Why you should never be the smartest person in the room

This is post #2 in my blog series called “Uncovering Our Blind Spots in Life and Business.” By reflecting on my own experiences, my goal is to help you uncover aspects of your personality, behavior, emotions, and intellect that harbor unconscious biases that obstruct your perspectives or influence how you see yourself and others. You can read past articles here. 

As leaders, we can sometimes experience polar opposite feelings. We may feel inadequate, flawed, or unfit concerning our leadership position or we might be overconfident, too self-assured, or have egomaniacal/narcissistic thoughts and actions. For years, I fell into the first category—feeling inadequate in my role as a leader.

I have had the privilege for over 40 years to serve in many leadership capacities in the Government Contracting (GovCon) world as a General Manager, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and President of various firms. Initially, I felt less than because although I took a few college courses in my early twenties, I did not earn a degree. I tried juggling work and school, but to be transparent, once I started earning money, I did not see the value in continuing my education. Maybe that was another blind spot that I had. 

One of my many assignments was to recruit and hire individuals with a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree to serve in contracting positions, yet I lacked a degree myself. So, I often struggled with the idea of going back to school to get a degree so I could be “qualified” to serve in a leadership role. 

Though I never went back to school, I found a workaround for all of the knowledge that I may have lacked by not having a degree: I never try to be the smartest person in the room. Instead, I surround myself with capable individuals who can offer what I don’t possess professionally or academically. 

My advice to you: If you have blind spots or insecurities around how fit you are to lead, become a collaborator and a conciliator of others to bring out the best in yourself and those around you. I believe as good leaders, we should continue to attract people who are more gifted and talented than we are to learn and profit from them for the benefit of the whole.        

Please learn from my blind spot of trying to be equal to the caliber of others for the sake of not feeling inadequate.  

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• WES

We don’t see what we don’t see! We don’t know what we don’t know! Therefore, we cannot change the things in our lives that could propel us to the next level!