The Benefits of Not Being the Smartest One in the Room

One of the decisions that has consistently altered my life to be better was the choice to surround myself with people that are smarter and more interesting than myself.

I’m fortunate to live in a city full of smart, fun and creative people. This makes it easier to never be the smartest person in the room, but you can do this no matter where you live.

When I first started seeking out people smarter than myself I felt a slight insecurity, but it was not as persuasive as the positive powerful feeling of stretching myself.  In my case, I went deep into tech geek culture with venture capitalists, angel funders, entrepreneurs, socially conscious business people and coders who practically speak in another language when they talk about technology.

There is a phrase I like that says, “Fear is simply excitement without the breath.”  It’s a little hokey and may not be true, but reminds me to get over anxiety when I’m afraid and just do what I’m afraid of.  One of those big fears for me was meeting new people.

Anyone who has only known me the last few years would never believe that I was an introvert because now I’m almost hyper-social.  But it took conscious effort to leave the shyness at the door.  The rewards from not only meeting people, but specifically meeting interesting smart people, has been invaluable.

Besides learning and laughing daily by knowing these people, we have helped each other find jobs, connect to business partners and share resources that have had mutual benefit to our personal and professional lives.

If you’re mostly hanging around people beneath your level of knowledge, experience and financial wealth, you’ll have a hard time creating great experiences because you’ll have to create a lot of it alone.  I’m not saying it can’t happen, or that it’s what everyone wants, but I find life to be much fuller in direct proportion to the time I spend with inspiring, smart, interesting and helpful people.

My Twitter friends have been an exponential boon in my growth in these areas because I’ve found and been found by so many amazing people around the globe.  Social media has opened access for us to millions of people you could never have had the time and energy to connect with otherwise.  Now we are changing the world for the better together.

As you build your online presence realize that we are moving into the Year of the Influencer in 2010 or 2011.  I’ll write more on this in the coming months, but what matters is that you don’t need a lot of money or power to do great things or to meet great people.

To become an influencer or to enjoy the rewards that come from connecting to influencers who share their knowledge, experience and resources only takes passion and action.  After investing some quality time sharing what’s great about you & what you’re passionate about with other great people the snowball rolls down the hill.

Technology and the psychological shift towards more transparent and integrous modes of doing business are creating a revolution.  One of the main reasons this is happening so quickly is that smart people are freely sharing their time and efforts with other high quality smart and interesting people online.  As these people (including you) meet, converse and collaborate, it’s ushering in a new world that’s benefiting all of us.

The next time you’re at a party, a networking event, on Twitter, or anywhere that other people are present, I invite you to seek out the people who seem more interesting and smarter than you.  Then introduce yourself, mention what you found interesting about them, ask them good questions, listen to what they have to share and notice how good you feel after connecting with them.