source:entrepreneur
Smarts are ridiculously important and I’ll tell you why. Smart people make smart decisions and that’s the most important factor in how things turn out for you. Since we don’t have smart meters built into our foreheads, here’s how to tell if someone’s smart, starting with the obvious:
They make smart decisions.
Smart people know their actions have consequences. They also know that they have to earn business results one decision at a time. In other words, a few smart calls won’t make you omnipotent. Consistently making good decisions takes discipline and focus.
They learn from their mistakes.
From our first steps to our last, we learn everything in life by trial and error. We all make mistakes because that’s how we learn. Smart people learn from theirs. After all, if you don’t face reality and judge yourself honestly, you’ll never do better next time.
They don’t have all the answers.
There’s an old saying, “Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.” It’s a funny line but if you say it in earnest, that’s pretty annoying. Smart people don’t need to constantly reinforce the fact by acting like know-it-alls. They’re smart enough to know how much they don’t know.
They surround themselves with smart people.
No man is an island. Individuals may be smart but small teams do the best work. Steve Jobs may have been a control freak, but he made sure the eight or nine people on his leadership team were the most talented he could find and taught them to do the same with their teams. That’s smart.
They are resourceful.
Since human intelligence is an evolutionary advantage — we didn’t evolve an enormous neocortex for no reason – intelligent people are generally more adaptable and creative in the way they make use of their surroundings to achieve results.
