http://elitedaily.com/news/world/students-run-world/
We’ll be the first to inform you, if you rely on intelligence alone, your luck will be extremely limited in your pursuit of success. A portion of the members of our team at Elite Daily were not at the top of their class. Despite this, we embody the phrase associated with our site—remaining “young, successful, and established.”
Thus, we are compelled to argue that it is always not those who possess the best grades who will attain a prosperous lifestyle. It is those who possess the ability to combine a cunning intelligence with business savvy attributes who will be the future leaders of tomorrow.There is myriad evidence in popular culture that corroborates our claim. Consider Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the myriad others who are extremely successful and never completed an undergraduate degree. Ponder the fact that Richard Branson ended his academic career at age 16 and is currently valued at an astounding $4.2 billion.
“School is a place where former A students teach mostly B students to work for C students.”This information, contradictory to the incessantly regurgitated story of those with the most academic prowess rising to the top, made us wonder how much one’s academic performance accurately predicts their future success. There appears to be no direct correlation between the two.This is not to say that your academic abilities are insignificant. We are more so taking a strike at our cookie-cutter academic system that aims to foster the same qualities amongst a wide set of students. Our educational system—particularly high school–does little to foster any skills other than simple rote memorization of generally useless facts.
The American academic system excels in the pursuit of broadening one’s knowledge base, but oftentimes fails to shape the minds of students and sufficiently prepare them to endure real world problems.That is to say, the average A student is well prepared to engage in academic discourse, but it is not guaranteed that he will be adequately prepared for challenges outside the classroom. If you glance at the state of our economy, it is evident that theory does not always translate into reality.Each rising generation faces the issue of whether to take the risk of following the time-tested route of “birth-to-college” or take the oftentimes riskier approach of forging their own path to success. Of course, the most beneficial method of action would be a blissful cohesion of these two roads. It is in fact these individuals who tend to run the world. Bill Gates indeed possessed overwhelming intelligence, performing extraordinarily well academically despite putting forth minimal effort.“A brilliant math student, Gates would blow off his classes to go to ones he hadn’t registered for. He would slack all semester, then cram at the last minute and ace the final.”However, although he was an A student, he did not allow himself to be limited to solely academic pursuits. Gates and one of his partners “agreed the microprocessor was going to change the world,” and mustered up their own version of BASIC, which they sold to Altair without having seen their device.Upon realizing Gates’ dorm room misdeeds, Harvard’s disciplinary board charged him for running a business out of his dorm room, spurring the young Gates “[turn] on, [boot] up and [drop] out.”
It is precisely this foresight that distinguished Gates from the thousands of other vastly intelligent Harvard students around him. He represents the type of forward thinking A students that head our nation’s Fortune 500 companies.What is important to note about Gates is that he defied the confining nature of our school system, which simply trains us to be future employees. The skills bestowed upon us provide little enlightenment in the areas of leadership and innovative thinking. The system does quite well, however, at churning out millions of blue-collar clad, cubicle tethered workers to take command from superiors. We wish to break free from this assimilation.Those who ultimately attain success are not only intelligent, but also critical thinkers in society. It takes a true genius to realize that it is not necessary that one become an expert in every field to flourish.
The greatest minds in business realize that it is simply impossible to possess a mastery of every craft. Thus, it is important to note one’s own weaknesses and seek out others who can compensate for these flaws with relevant strengths.If you are not backed by a wealth of talented individuals it will not only hinder the company’s growth and future innovation, but also further make it difficult to produce efficiently.
Guy Kawasaki concisely conveys this when he reveals, “In the Macintosh Division, we had a saying, “A player hire A players; B players hire C players” — meaning that great people hire great people. On the other hand, mediocre people hire candidates who are not as good as they are, so they can feel superior to them.”The overwhelming majority of the knowledge relevant for workplace success originates from experiences outside the confines of the classroom. It is important to maintain a synergistic relationship between real world experiences and furthering your education.
It is unfortunate that the American school structure can be reduced to a social caste system, labeling individuals as fit or unfit for success based purely on classroom performance rather than a more holistic approach.We encounter examples of C students that have achieved great success because one’s academic performance does not always correlate with one’s intellectual ability. The best student will have the entrepreneurial mindset in combination with the critical thinking and analytical skills a college education can provide. Those who only possess one of the two factors are much less likely to succeed.The successful C student is most likely a “last minute Larry”, possesses excellent communication skills, and is a leader with great charisma. These unmotivated potential A students succeed because while their peers were solely focused on their academics, they were simultaneously learning about the world around them.
It is important to distinguish the student who earns Cs because of untapped talent from individuals whose intellectual capabilities actually tops out at C level work. It is the former that is more likely to attain success, as a complete imbecile is unlikely to possess the knowledge necessary to succeed.While certain professions–such as law and medicine–require a wealth of academic knowledge, other fields provide flexibility for the power of the entrepreneurial spirit. One might need a 3.8 GPA from Wharton to become a successful financial analyst, but a savvy entrepreneur can make millions in the stock market based on his natural analytical skills. Just like with the C students, it is important to distinguish between A students as well. It is imperative to keep in mind that not all A students have attained their grades because of raw academic talent.A significant portion are simply “hard-working idiots”, or people who work relentlessly to feign high intelligence. It is those with high natural intelligence—even when it is not reflected in grades—that will become the leaders of tomorrow. If you can muster a straight-A performance without putting forth much effort, you’re in the best position out of anyone.
One must be capable of combining skills with powerful knowledge to ensure success. Remember, Elite; don’t be so hasty to judge your peers with lower grades—they might just be “lazy geniuses” with untapped potential.The problem is our current system tries to mold the members of our society into being employees for the rest of their lives. When you’re a child, your parents are the boss, and when you’re in school, the professors were considered to be the boss. Those who work extraordinarily hard to achieve the highest grades simply prove they excel at completing tasks; be your own boss and make something out of nothing.
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