You’ve probably heard a leader around you recently tell you that they aren’t the smartest person in the room. It’s a very fashionable thing to say nowadays but what does it mean?

It’s management-speak for conveying humility and empowerment. You are humble because you are admitting that you don’t have all of the answers. You are empowering because you are implying that as a leader you are able to find and listen to the smart ones on the team.

These are both good things. I’ve used the phrase myself from time to time. For some reason, I’ve recently altered my thinking about it, and I thought I’d use this article to delve into it a bit.

Feeling smart

Growing up, I never felt very smart. In grade school and middle school, I was a mediocre student. My family is made up of a bunch of really smart people. While no one made me feel inadequate, I made my own evaluation by looking around the Thanksgiving table and concluded that I have average intelligence at best.

To this day, people tell me that I am smart, but when I hear it, I have a hard time accepting it. Somehow, it’s still not part of my self-concept.

Being smart

Early in my career, I advanced by being the smartest person in the room. Others saw me as the best expert around and a go-to problem-solver. That earned me a series of promotions until I eventually became a senior engineer.

That journey ended when I became co-workers with one of the smartest engineers I’ve ever met in my 20-year career. I’ll call him out just for fun. Jarrod Swetland can run circles around me on just about any subject. His technical depth and breadth are off the charts.

I’ll credit Jarrod with my choice to move into technology leadership. Don’t get me wrong. He never talked to me about this. His very existence convinced me of this. Just knowing that there are people like Jarrod out there made me realize that I didn’t have what it takes to become a world-class super-smart engineer.

Choose your room

I’ve come to believe that being the smartest person in the room has very little to do with how smart you are, and has everything to do with what room you walk into.

When I am with my own team, I am not the smartest engineer in the room. I hire smart people and listen to them.

When I am in a room full of business people, I’m the smartest technologist in the room, and they count on me to provide insight on technology trends that are relevant to their business.

When I am speaking in front of a group of peers at an industry event, I’m not the smartest engineer in the room, but I am the expert speaker on technology leadership thought. That’s why they gave me the microphone.

Many years ago, when I was the smartest person in the room at my company as a Citrix engineer, I went to conferences and meetups around the country where I was definitely not the smartest, but I got smarter by being there.

When I’m at my neighbor’s house, I’m the smartest PC repair technician he’s ever met. When that same neighbor is with me in my garage, he’s the smartest small-engine technician I’ve ever met. Neither of us has done those things professionally for 20 years.

In conclusion

Sometimes, as a leader, it’s best not to be the smartest person in the room. That way, you can listen and empower your team. Other times, being a leader means putting yourself in different kinds of rooms filled with a diversity of skill sets.

Being a leader in that circumstance means that you should be the smartest person in the room representing your area of expertise. That’s why you are there. Sure, you know many people who are smarter than you are, but they aren’t in the room. You are. Be smart. The room needs you to be.