those around them. And, not infrequently, a point (often in midlife) where one begins to wonder whether the very capacities that made one so effective – intensity, mastery, obsession, competence – have perhaps come at the expense of other ways of being in the world. This has become the starting point for a research/writing project, and I'm looking to interview leaders who feel they might fit the bill. By which I mean: I won't be checking your Mensa certificate or similar. If this is you, you'll recognise yourself in it, so don't be shy. It's not an academic study, but an exploratory attempt to understand the diversity, nuance, and contradictions of such experiences. Also, I'm by no means looking only for people from corporate life!Over the years, I've had the privilege of working not just with senior executives but also Michelin-starred chefs, Nobel Prize winners and leaders from other fields, e.g. arts and culture. Those are very different worlds on the surface, but what strikes me again and again is how similar some of the underlying themes and experiences appear to be. If this resonates with you – or if someone comes to mind whom I should absolutely speak to – I would love to hear from you.