Consistency and Commitment Beat Brilliance and Talent
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Loading...When I was growing up in Detroit, I went to school with kids whose parents were the Chief Executive Officers of major auto companies and were in other high level roles. Sometimes I would turn on the television and see the same men I’d eaten dinner with at a friend’s house on the nightly news giving a press conference in Washington, or speaking about an issue of national importance. Another friend’s father was the CEO of a major national bank and, by the time I was 13 or 14, I was smart enough to realize I could learn a lot from these men. I figured they must all be enormously gifted intellectually and have other skills I could learn.
In my spare time, I read books such as Iacocca, about Lee Iacocca, and when the Publisher’s Clearing House mail came to my mother’s house, I ordered Forbes, Business Week and a ton of other business magazines so I could impress these nationally important men and talk to them about their careers and what they did. After reading a book about Lee Iacocca, and having spent months reading business magazines, I had the opportunity to speak with my friend’s father. He used to work for President Ford writing speeches and he now worked directly for Henry Ford writing his speeches. Because I had read so much, I realized after about an hour, I knew much more than even he did about various aspects of his business.
When I was 13 or 14, I dominated dinnertime conversations at my friends’ homes spinning off facts and figures and entertaining major figures in various auto companies. The more I talked about business with these men, the less I realized they knew. I couldn’t believe men who might have gotten MBAs from Harvard Business School knew so little. I figured that, based on their lack of knowledge about arcane business facts, none of them must be all that intelligent.
Most of these men were from all over the country and had joined, right out of school, automobile companies, banks and the other institutions they would one day lead. In at least one incident, one man worked on an automotive manufacturing line in a factory during college. In another case, my friend’s father went to a school called General Motors Institute (no longer in existence) which was a college run by General Motors.
Every day, these men got up early and drove into Detroit. They came home late each evening. Once a year, they took vacations for a couple of weeks, usually skiing in Colorado or at a ski resort in Michigan. At the same time, most had wives who never worked and stayed at home raising the children and providing their husbands with the sort of environment that would enable them to succeed. By the time I met many of these titans of business and industry, they had been getting up at the same time to go to work and living the life they lived for over 30 years–more than twice as long as I’d even been on earth.
And there I was sitting at their dining room tables uncovering how much information they didn’t know and believing they were stupid.
The more I realized these men didn’t know about business facts, the more I read. One thing I quickly realized was none of these men were angry, and all of them seemed to enjoy learning what they didn’t know from a child. In addition, there was a very gentle way about them because, despite the fact I must have looked like an idiot spewing forth various facts and figures, they never sought to correct me. They were always diplomatic in all respects.
Just because I was aware of more facts and figures, it certainly did not mean I was more talented than these men. On the contrary, they were actually busy leading their lives and careers while I stood on the sidelines simply reading about it.
Now some 20+ years later, I can reflect on what was going on:
- I’ve never been on the evening news giving my opinions before the United States Congress.
- I don’t sit in the office of the President of the United States and give him advice about what to talk about in speeches or write speeches for him.
- My actions and opinions are not mentioned weekly in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Now, I look at these men with profound respect because the lesson their careers hold is something I’ve learned from, and you can too: Work ethic and consistency trump brilliance and talent.
There are many people with a lot of talent, or who know a lot. These talented people may know more than the next person. They may be better socially. They may have a better idea of what needs to be done. They may have better educations. They may be better sales people. They may be more connected.
But when it comes right down to it, none of this really matters if the talented person can’t simply “show up” and do the same thing over and over. The people who win and become the most successful are the ones who put in a massive effort over the long run. Nothing is more effective than being consistent. The Grand Canyon could never have been built by one giant flood. Instead, it was built over millions of years by a consistent flow of water that applied a small amount of pressure and erosion over time. So, too, it is with your career. If you are consistent, you will achieve a lot more over time.
Talent and brilliance have sex appeal. Talent is something that blows us away.
Several years ago, I was sitting in my mother’s living room in Detroit, and in the other room was a man who was providing one of the most brilliant analyses of the meaning of the world I ever heard. The more this man’s mind worked through an idea, the more brilliant I realized he was. At the time, I was 27 and had been through college and law school. In addition to practicing law, I was also teaching in a law school. I’d heard a lot of very brilliant men speak in my career, but the person I was listening to was incredible.
As I listened to this man speak, I was firmly convinced he was the most brilliant man I’d ever heard. After he left, I found out he had an extraordinary IQ and had received a PhD from Princeton. However, he’d never applied his skills. Instead, he was living in a small $350 a month apartment and had lived there for years. He didn’t use his brilliance in his job and, instead, his talent went to waste because it wasn’t being consistently applied. He’d worked multiple jobs in his career. What if this man had decided to spend his career writing? What if this man decided to spend his career teaching? He did none of those things and, despite incredible talent, nothing ever happened. We need to apply our talents.
Talent is fickle. Sometimes talent shows up, and other times it doesn’t. In contrast, being consistent requires a high level of tenacity. You need to keep plowing through. You can’t give up. Anyone can be a better performer in one thing or another for a short time. What really takes skill is to consistently perform over time. This is what my friends’ fathers were all doing. Imagine 30+ years of doing the same thing and climbing within the same organization. This consistent effort is what creates the best results and enables people to win over time. Only certain people are born with brilliance and incredible talent, but anyone can work hard.
