Gifted People In The Workspace

Gifted People in the Workspace

Was there a time in your life where you felt like you're different from everyone else? Vice versa, have you met many gifted people along the way, and you never truly understood them? Gifted people in the workplace can be judged and misunderstood by others. If this is something that resonates with you, keep reading because this episode will help you understand how to deal with gifted people or how you can know yourself more as a gifted person.

Part One of ‘Gifted People in the Workspace’

I've worked in the healthcare industry and different venues for much of my career, and I had a client who does a very specialized medical procedure. As a gifted mentor, I’ve learned that his sense of priority and his sense of focus is simply different than other people. Transitions are hard for gifted people to go from working intensely on a medical procedure and then relaxing in the staff room. He took his job very seriously, and he didn't have time for other things.

Does that make him anti-social or wrong? Well, they missed the fact that not everybody processes the world the same way, and not everybody does it the same. For example, the other day, somebody said to me, "I love your voice, Diane. I love listening to your meditations and hearing you speak."

I laughed and said, "Thank you for being in here." It flows easily because being gifted can be a real challenge when you're around other people, mostly because of the social skills that make it a little bit awkward or different.

But it’s also important to realize that this isn’t about being right or wrong. It's about cultivating a culture where we embrace our differences and appreciate the diversity around us.

“Work with somebody who knows about giftedness to expand and see where your rightful place is.” – Dianne A. Allen

Notice that if you're supervising somebody who's really smart and talented, you promote them to be a director, you're engaging with them in a social situation or a corporate world like a hospital or a big company, you will see that sometimes there's some awkwardness there, or sometimes we have to play through what we're going to do and how we're going to do it because most of us don't fit in very easily to some of the social situations.

Part Two of ‘Gifted People in the Workspace’

When we try to look at somebody else and compare them to our experience, that's not as accurate as it could be. I've worked in many places as a director where I didn’t feel understood by people there. They knew how good I was, but I’ve experienced a lot of judgment by those people under my supervision because they simply didn’t understand that I function differently.

Gifted people can be very hyper-focused. I remember walking down the hall from my office to another setting. I was completely focused on delivering the highest care to my clients. Let’s say you’re somebody on the outside who would come in and start talking; then I wouldn't hear you. Or I might have a smile on my face because I'm thinking, and you could misinterpret that is being angry when I'm not angry at all.

Here’s the crazy thing: I've had people say, "You're mad at me." I'm like, "What? I'm not mad at you. Are you kidding me? That's crazy." It's super easy to get misinterpreted. So, a healthy alternative would be to use the person's name and get their full attention before you start speaking to them. Because when somebody talks to me using my name, they get my attention. Thus, I will now be directly devoted to my intention on what's happening, what you're trying to say to me, and you will see that I'm not angry.

Another thing about gifted people is that it's harder to socially engage when you're introverted, and you're not sure how to do it. It's more difficult when you see things differently than other people. Sometimes, the words are elusive to even how to communicate it.

Therefore, let's have some compassion for each other, and as gifted people, let's have some compassion for the people who don't get us. Let's try to use the language that everybody can come together to serve the greater good in whatever it is we're doing, whatever our company is, whatever our work is, whatever our lives are, so gifted people in the workspace can be a challenge, and it's also a great asset. It's time that we create a culture that encourages people to embrace their giftedness without feeling guilty.

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[michaelh]

Your video really helped me out immensely. I don't claim to be gifted, smarter, or better than others. But I just know how to do things in a way that gets results, or makes something work. But I struggle with communication and how to explain how I fixed something or what my process was to troubleshoot or diagnose something.

I also struggle with being social and fitting in. I am quiet, and reserved, but friendly. It's often mistaken as an attitude that I am rude or think I am better than others. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. One small example just happened last month. I was at a group gathering of my wife's friends and coworkers to watch a college football game. They were grilling, laughing, and having a good time. It was discovered they didn't have the correct channel to see the game and the mood went down. I quietly got to thinking and looking for a solution. The tv had wifi connection, wife's phone has unlimited data and mobile hotspot. So I connected the tv with hotspot, pulled up YouTube, lowered the resolution to 240 so hotspot could keep up. I then found the game Livestream on YouTube.... I was the hero of the room and felt pretty darn good inside.

