Brains come in all shapes (and cloaks)

I’ve been obsessed with The Celebrity Traitors UK - have you watched it? As well as being absolutely brilliant TV it’s also reinforced something really important - that intelligence isn’t just one thing. It doesn’t only come with a PhD. It doesn’t guarantee success. And it certainly doesn’t make you a good traitor or faithful!

Watching the show, I was struck by how it mirrored what we see in schools, workplaces and wider society: a narrow definition of intelligence. One that values academia, strategy, and slick talking - while overlooking instinct, emotional insight, and lived experience.

But before we dive into this in detail in today’s newsletter, I’m so excited to let you know that the doors to the NeuroNavigator® programme are now OPEN! Spaces are limited so book now to avoid missing out.

Spoiler alert: I talk about who won The Celebrity Traitors UK, including who was in the final. So don’t read on if you don’t want to know!

From the start of the show, a few people were talked about as being particularly intelligent, for example Stephen Fry and historian, David Olusoga. Both highly educated, articulate, and by all accounts, ‘clever people’. Same with Nick Mohammed. But all of them floundered in the game. Their form of intelligence - the kind we often reward in professional settings - didn’t translate into success in this game show.

Why? Because the game wasn’t about being the most intellectual person in the room. It was about adaptability, persuasion, emotional awareness and in many ways, instinct.

It was about reading people, and being read differently yourself.

Compare Stephen, David and Nick with Jo Marler. Not someone you’d typically call an academic, but he clocked the traitors when no one else did. His instincts were bang on. His ability to piece things together was impressive. But where he struggled was bringing people along with him. His social and emotional intelligence perhaps weren’t strong enough to make his case stick.

And then there was Alan Carr.

Alan didn’t see himself as a strategist. He joked and charmed his way through the show. He used his comedic smarts, and it worked so well for him. He won. Deservedly.

But for me the unexpected winner(s) of the show were Claudia, and the production team. They are responsible for picking the traitors. And they did a phenomenal job!

The traitors as a group were fascinating. What made them successful wasn’t individual genius. It was the blend. The balance of skills, temperaments, and approaches. They complemented each other, just like the best teams do in real life.

I’m not sure Alan would have won on his own, but with Cat Burns and Jonathan Ross in his team, they made it happen together.

The Celebrity Traitors UK taught me more than I was expecting!

We don’t value different types of intelligence enough, and our view is far too narrow. We all need to challenge ourselves to break free of this in order to build teams at work and to value each other.

Secondly, the best teams aren’t made of the best individuals. They are made of the best group that complement each other, and work well together.

Final thought
Being clever doesn’t mean having all the answers. Sometimes it means asking the right questions or knowing when to stay quiet and watch the room. Intelligence is plural. Let’s start treating it that way.

Speak soon,
Jess

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