A Warning To The Smartest Person In The Room

So you are the smartest person in the room.  You know who you are.  We all know who you are.  Take pride in that.  You have worked hard.  You are intuitive and insightful.  But be careful.
The smartest person in the room always falls into one of two categories – the ones we like and the ones we do not.  Let’s take a look at the difference:
The Smartest Person In The Room We Like

• When you walk into a room, our spirits are raised.  We are going to have fun and get better.
• When you are in the room, the level of conversation is elevated.  We are getting smarter.
• When you are in the room, we are at peace because we know no matter what we face, we can look to you for solutions.  You are our backstop.  The prevailing thought is, “We’ve got the smartest person in the room on our team.”
• When you are in the room, we know everything will be fine because together WE got this.
• Fellowship Bible Church senior pastor Crawford Loritts says, “The way to impact is humility, courage, and Godly-character.”  When you are in the room, you are humble and make everyone else feel important.
• We love working with you.

The Smartest Person In The We Do Not Like

• When you walk into a room, everyone shuts down.
• When you are in the room, people are afraid to speak because you will point out how wrong they are.
• When you are in the room, people are intimidated.
• When you are in the room, everyone knows YOU do not trust them and YOU got this.  We are simply not needed.
• When you are in the room, you are full of pride and remind everyone how important You are.
• You lack self-awareness.
• Worse, you are a jerk.

The smartest person in the room should look to LeBron James for an example on how to behave.  He is the smartest and most talented person on any basketball court he steps on.  If you are his teammate you must struggle with feelings of inadequacy.  Seriously, why should anyone else take a shot?  He is a better player than you are.  Maybe the best ever.
But James is gifted leader.  He has known from an early age that as the best player on the court, his job is to make his teammates the best they could possibly be.  After three NBA championships, he has done just that.
Here is the warning to the smartest person in the room:
Your job is to make everyone else feel they are the smartest person in the room.  Your job is to make them the best they can possibly be.  Your job is to make them feel they can accomplish anything.
We know you have all the answers.  You need to make us feel our contributions are valuable and we are desperately needed.  This is what the smartest person in the room does.
If you do not do this, you will be the smartest person in another room.  This is because you will no longer be in ours.  Are you smart enough to know what I am saying?

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