What is a Highly Attuned Person?
The Hidden Strengths that Elevate Teams and Leaders
By Michelle Luken
January 2025
A highly attuned person is someone who is exceptionally aware of and responsive to their surroundings and the thoughts, feelings, and needs of others.
Highly attuned people/professionals are invaluable assets to any organization, especially when they are aware of their unique abilities and empowered by their leaders to use them. Among many strengths, their heightened awareness allows them to detect potential threats and opportunities before others. They also make for high-performing leaders and considered by others as the “glue” that holds teams together, thanks to their emotional intelligence.
How Does One Become Highly Attuned?
After 16 years of working as an occupational therapist and 10 years of serving in the United States Army, I have found that there are three primary ways people become highly attuned: nature/genetics, nurture/upbringing, and training. It is possible to relate to one, two, or all three of these.
Nature/Genetics
Approximately 20% of people are genetically predisposed to:
notice and respond to subtle changes in their environments
detect and respond to the emotions of others
deeply process information and sensory stimuli
feel overstimulated
Men and women are equally likely to have this trait. It is also relatively equally distributed between extroverts and introverts. It is not a disorder or diagnosis. In fact, many people with this trait are highly successful, especially if/when they have had a supportive upbringing. Well-known people who are believed to have had, or confirmed to have, this trait include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Princess Diana, and Alanis Morisette. To learn more about this genetic trait, the science behind it, and whether you might have it, I recommend visiting Dr. Elaine Aron’s website. Dr. Aron is the expert who brought this trait to light and has pioneered education and research in this area.
Nurture/Upbringing
I’ve worked with many other highly attuned professionals who do not identify their attunement as being innate or naturally occurring. These people often grew up in an environment that required them to develop a heightened awareness and response to their surroundings out of necessity or survival. For example, a child raised by an emotionally unstable parent or in an unsafe neighborhood may be conditioned to scan their environment and people for subtle changes in order to detect and respond to potential threats.
Training
Finally, people in particular professions receive extensive training designed to increase situational awareness and/or emotional intelligence to meet job standards and/or optimize performance in their particular field (e.g., military, law enforcement, and healthcare. I consider these professions and others to be high-stakes fields.
Why Support for Highly Attuned Professionals Is Essential
Many highly attuned people are unaware of their unique traits, let alone how to leverage them at work and home. Those who are aware of their gifts may downplay or hide them out of fear of standing out or being misunderstood, especially in organizations that place less value on divergent thinking and empathy. Emotional exhaustion and burnout are also particular concerns among these professionals due to their tendency to sense and deeply process how to respond to the emotions and needs of others.
Fortunately, research shows that those who are innately highly attuned (i.e., genetically predisposed) are more open and responsive than others to behavioral interventions such as coaching and education/training. Therefore, a little support can go a long way.
Take the Next Step
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If you are a highly attuned person working in a high-stakes field, or know someone who is, please reach out and tell me about yourself!
If you are a leader or organization, inquire about services designed to help you leverage the force-multiplying capabilities and support the needs of your highly attuned team members!
