Never be the smartest guy in the room!

I like to stress on the guys and gals that work for me to never be the smartest person in the room. Nine out of ten times there will always be someone who has more insight, more experience, and more knowledge than you. It comes from an understanding that you learn more by hearing others speak, rather than yourself. You may find yourself in a meeting where someone will be constantly chomping at the bit to share facts and statistics, and with these facts and statistics comes the unfortunate realization that more often than not, these individuals are regurgitating information they’ve pulled from a pamphlet or an article somewhere. The legitimately intelligent people are listening, watching, and observing and making the effort to learn more. These people don’t need to show off or flex their intellect; they’ve been out there in the trenches of their respective fields. Talking to them always yields a great deal more information than the types to stand in a meeting and pontificate the day away with fact after fact.

Humility plays an important role in our human interactions, and by assuming we are the smartest in the room we are loudly proclaiming that we, in fact, are not the smartest in the room. Take a moment to consider what defines intelligence. One could argue that the intelligence hinges on the ability to learn and retain information—something no one can do if they are too obsessed in the cadence of their own voice. There always seems to be a bit of a typecast when looking at the fact-spew-ers. These individuals have a great deal of respect for what they have to say, and not too much interest on anything others have to follow. Withholding common professions, it’s easy to say that we as humans listen and observe our environment, but it’s difficult when we are so distracted. In our need to be the best and brightest, we often forget that there’s a great degree of work that needs to accompany that status.