I wish I had learned that lesson earlier. I was such a snob.

 

That guy in the overalls. He’s a genius. That woman with the missing teeth?  Her too.  Every single one of us has genius, but sometimes it takes genius to recognize it.  

 

Back when I was an English teacher, many lifetimes ago, I only saw one kind of intelligence. It came from studying the great books, reflecting on ideas, articulating thoughts artfully. I didn’t respect the electrician who could fix my broken lamp or the janitor who could make a worn out floor shine like new. It was my loss.  

 

Being an entrepreneur has fixed that problem. Now that I've had to fix a lamp and scrub a floor, I’m better able to value skills outside of my expertise. I respect the artists, plumbers, gardeners, analysts and others I’ve depended on to help me make my investments work.

 

If I could go back to that freshman Rhetoric class I taught at the University of Central Missouri, I would embrace the different mindsets of the students whose learning style was so different from mine. And I’d be better able to help them and to benefit from the gifts they did offer.

 

Robert Kiyosaki, famed author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and one of the influencers in my life, describes genius as the “genie-in-Us.  We all have it. I celebrate mine and invite you to celebrate yours.