10 signs that you are more gifted than you think

Are you more intelligent than most?

Do you have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps you might be more gifted than most other people? But you don’t know because you’ve never taken an IQ test. Perhaps you’re somewhat unsure about what the test will reveal?

If you’re bright (top 3-10%) or highly gifted (top 2%), there are two likely scenarios:

either you have taken an IQ test at some point as part of a recruitment process or the examination for military service, and you do know that you are above average.

Or you simply let yourself believe that you are just like most other people, as you’re certainly not particularly intelligent. On the contrary, you may experience situations where you feel stupid.

The third scenario is that you find yourself to be more intelligent than your colleagues. In that case, you probably have an IQ at the upper end of the normal range but you are not necessarily among the 10% most gifted. That’s actually a good thing because it gives you a better chance of succeeding in higher education and making a career in workplaces where the average IQ is similar to yours. For example, most middle managers have this level of IQ.

If you’re in doubt, you can try the free IQ test at Mensa.org. It’s reasonably accurate.

If your score is 120 or more, you are among the 10% most gifted.
If your score is lower, of course you might just be having a bad day, and then you can try again in a few months, but there is really nothing wrong with the test.
If your score is 133 or above, you should probably get used to the idea of being highly gifted.

See also: 4 differences between having a high IQ and a normal IQ

 

10 signs that you are more gifted than you think

Below you will find 10 typical characteristics that are echoed in the 1000+ individuals who I have met and tested since 2012, when I started working on personal development for the 10% most gifted. However, the same applies to all the people I’ve met and worked with as colleagues before I found out my own position on the scale.

 

10 characteristics of the 10% most gifted

1. They are faster than most at solving tasks
2. They only need to have something explained to them once
3. They get bored more often
4. They have a well-developed sense of justice
5. They are slightly too honest
6. They can be quite impatient
7. They usually meet everyone as an equal
8. They do not always ‘play the game’
9. They can predict what might go wrong
10. Most of them talk fast and jump straight to the conclusion

The 10 characteristics can also be helpful for managers to know, as they allow them to spot gifted employees and use their potential rather than getting annoyed with them.

 

1. Intelligent people are faster than most

This is a simple fact: the most intelligent people are quick thinkers and often solve tasks faster than their colleagues. In the IQ test, they complete all of the 80 tasks in 30 minutes or less.

In the personality test, most of them also achieve a high score for pace. They simply work faster.

Exceptions may be due to perfectionism and/or imposterism; this can make the person doubt whether the task has actually been solved correctly, so they spend time double-checking their answers, not just twice but several times. And this slows down the pace, despite their high IQ.

2. They only need to have something explained to them once

As an HR manager, I had the pleasure of hiring a highly gifted person (without using an IQ test), and when she had been employed for some time, her manager came to me full of enthusiasm and said:

I only need to explain things once, and then she gets it. And she can do things in Excel that nobody’s ever done before!

In the intelligence test this is seen as a high score in Logical perception. They simply get what you’re saying – the first time round!

However, this is also what can lead to them losing focus during long meetings, where the same topic keeps being discussed – because they understood it hours ago.

 

3. The most intelligent get bored more often

It is said that clever people never get bored, but that is not the case. In fact, the opposite is true:

Intelligent people often get bored!

This is related to them scoring above average for Learning capability in the intelligence test, which means that they are faster than most at acquiring new knowledge.

The downside is that they also have a greater need for variety and challenges than most people – because otherwise they get bored.

 

4. Intelligent people have a well-developed sense of justice

For highly gifted people, this is often an understatement. They happen to have an exaggerated sense of justice: a set of invariable principles and values which govern their assessments and actions; a demand for and an associated expectation of orderliness which applies to themselves, but very much ought to also apply to everyone else. If the most intelligent were in charge, that is.

When they have a job consultation and try the skills cards, the card Adhere to principles and values is one of their most frequent choices. When I ask them why, I get an animated story about a time when they found the rules were not adhered to in the company where they work..

 

5. They are slightly too honest

When it comes to honesty, this is similar to their sense of justice in that the most gifted cannot always keep theirs in check. Consequently, they give their honest and unfiltered opinion about one thing or another, and that might not be something other people are ready to hear.

 

6. Intelligent people can be quite impatient

The fact that the most gifted people can be impatient may be related to some of the characteristics mentioned above: high pace, fast learning and a low boredom threshold.

This combination can make it very difficult to sit and wait for others to get to the point. Or to understand why nothing’s happening when it was already agreed that…

 

7. The most gifted meet everyone as an equal

Most gifted people are completely unsnobbish. They focus on the person and the conversation. This means that they’re just as comfortable talking to the chief executive as to a member of staff lower down in the company hierarchy. This shouldn’t really be problematic, but nevertheless it often is:

1. Because they end up talking to the chief executive about something that they shouldn’t have – according to their own manager
2. Because they don’t look up to the boss or to anyone else – unless there’s a really good reason to do so.

 

8. The most intelligent do not always ‘play the game’

The negative B words such as Blaming, Backstabbing, Brown-nosing – as well as the Danish for slander: Bagtalelser – are completely foreign to the most gifted. This is partly because it goes against their common sense that this should even be necessary, but also because it contradicts their sense of justice and, finally, because they fundamentally believe in honest work.

As a result, they can be politically naive and find it difficult to understand selfish motives in others. Gifted people work for the best interests of the company and the common good, and this can make them blind to personal agendas and power struggles.

Find out more and take the survey:

 

9. The most gifted can predict what might go wrong

When you can see that the bus is about to drive over the cliff, aren’t you obliged to tell your manager about it? That’s what the most gifted people believe. Unfortunately, the problem is that their manager (and others) can’t see it and don’t want to know about it either. The others prefer to press on regardless.

They only stop when the bus has gone over the cliff and everything has gone wrong, exactly as predicted. And then the gifted person gets the blame – because he or she should have done something to prevent it, regardless of whether it was part of that person’s responsibilities.

And it can be easier to let a gifted member of staff go than to admit it and assume responsibility when something has gone wrong.

 

10. They talk fast and jump straight to the conclusion

After having spoken to more than 1000 people on the phone, I can hear it when they have a high IQ. The most intelligent persons simply speak faster because they think faster.

Here, the problem often is that they jump straight from A to Z, without any arguments that lead to the conclusion. And that’s when they lose their colleagues – because other people need to discuss F, understand K and agree on P. Also, the others might not find it necessary to reach Z.

This can be frustrating for gifted people, but it can also make them feel stupid.

NOTE: The introverts among them don’t say much, but what they do say is well considered.