Smarty-Pants

Experts and high-profile business leaders everywhere always tell “Hire people who are smart.” It makes a lot of sense, smart people are generally good at what they do and they can be an excellent resource. However, Smart people also could be pain-in-the-back when they start to think that they are smarter.

It can be intimidating being on a team, or leading a team of pretender “smarty-pants”. You can end up constantly second-guessing yourself, receding your opinions or input and even losing the confidence or pride that you once felt about your work. Instead of shrinking to the challenge, I have follow new pointers from team building to ensure team alignment throughout the organization.

I might not be the most book smart person sitting around that conference table, but I certainly can be the most prepared, the most diligent or the hardest worker. Just remember that a strong intellect is only one of the ways that you can excel in the workplace. While the brains of the group are all resting on their laurels, I'm running circles around them in a bunch of other ways.

Intelligence is just one of the 15 traits of an ideal employee. I will focus on being action-oriented, ambitious, autonomous, confident, honest, detail-oriented, modest or passionate. just picking one could be enough and excel the hell out of it.

The grass is always greener, especially when I'm working in an office full of people who collectively can’t get the essential thing to work.

Personally I am considering the alternative working with smarty-pants people. In my experience, working with people who are junior experienced and smarty-pants is less educational, less rewarding, and more frustrating than working with those who are in real a team play. Working with great peers will help me up with my game.

So I will embrace the eggheads around me and see this as the great opportunity that it is…

Also I should remember that I am my own worst critic, and sometimes my perspective isn’t the most honest or accurate. If I find yourself falling behind the pack, it’s important to consider all perspectives. Perhaps I am new to this kind of field and don’t have the experience that other peers do.

I must remember that they started off somewhere too. My shortcomings might have nothing to do with my intelligence level, but rather my playing field. Having the proper mentorship and feedback can also affect my performance. I have to make sure to identify the correct issue, and not just assuming that I am the dodo bird of the office. Stop misinterpreting my experience for stupidity, and give it some time.

Also other learning that I experienced is that I will not succeed by trying to play other people’s games. Know what my strengths are and the intersection of my strengths and interests. Then double down on that intersection and make sure that whatever position I hold is aligned with those strengths and interests.

I should demonstrate that I completely own this. My Company need role players and not smarty-pants