When we are consistent, we make small bits of progress on a daily basis. Making small daily bits of progress are what transform careers and lives. Anything you focus on consistently will make you better. Many people lack the ability to consistently focus over time, and instead believe one small flash of brilliance or talent will make a difference. This is almost never the case. Consistency and work ethic always trump brilliance and talent.
THE LESSON
Consistency and commitment trump brilliance and talent. The most successful people are those who put massive long-term effort into their careers. Only certain people are born with innate talent or brilliance, but consistent effort lies within the reach of anyone and is ultimately a much greater factor in success. Anything to which you apply consistent focus will show progress.
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is the Founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter himself. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in a search and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company LawCrossing has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive that gets results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities that its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.
Filed Under : Featured, Getting Ahead, How to Succeed, Life Lessons
Tagged: brilliance, brilliance and talent, career advice | a harrison barnes, careers, CEO, chief executive officers, commitment, consistency, Detroit, facts and figures, focus on consistently, job seach blog, law school, multiple jobs, talent, writing
After reading this article I think of my co workers. Some of them are super smart but they’re doing a job that they hate instead of going after their dreams.
Great piece! This was very encouraging and rings quite true. Good work.
Mr. Barnes,
One of the things you are contrasting here, is the difference between book learning, and actual experience. The teen age brain feels equal to adults, but fails to recognize the importance of experience. This is why teens often fail to listen to the wisdom of parents. This is why kids think adults are dumb. While we would like to think this goes away, it is still present, in the 30-45 year old group that wants to get rid of the nearly retired senior citizens still in the work force. Your adult mentors were wise enough to realize that you can learn from a variety of experiences and from people of all ages, educational backgrounds, and abilities. The most intelligent people don’t have to prove their intelligence. They just have to apply it.
Your main point “Consistency and work ethic always trump brilliance and talent.” is well taken, but, I wouldn’t say it holds true under every circumstance. If you can be consistent, dependable, and you have good work ethics, most people will value you, but, there are tasks that require talent, and brilliance too – among them acting, singing, and artists. Not every career has to be headed for the boardroom to be successful.
The fact that your brilliant friend didn’t embrace the values you feel demonstrate success, is not to say he hasn’t been successful. If he is happy, and his existance contributes positively to the world. I hold he is successful. If he touches another person and improves their day. He is successful. If he shares an idea that contributes to the quality of life. His life has value.
Do you feel frustrated that everyone isn’t running at full-throttle and burning up everything they have to attain a corner office and a title? Having a high IQ doesn’t mean you enjoy a specific type of work that your brain can handle, but your preferences find too confining, or too routine. Sometimes, it isn’t the task, but the environment that feels too hostile. We have to be careful not to be too quick in judging others.
I believe the more intelligent and wise a person is, the humbler they become as they realize that with those abilities comes the responsibility to apply them.
Some of the most talented musicians never make it; they never even try. In my experience, it’s not the most talented musicians that make it in the industry. It’s the ones who are consistent and work their butts off.
This website is giving the people advice. A website is advice is law related jobs. He walks his talk and has promoted many job search sites which are very effective and have gained leading position all over the world.
Harrison believes that the best stories typically revolve around the employee being very motivated to do a good job and continually wanting to improve in his or her employment. A Harrison Barnes Employment Crossing believes that the best stories typically revolve around the employee being very motivated to do a good job and continually wanting to improve in his or her employment.
After going through this post I got a wonderful feeling about life. This website show a path to every job seeker.
I enjoyed your article and want to make one correction. General Motors Institute evolved into Kettering University and still uses the GMI co-op model even today. Kettering has about 2,000 undergraduates, each one spending half an academic year in classrooms and labs and half a year working in co-op jobs for the country’s best companies. Our largest co-op employer is still GM. Visit our website at http://www.kettering.edu
I would like to offer one correction to your essay – General Motors Institute DOES still exist. It is now called Kettering University and is one of the leading STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Business) university’s in the country. Many of those captains of industry from the Detroit area you wrote of graduated from then GMI. Now our graduates work in myriad fields, including automotive engineering, and have started many of the country’s most successful companies such as Biomet (designing and making artificial joints) and Benchmark Capital (a venture capital firm). You can learn more about Kettering University on our web site at http://www.kettering.edu.
I sure hope your right! I am definitely one of those super bright gifted students. Maybe it is my work ethic, maybe my parents didn’t mentally stimulate me enough as a child. So it appears consistency is my best option.
Great story and message. A massive effort is right. In sports, there is this 10,000 hours to become an expert. That is roughly 5 years in the working world. 30 working years is roughly 60,000 hours! Maybe that suggests we should all just be pro athletes since it is 1/6th as much work (ha!), but the message is the same. Consistency is king.
Some of the most talented musicians never make it; they never even try. In my experience, it’s not the most talented musicians that make it in the industry. It’s the ones who are consistent and work their butts off. And keep at it.