I recently came across a clever definition of an intellect: a person who can hear the William Tell overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. A similar definition is a person who is told not to think of the elephant in the room and doesn't. Both definitions describe the ability to compartmentalize, to think of one topic and exclude all others, i.e., to concentrate.
Another definition of an intellect is... You. The person with skills that require intelligence to implement. An example: I was lunching with a financial manager, and I said that we are marketing the same product: our intelligence. When he looked puzzled, I explained: You sell your valuable intelligence about investments, and I sell my valuable intelligence about writing. We have created our intelligence niches. The common thread is intelligence, albeit of different kinds. That's why your clients hire you to manage their finances, and my clients hire me to write their marketing and other communications.
Your language, whether in speaking or writing, reflects your intelligence. Ergo, if you buy the notion that intelligence is your only product, you want to avoid ungrammatical, murky, misleading language such as sentences like this from a newsletter on health: Eating well and exercising regularly will lower your risk of dying. Really?
I wrote several articles on the roles and importance of intelligence in creating a competitive advantage for individuals and firms. In one, I noted: We intuitively know intelligence when we experience it: the person who grasps and analyzes the situation at hand quickly and clearly communicates his or her understandings and conclusions; he or she demonstrates superior perceptions and verbal skills. Whether correctly or erroneously, we label those who don’t, can’t, or won’t as not too bright, slow, and lacking credibility—exactly the labels that will destroy careers and businesses in a heartbeat.
You can read my thoughts on intelligence in chapters 9, 10, and 11 in my book, "An Accidental Life."
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