Want more great career tips? Sign up here.

Summary

• If you are the smartest person in the room, there is a good chance that nobody is doing much to lift you higher.

• “Smartest” in this context isn’t about natural intelligence, but more about knowledge, experience, perspective, energy, innovation, creativity, empathy, inspiration, courage, and initiative.

• Sometimes you may be the smartest in the room about some things, but the dumbest about others; that’s cool.

• Sometimes it may take a little time to realize that others in the room are smarter than it seemed during your first impression.

• Being the smartest in the room is rare, but when it happens: bolt, even if it is inconvenient or uncomfortable.

Listen To This Podcast

Full Article

Are you usually the dumbest person in the room? If not, you may have a problem.

My mentor Darren Hardy once explained how important it is to be the dumbest person in the room.

You see, if you find yourself in a situation where you are the smartest person in the room, then chances are, you’re pulling everybody else up while you’re not going anywhere. Or, even worse, when you are the smartest person in the room there is a good chance you’re getting pulled down by dumber influences. Please understand when I say “smartest” I’m not really talking about natural intelligence (often over rated), but more about things like knowledge, experience, perspective, energy, innovation, creativity, empathy, inspiration, courage, and initiative.

When you’re the smartest, others in the room probably aren’t doing much to lift you up. Please understand I’m not talking about situations where you are supposed to be teaching or mentoring, but more so situations where you are with peers/colleagues (or even worse, you’re supposed to be a student) and you’re the smartest person in the room.

Recently I found myself in a situation where I had planned to participate as a student in a three-day training session. From the first few minutes it occurred to me that what was being presented was really basic at best, misleading at worst, and those leading the learning were not persuasive, interesting, or influencing in a way that at least I felt was particularly uplifting. By the afternoon of the first day (with the help of some logistical challenges that made the decision even easier) I decided to pull the plug and bail. My reason: I was at least one of the smartest people in that room, I hadn’t learned very much all day, and the prospect of me learning much over the remaining two days was slim.

As I offer this I know it may sound super arrogant and close-minded. That is why it’s really important that, when you think you may be the smartest in the room, you give it a chance to make super sure you are. I often find that while I may be the smartest person in the room on some things, I’m definitely the dumbest on other things! This is a great situation because it offers the opportunity for people to learn a ton from each other; you lift them up while they lift you up.

On other occasions, as I get to know others, I discover my initial suspicions about being the smartest person in the room are unfounded. Deciding you are the smartest in the room definitely can’t be a snap judgement!

I’m always cautious about reaching an “I’m the smartest in the room” conclusion because learning new ideas from interesting people is one of my favorite things to do! That is why I was so surprised during this recent meeting when I was able to genuinely conclude, “you know what – I’m not really learning much at all doing this.” As rare as it is though, sometimes it happens.

Being the smartest person in the room is a little bit like trying to lift a weight that is too light for you. You may have experienced situations in the gym where you go to lift something but after several reps you think to yourself, “oh ya, I can go heavier than this.” Very much like lifting dumbbells that are too light in the weight room is no good, hanging out with dumbbells in the boardroom is also no good! YOU want to be the dumb one, at least the dumbest when it comes to some moves!

Just like it can be really easy to go with the lighter weight in the gym, the easiest thing to do when you find you’re the smartest person in the room is to just go with it, to be polite. You may even feel like you don’t want to give up what you’ve already invested, so it’s better to just keep spending your valuable time as the smartest one there, even though it’s not really doing much for you. I encountered this with my recent three-day meeting; I’d invested a lot of time and energy to be there, and was reluctant to pull the plug. However, just like it’s never a good idea to throw good money after bad money in a losing investment, the same is true about being the smartest person in the room. If/when you find you are truly the smartest person there, you’re ALWAYS better off cutting your loses and getting out of there. It may be awkward, it may be uncomfortable, it may be inconvenient, it may even be painful! But the right thing to do is always get out of there and spend the time you’re recovered finding a better room with smarter people.

If you want to win at work, always try to be the dumbest person in the room.

Want more great career tips? Sign up here.