If you’re the most interesting person in the room… [Wise Wednesdays | Anyday]

If you’re the most interesting person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

That’s what my coach would say back in the day.

And it occurred to me that this could apply to any quality:

If you’re the most caring person in the room…

If you’re the most self-aware…

You’re in the wrong room.

Why?

Because you also need care. And you also need to expand your awareness. Etc.

It’s like why hairdressers don’t do their own hair: they can’t see the back of their head.

In other words, you can’t see your own blindspots. You need a mirror, in the form of a person, to point to something you can’t see.

Without that mirror, it’s easy to drift toward echo chambers and extremes, mistaking comfort for clarity - even when that comfort comes from being the rebel outlier rather than the norm.

So what kind of rooms are you spending your time in?

If you want liberation and flourishing, avoid rooms that live in extremes. Whether it’s rooms where everyone agrees or where everyone disagrees. And in leadership, being in rooms where no one agree with you is lethal to your vision, but so are rooms where everyone does.

Why?

Because extremes, by their nature, are less likely to yield to wisdom, spark new insights, or move in new directions. Life flourishes through diversity, cross-pollination, and recursive refinement — all harder to find in extremes.

So while it may be more comfortable to live in the land of agreement, or to be the ‘one clear voice’ as a rebel in the land of disagreement, I would say it’s wiser to walk the middle way: you’re in fertile conversations but not carrying the weight of saving humanity or delivering the next corporate miracle alone.

Diversify, cross-pollinate, and refine in dialogue with the rich variety of life - not as an isolated hero nor as a choiceless martyr.

Have a great week,

Amina