Surround yourself with people smarter than you.
And more talented than you.
Follow the best people on Twitter – people who say interesting things…
…people who do interesting things.
People who think differently than you do.
Link to the sites they link to.
Pay attention to what they are working on.
Tell them that you admire them.
Share things with them.
Actor and Director Harold Ramis (Egon in Ghostbusters) said,
“Find the most talented person in the room, and if it’s not you, go stand next to him.”
And as Austin Kleon points out –
If you believe that you are the most talented person in the room, it’s time to find another room.
Denis Brosnan talks about some tools you can use to propel your career in his talk entitled, “Models, Membership and Mentors“.
If you can first recognize your own strengths, and then surround yourself with smart and talented people, you can accomplish much much more as a team than you ever could on your own. Whenever I’ve worked with people more talented than myself, I’ve tried to use my skills to make the fruits of their labor more accessible. What value can you add?