the smartest guy in the room*

I negotiate contracts.
I also try to negotiate my way around obstacles every single day.
Some would call it everyday life.

Each day I negotiate I learn something. Maybe I learn something about myself, or maybe something about the other side, what they’re seeking.

And since each negotiation brings me something new I can learn I really can’t advertise myself as an expert, not anymore.

There was a time when that’s what I wanted to be – an expert. The go-to-guy. And to be that, I had to be the smartest person in the room. The hard part of being that smart is that I had to constantly get ahead of everyone else so that I could then be the smartest person. I ended up in a lot of arguments too.

Truth is, I found out I really don’t need to be the “expert” anymore. I learned a secret
Here’s the secret: All I need is to know where the answers are.

I’ve worked in position where I negotiated some large contracts for my employer. I’ve also supervised staff who negotiated several other contracts. In every instance I received a request from my boss: for information, for advice, for ..anything, I again and again discover that secret I shared above.

You see, the employer hired me for a reason. Not my good looks tho I think it helped. Actually, my on the job success rose whenever I was able to successfully respond to never ending requests! Whenever they wanted an answer about something: they would ask and I either gave an answer based on my experience OR I would seek out an answer elsewhere and then deliver it. That was the key! I became the “go-to-guy” without having to be the smartest guy in the room!

I no longer had to store vast quantities of knowledge in my soon to explode brain! Such a giant relief!

I didn’t have to worry about being smarter than everyone else. I could relax. Be my real self and enjoy the moments. Plus I discovered something else about me. I had wanted to be the smartest guy in the room thinking everyone else would come to me – provided of course that I remained the smartest guy in the room. But in reality, the boss, the guy in charge, those guys didn’t have to be the smartest guys. No they would hire (and fire) the smartest guys. The smartest guys ended up being the experts (for a while) for someone else who really pulled the strings.

So I no longer want, or need to be the smartest guy in the room.
It’s easy…now. easy like sunday morning.
I want to pull some strings..

JT
check the video link below

ciao

%d bloggers like this: