High Potential Personality: What Science Says
If we ask someone what is meant by a high potential personality, they will most likely reply: “a very intelligent person”. The truth is that today we continue to associate talent with high cognitive abilities. However, true human potential doesn’t always lie in an IQ as high as Stephen Hawking’s.
Brilliant is the one who dares to transform reality by going beyond the conventional. Having a high potential personality means seeing what others don’t see and being able to inspire them. Being exceptional means taking advantage of the difficulties and setting innovative goals on the horizon that no one had set before.
We could define this personality trait in different ways, but many have already done it for us. So much so that several companies have started administering the Myers-Briggs personality test, based on Carl Jung’s theories, to identify some high-potential personality traits.
What are high potential personality traits?
Society needs more than just smart people. It takes people who know how to put their wits to good use, whatever their degree of intelligence.
Because sometimes the talent lies in the mental flexibility of those who know how to find the best answer at the right time.
Even in those who know how to use their skills to create happy and motivated work groups that aim for the same goal.
Leadership is being redefined as is the concept of high potential personality. Until recently we associated this concept with those who produce the most, the most extroverted, the manager who offers the best results for the company.
Today many of these expectations have been scaled back. Because what is needed right now is dynamism, humanity, connection, efficiency and the ability to innovate.
For this reason, psychologists such as Ian MacRae and Adrian Furnham of University College London have conducted a study to delimit the characteristics that define this type of personality. These are very interesting traits that we can all develop in some way.
1. Being scrupulous, the value of self-discipline
Those who achieve success do not do it by chance. Behind every triumph there is discipline, self-control and sacrifice. Achieving this competence requires excellent self-control, the ability to control one’s impulses and a good use of strategic planning.
In other words, loving things well done. It is not necessary to be obsessed with perfection, but to expect to always give the best of oneself.
Those who are scrupulous make the best decisions, because they do it with conscience, using reason and also a refined intuition that leaves nothing to chance.
2. Emotional adaptation, or mastering emotions to think better
We all know the great importance of knowing how to regulate one’s emotions, as well as the good use of them. Emotional adaptation in the high-potential personality is fundamental, because it defines the ability to control daily stress, the anxiety that almost always attaches itself to the rhythm of life, work and human relationships.
High-potential personalities move at ease in any environment. They convey calm, improve the working environment and the relationship between colleagues.
3. Knowing how to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity
High-potential personalities are aware that things won’t always go their way. The world, the companies, are almost always chaotic environments. Difficulties appear common and many times uncertainty is a constant to be accepted.
Instead of getting stuck with what they can’t change, high-potential personalities don’t hesitate to use creativity. They know how to give a thousand answers and react differently depending on the problems they face.
4. High potential personality: curious to know and discover new paths
What would the human being be without curiosity? This tool of life and human potential has been losing momentum over the years. Often, school schedules, routines and even very strict work environments completely detract from this ability.
High-potential personalities, on the other hand, cultivate this virtue : they use curiosity to learn, discover and apply new approaches.
5. High-potential personalities are brave
Courage allows us to make our way in the midst of difficulties; it helps us to go beyond what is established to give way to the new, to what can improve our reality.
The high-potential personality stands out because it is not afraid to face the unexpected with balance: it simply trusts in its own abilities.
6. Healthy competition as an improvement strategy
Competitiveness can sometimes create friction and even conflict within a company. High-potential personalities promote healthy competition for improvement.
Beyond that, they don’t hesitate to join the team to make it more competitive and advance the whole organization and position themselves in a good place in the market.
To conclude, one trait that defines a person with high potential is the sense of trust they instill in others.
They are skilled figures when it comes to getting the best out of others to work in the same direction. They are the seeds that make every scenario flourish with innovation, progress and resilience.
