BAD HABITS OF SMART LEADERS
ones – he was! I pointed out that no one in
the room but him had an IQ of 170. They
were good people, who worked hard, they
were smart people. They were just not
quite as smart as he was. Almost nobody
in the world was quite as smart as he was.
Joe needed to learn to work with normal
human beings. I also added that, unless
he changed, no one who was as smart as
he was would ever want to work for him.
THE FOUR HABITS
1. PROVING HOW SMART WE ARE
2. PROVING HOW RIGHT WE ARE
3. I ALREADY KNOW THAT
4. WHY CAN’T THEY BE ME?
‘Super-smart’ people can often make
connections and see patterns that are
not obvious to normal people – or even
‘smart’ people. It can be challenging
for any of us to accept that what may
seem obvious to us may be a complete
mystery to the people around us. In
many cases, the smarter we are, the more
difficult this may be to understand.
A FINAL THOUGHT
Great leaders help others to succeed.
One of the greatest leaders I have ever met
taught me a wonderful lesson: “For the
great individual achiever, it is all about me.
For the great leader, it is all about them.”
It can be incredibly difficult to make
the transition from ‘it is all about me –
proving I am smart, proving I am right,
knowing all of the answers’ to it is all
about them – ‘proving they are right and
being proud of them having the answers’.
There can be a huge difference between
intelligence and wisdom. While smart
leaders may spend their time proving how
clever they are, wise leaders spend their
time helping other people be the heroes. +
Dr. Goldsmith is the author or editor of 35 books, which have sold over two million copies, been translated into 30
languages and become best-sellers in 12 countries. His two other New York Times bestsellers are MOJO and What
Got You Here Won’t Get You There - the Harold