This feels like a screamingly obvious observation that’s been beaten to death, but based on a conversation I had this week with a leader who actually told someone that ‘he didn’t pay them to think,’ it’s one that’s worth repeating. One of the biggest derailers that I see continuously with super smart people is that they devalue soft skills at their peril. It’s not their fault. The school system rewards academics and barely acknowledges soft skills. And yet, time after time after time in our coaching practices at the Roundtable, what do we see? Smart leaders who have crappy social and emotional intelligence whose careers are flat-lining because they can’t get along with other people. They will complain that others are overly sensitive or just aren’t smart enough, but here’s the thing: when you’re really, really, really smart, you’re the one who’s the oddball. The rest of us are ‘normal.’ So guess what? It’s going to be up to you to flex because normal is the majority and the majority always wins.
#leadershiptruth
