By Matshona Dhliwayo
- Brainy people are intelligent, but not always wise. Wisdom, not intelligence, is what truly distinguishes you in life. Intelligence only takes you to the mountaintop, but wisdom takes you to the stars. This is why professors are only honored for a year or two after they die, but sages are honored for centuries.
- Creativity is more important than intelligence to many employers. The ability to provide customers new products and services is what sets companies apart. If a ‘C’ student provides creative solutions and an ‘A’ student does not, it is highly likely that the ‘C’ student will earn the promotion.
- Brainy people sometimes lack perseverance. They are used to easily getting A’s; they have never truly struggled, and so lack the inner strength to get to the mountaintop. In life, those with heart certainly outdo those with ‘smart’.
- Low E.Q (Emotional Quotient). Reading books will get you to the door; reading people will get you inside. I.Q gets you the job; E.Q gets you the promotion.
- They lack intellectual humility. ‘Knowledge puffs up’ an ancient Jewish Theologian observed. Because acquiring knowledge comes easily to brainy people they may be tempted more than the rest with intellectual snobbery, which always hinders growth, as arrogance is the chief enemy of learning.
- Not fun to be around. Brainy people are not always fun to be around, but successful people are almost always likeable people. Whether people or ideas, people almost always buy products or ideas from people they like. So, if one can only relate to equations or ideas, and not people, it limits one’s potential to rise to the top greatly.
- They have fewer connections. As the old saying goes, ‘The squeakiest wheel gets the grease’; but if one is introverted, no matter how intelligent or well meaning they are, someone of lesser intellect and suspect intentions will rise above him. It’s not only what you know, but who; introverts tend to know fewer people and therefore, have fewer connections, limiting their networking opportunities.
- They don’t experience life. We don’t always learn the best lessons from books but from life. Lessons other students learn outside the classroom, brainy students miss out on. But life is the world’s greatest university, and experience is the world’s greatest professor. If you miss out on her lectures, you will miss out on her invaluable wisdom.