But being the quiet type, I mostly kept to myself. The next day, people were asking my wife if I was mad or didn't like them. She said he had a blast. He is just an introvert.

I am jumping around lol. But this is how my mind works and it brings out another subject. Of course I love her and she is my rock that I feel secure around. But how in the world I found my wife is beyond me. I am an introvert and she is very much an extrovert. Just imagine a monk and Beyonce together 🤣🤣🤣. I am the one sitting quietly enjoying a drink at her favorite karaoke bar. She is singing her heart out getting a crowd excited lol. We have been together almost 17 years. She says I provide the emotional stability and everything she is missing and that is why she loves me so much... But on occasion, she breaks me out of the shell 👍

[chorrellpique]

It’s very exhausting, because the majority of people won’t ever understand you. You must constantly adapt to others, whilst others can’t adapt to you.

[therealmellyb]

As a gifted person I’ve felt misunderstood my entire life….. perfectionism impostor syndrome fear of failure. I think all gifted kids should get counseling because coping can be sooo hard.

[manvmachable]

One of the best things about being gifted is that most people absolutely dont care and treat me like a normal person. I love that.

[langkarenga]

I’ve unfortunately been in a situation similar to one of the commenters below. I’m thirty two years of age, African American, and a twice exceptional Profoundly Gifted male. I have no “formal education” other than a high school diploma and have worked menial jobs for nearly the entirety of my vocational experience. And you can surmise from your experience with gifted to PG employed folk that this is often a recipe for disaster, not only am I more cognitively different than both my peers and my employers I’m also more emotionally complex, which presents problems when dealing with corporate corruption and status quo.

I’m a staunch autodidact and an advocate for skilled through alternative route workers and autodidactic practitioners, and as of 2021 I teach students in AP English, AP Biology, and AP World History without having a degree in anything and without having taken any AP classes in my youth. My students range from tenth grade to a college sophomore. I also work at a local CVS as a cashier where I get to employ my skills and interest in linguistics, anthropology, and language.

I’m the only “bilingual” person on my staff in the front store and aid customers In both Spanish and ASL as well as conversing in at least five different languages at the conversational level.

My dyscalculia inhibits my mental math as a cashier especially when I’m stressed, but I have a photographic memory, hyperphantasia, synesthesia and a very unorthodox way of solving problems that looks messy and unorganized but works for me. None of my coworkers understand that when I’m over sensed it’s not always bad and it doesn’t equate to mania or drug use.

Playing the job market schpiel of “the customer is always right” and punctuality equates to diligence and wherewithal it’s almost to the point where I can only swallow as much as I can before I regurgitate in the form of burnout or lashing out when overwhelmed. My relationships are lackluster as well due to only finding intellectual mates in people who are educationally “superior” to me and often times financially which creates a gap.

Often times even then I don’t find potential partners to offer that much on that deeper wave length, and if I do find a person close to my level I love bomb and scare them away. I don’t make sense to most people bc what I am cant be reduced to generalizations or categorizations that are poorly defined. I can enjoy rap music from my youth while also having debates with PG friends about Pleistocene rewilding, Altaic Hypothesis linguistic theory, and geeking out about an article on Evolutionary psychology. Like you said above it’s extremely hard to “feel heard” and understood, and as a black man my intellectual identity is either overlooked or over emphasized to convince others of my humanity and worth, which has the adverse affect.

No one understands that my central nervous system and reward centers in my brain are just heightened in a way that they can’t comprehend.

I don’t learn or do things “just because” and I don’t understand the need to placate to individuals who are a detriment to me. I’ve had existential crisis since I was at least five, so I’m constantly evaluating myself in an ontological, axiological, and epistemological way. And most people even at work can’t be bothered to look beyond what is seen to go to the core of the issue and sometimes the person. But I do enjoy having meaningful interactions with people and brightening up peoples days. I appreciate that you made this video letting others no they aren’t deficient for thinking and experiencing the world differently.

