Member-only story
After Surrounding Myself With People Smarter Than Me for So Long, Here Are My Thoughts
And what to do if you want a different approach
We hear it all the time. To make it in life, always surround yourself with people smarter than you.
It is a classic, timeless piece of advice that has been passed on by many an expert.
I get the point behind that reasoning. And there are great lessons we can all learn from that. That said, here are the problems with the advice to surround yourself with the smartest people around.
You might look down on yourself as if you’re a failure.
If you don’t get the right smart people, will they not rub your nose in the fact they have accomplished so much and you are nowhere near them?
In the internet age, where everyone’s accomplishment is an open secret, we are already fighting the comparison battle.
Yes, it is okay to seek the counsel of people a little ahead of you on the learning curve. But what isn’t right is making it having only smart people around you.
How is the smartness measured, and by which standards?