When you think of a scientific genius, you tend to imagine an eccentric recluse, with poor communication skills hopelessly lost in jargon, toiling away alone in a lightless cell of their own choosing. Forever cursed to have no intellectual equal, living a lonely existance in search of his point of focus. You couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The fact is, true geniuses tend to congregate, collaborate and intertwine. Newton stated that if he had achieved anything, he had done so “standing on the shoulders of giants”. The great Einstein worked closely with physicist Max Planck and calculus whiz-kids David Hilbert and Tullio Levi-Civita when developing his theory of general relativity. Darwin read Lyell during his Galapagos journey.
The truth is, great minds are drawn to each other and use each other as resources.
The same should hold true for you.
If you find yourself to be outstanding in your chosen pursuit, sometimes you’re tempted to let ego come into play and cause you to see contemporaries as competitors. Take a lesson from the real geniuses and feed off the talents of others. Surround yourself with talented and knowledgeable people. Seek to convince others to work in tandem, not in opposition. Think of all the things you can learn from each other. What you can accomplish together.
Don’t worry about your reputation being lessened because you were helped. People pay attention to winners and achievers – it doesn’t matter if you had help or not. Share the load and get to the goal more quickly. Teamwork and leadership are skills that will be applauded your whole life.
Mind the company you keep.