[angiecibis]

This video is exactly what I needed. I ended up taking my graphic design skills solo after 15 years of working for companies where many people, to varying degrees, stifled my giftedness and in some cases, blatantly bullied me. As a side note, I think I've stayed in the same role as a graphic designer because I get to dive into a multitude of topics since my clients vary, which keeps things interesting and fun.

[KNRK]

This was so validating. I feel that I've spent a LOT of time learning how to be socially acceptable and socially desirable in the workplace. It's something I've consciously worked on to make sure I will be successful. And it was really validating to know that my baseline & where I came from is expected due to how my brain is wired. Also, this is the first time I've heard that transitions can be hard for gifted people. I'm interested to learn more about that now. I feel like I've always been expected to have faster transition ability because of my giftedness. But it doesn't work well in practice.

[annbrown]

I am not sure if I am truly gifted, but I related to some of the situations she described. I feel like almost every day is a performance. I can relate to knowing something isn't right or working, without knowing how to explain it.

[carlkim]

Thank you. This was helpful. I instinctively developed multiple support networks at work. It was that they could only understand one piece of the work that I do; so it required multiple people to cover the full range.

[Ariadne-kd]

I just found that "relaxing in the staff room" was no fun because people ignored me, interrupted me, and haf no idea what I was talking about a lot of the time.
And multiple peer groups??? I would be happy to find ONE peer group.
Also, why would people think that a highly intelligent, dedicated, productive employee was a liability??

[xedn]

I can see things in very complex views and no one can really understand what I feel it’s very hard to explain what I see and feel to others because it’s constantly forming into new shapes

[jacquelinesmith]

Thank you for sharing this video. I'm not quite sure if I identify myself as gifted as of yet, but I do know that I have high sensitivity, a sharp intuition, and my mind goes faster than I can talk. I also talk faster when I do speak and have had the time to think. In addition I have an impeccable memory that no one will fully comprehend. I've been feeling lost and isolated in the social norm, and everyone that encounters me regards me as the one that "knows everything" and it's frustrating that I keep having to remind everyone that I don't know everything at times. In my work experience and where I currently work now I've had to retreat from social situations and places because I know that I will get cranky for a prolonged period of time in these circumstances in conjunction to feeling awkward around friends and family. I'm slowly beginning to embrace this about me and within time I'll come to terms with it. Thank you again.

[danford]

I am gifted, but by being able to do many things my company took advantage of me, giving me many jobs without any rewards.

[INsightfulLH]

I understand you completely. Great work that you’re doing.

[hypatia]

One of the things I´ve done when I´ve come to a solution through intuition, is to then go back and document my thought process so I can pass that solution on to my managers as well thought out and logical. Time consuming but necessary. The last place I worked at my ideas were completely "stolen" by my supervisor, who left the company and then came back as head of the department and completely implemented my strategy for an overhaul of our IT systems. I´m certain he used this idea as leverage to return as departmental head. This isn´t the first time it´s happened. Meanwhile, I get stuck working with people I can´t stand and called out for being rude to them when I tell them they´re lying (only when provoked, though). It´s too hard to work with people. It´s too disappointing. I work for myself now, with the peace and quiet I need to think, without having to puzzle over why people think I´m mad or sad when I´m simply sitting at my desk thinking.

[vcab]

Most folks in hierarchical organization panic when someone under them is in an entirely different intellectual league.

The mere presence of large strong men intimidates most insecure men.

Same principle applies to being in the mere presence of powerful minds.

[zqxzqxzqx]

After 14 years of being completely misunderstood (as a profoundly gifted person, ) I'm now being held at the bottom level at work. It's incredibly boring.

[Jamey-dm]

Everything you said has helped me. How can i get you to be my mentor as a am gifted and struggling 😪

[benben-dnck]

Ok i have a question.Can it be said that overexirabilities strongly correlate with giftedness?I mean can the non-gifted feature overexcitability?

[wbbwdcn]

Idk what I am but am just weird struggling every day and have a lot of emotions. And it confuses me that people around me telling me they see something in me, that I can reach a lot. Yet I didn't reached anything, feels like a failure.