Have you ever heard the saying “If you’re smarter than everyone in the room, you’re in the wrong room”? It’s one of my favorites because it reminds me that I need to be around people who can teach me.

I’ve known a few people in my life who think they have nothing left to learn. I can’t imagine any time at which that would be true. It just isn’t. There is ALWAYS something you can learn. Even if you’re an expert, there will be something that changes or something that you didn’t completely understand at some point. And you should learn it.

Learning isn’t always about opening a book and studying or sitting for an exam or taking a class, it is watching how other people do things–including how they do the same tasks that you do but they do it differently. It is talking to people in your chosen career field about how they got there, what keeps them there, and what they’ve gotten out of it. It is reading what comes in and goes out of your company. It is keeping an open mind and really listening to people exchange ideas. You may not always agree with them, but you can usually get information you didn’t have before or learn something you didn’t know before.

In my professional association, I often hear people say they aren’t going to attend a certain educational session because it doesn’t pertain to the work they are doing   The problem with that kind of thinking is that you may not always have the same job you have now or you may not continue to do the same tasks in the job you’re doing now. In addition, you never know what tidbit you will pick up from a “totally unrelated” topic that will help you in your work now or a contact that you make or material you get that will help you with some task at your current job.

So hang out with people smarter than you. Regardless of what you think, I’m pretty sure that list is long. You don’t know them all yet, but they’re out there. Don’t ever think you’re the smartest person in the room and don’t ever discount learning. It is invaluable to your skill in your chosen profession and to your standing as an intelligent human being. You never know it all, so make a plan to learn — constantly!