Comments on: You’re Not Smart Enough

By: Starting a Startup at Elliot Lee

Starting a Startup at Elliot Lee — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:27:24 +0000

[...] previously posted about what Paul Graham says, and it’s pretty inspirational. Finally, some links on avoiding mistakes and lots of [...]

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:13:51 +0000

Here’s a tangent thought regarding knowing yourself.

Leaders who can be trusted know both their strengths and weaknesses, according to Cloud*. So during interviews, he asks a candidates to share theirs.

*Dr. Henry Cloud, PhD. - a nationally syndicated radio host and clinical psychologist.

“You’re looking at somebody’s self-awareness, how involved they’ve been with personal growth and development.” “You are also able to feel out what their humility is, and defensiveness and narcissism.”

Cloud remembers a time when he asked a candidate about his weaknesses.

“The candidate looked at me, ‘What are you talking about?’ It’s like he had never even thought about it,” Cloud said.

Finally, the candidate came up with a weakness, which, Cloud said, was really a strength he tried to disguise as a weakness. His “weakness” was that he achieved much that other people couldn’t keep up with him.

Cloud went on record as voting no for the man, who was still chosen as president. In a couple of years, “he had an absolute train wreck,” Cloud said, adding that it’s an organization’s “biggest nightmare” to have employees who don’t know their weaknesses.

But Cloud remembers another time when a candidate was very open He willingly revealed that he had little hands-on experience fundraising - that he didn’t even like to fundraise, Cloud said. This was no small admission since fundraising is an important part of most president’s roles.

“You got a great feeling of the guy’s trustworthiness and what he’d be like when there are other forks in the road,” Cloud said. The man - who was strong in casting a vision and creating an organizational culture - was still hired, and he built a team of people who could raise money. Knowing his weakness let him work around it.

By: Ryan Rampersad

Ryan Rampersad — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:23:01 +0000

“And in my math and computer science classes, I begin to take things for granted. I should keep on my toes, instead of thinking that I know everything.”
Same here.

“Iâ€™ve been deeply humbled many, many times, and Iâ€™m sure thatâ€™ll just happen more often in the future (at least if I hang around with the right people). Quite simply, there are a lot of people out there who are smarter than I am. But that doesnâ€™t discourage me one bit. I know I can still do something amazing, which is why I never complain about not being smart enough.”
I agree.

(You’re pretty smart, if I may add.)

Have a good one.