As Leo Bottary’s podcast (and upcoming book) declares, “Who you surround yourself with matters!”
Unfortunately, too many people mistakingly feel they can only learn from people as smart, or smarter than them. “Why would I want to hear anything from that guy?” may be an unspoken refrain. Or not. Sometimes people say it. Most often they’re referring to somebody who they feel is inferior to their lot in life. For instance, the CEO of a $2B company thinks the CEO of a $200M startup has nothing to offer her. The business owner with a Harvard MBA thinks the college dropout business owner can’t possibly teach them anything. That’s how people get stuck and stay stuck. They think they have to be the smartest person in every situation. And they feel they have to constantly be on the prowl for people who may (operative word here MAY) be smarter than them. Over time, their arrogance drives them to feel like they’re unicorn hunting because…well, nobody is smarter than them. And searching for such people can be exhausting when you’re so brilliant. 
Missing The Point
For starters, finding people as smart or smarter than you isn’t that hard. Seeing them, though, can be almost impossible when you’re not looking. Or seeing clearly. 
Your smartness does have a big part to play in all this. Let’s not discount your brilliance. It has served you well (let’s hope), and it can continue to serve you well. Just not in the ways you may think. At least, not exactly. 
Smart people – people like you – are able to distill information and gain from it what you will. That is, you can read things, hear things, see things and figure out some things based on all that input. That’s why you may read. And look at financials. Or listen to podcasts. And talk with your direct reports. You connect dots after you feel like you’re seeing the problem and the potential solutions. That’s where your smartness comes into play. 
Your smartness does NOT come into play when you isolate yourself, refusing to listen to people you deem as intellectually inferior. It’s not about that. It’s about have people in your life willing to not be fooled by your bravado, or intimidated by your credentials or success — people who are willing to serve you by sharing their experiences, which are bound to be very different from yours.
Have you ever had a conversation with a child? Or a person of the opposite sex? Or somebody younger? Or somebody older? Or somebody who has never lived where you do? 
Why did you do that? Those people can’t possibly teach you anything. They don’t share enough in common with you, right? And we’re not even talking about how smart they are compared to you. 
How smart are you? Well, I know you’re smart enough to hear the snarkiness and understand the point. People who are very different have quite a lot to offer us if we’ll just stop long enough to give them some respect, and to listen. 
My wife doesn’t have the business experience I do. She’s never run a company with employees or millions in sales and budgets. Like I have. But she doesn’t have the head trash that goes along with my years of experience either. Or the tendency to overthink things. So she sees some things quite obviously and clearly that I may not see at all because I’m just not looking at it correctly. Her perspective has value. It has value because it’s so different from my own! 
Different Points of View, Different Experiences
You see, finding people who can help you grow, improve and transform isn’t about finding people smarter than you. Some of us don’t find that quite as challenging as others.