Skip to main content

I'm In with the IT Crowd: 5 Reasons to Surround Yourself with People Who Are Smarter Than You


Some of the smartest people I know work in IT.  Think about it - folks who work with technology on a regular basis are just plain smart.  They seem to have an innate understanding of the way things work.  It makes me kind of jealous, actually.

Think of the smartest person you know.  


 What does that person do?  Maybe it's not IT, but I bet you wish you knew what they know.  There's a lot to be gleaned from building relationships with people you respect for their understanding.  

Here are the top 5 reasons you should surround yourself with people who are smarter than you:


  1. Elevate your knowledge base.  When you place yourself in circumstances where you'll learn new principles and ideas, you're bound to increase your understanding.
  2. Get a fresh perspective.  Have you ever outgrown your peer group?  It's actually a good thing.  You may find yourself excelling above your peers intellectually, socially, emotionally, or spiritually, because you're learning at a different pace.  Don't let them hold you back.  Seek new influences that will encourage your growth and keep you moving in the right direction. 
  3. Learn to analyze problems from every angle.  When you've been looking at a problem from the same point of view your entire life, you may only see one way to solve it.  Listen to other ideas.  Weigh feedback carefully.  Don't pigeonhole yourself into one solution when there are hundreds that would be equally effective.
  4. Expand your interests to better relate to other skill sets.  Learning is a life-long process.  There's always more to discover.  When you gather new ideas, you're building bridges to connect with more people who have similar ideas and interests.  Common ground is integral in relationship development, and relationship development is integral in success.
  5. It keeps you humble.  Being around people who are ridiculously smart underscores the fact that I am not.  Fortunately, there's room to grow!
Winston Churchill said, "Life is full of glorious opportunities brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems."  Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities you have is to learn from those who have more wisdom and experience, and to conquer those 'unsolvable problems' together. Never let discouragement or intimidation hold you back.

My recommendation?  


 Ask yourself what you want to be doing in 5 years, then find someone who is successfully doing that and get to know them.  Ask them questions.  Learn about their goals.  Discover the routine things they do to better equip themselves for success.  Then put those habits into practice.
 
You should be strategic in your relationships, both personal and professional.  Not just for your own knowledge, but for character development.  Remember, you make your friends and then your friends make you.


Photo credit: hongkiat.com
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 Traits of Highly-Engaging Social Media Posts

Digital media consumption is at an all-time high. Millenials no longer rely on traditional and mainstream media producers for the latest news and information. Social media is literally revolutionizing the way people do research and engage with the world. When consumers are formulating opinions about a brand, they rely on peer-to-peer reviews more than high-budget advertising. And they can go directly to social media to get a feel for a brand's true colors before investing in its products or services. With so much information competing for attention on social media, how can you develop a keen strategy for reaching consumers with relevant content? Here are 4 tips: Be succinct.  You have exactly 2 seconds to engage your audience. Make your point and make it fast. Save the fine print and flowery details for later. Use imagery.  Social media posts with photos capture more engagement than posts without pictures. Your photos should be relevant to your content, and prefe...
1 comment
Read more

First World Problems

Matthew 6:25-27, 31-34   “Therefore I tell you, do not worry   about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?   Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.   Are you not much more valuable than they?   Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’   For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.   But seek first his kingdom   and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.   Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Last week I was driving to work, sitting in traffic on US 29, when a lady going 50-60 mp...
1 comment
Read more

I want to be a butterfly

December 19, 2014 Dear Julia, Earlier this week, you and I had a conversation that I’ll never forget. You’re 4-and-a-half (although I feel like I just brought you home from the hospital… I swear I only blinked). You’re so full of life. Your energy and enthusiasm make me smile every day! We needed groceries. Badly. So we hopped in the car and drove to Sam’s Club. It was one of those evenings when I didn’t have much time after work to make dinner, so we opted for pizza at Sam’s. After ordering a few slices of pepperoni pizza (you may only weigh 31 pounds, but you can put away an entire slice of Sam’s pizza by yourself), I sat down across from you and began cutting your pizza into little bite-size pieces. You asked me how my day at work went. By the way, that’s not typical for a preschooler. Most 4-year-olds are only interested in Dora the Explorer. Not you. You like to ask questions. You’re a relationship builder. You care about people’s thoughts and ideas, and yo...
Post a Comment
Read more