The C Students Run The World

WORLD PRESTON WATERS APR 10, 2012 - 9:10AM

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Well be the first to inform you, if you rely on intelligence alone, your luck will be extremely limited in your pursuit
of success. A portion of the members of our team at Elite Daily were not at the top of their class. Despite this,
we embody the phrase associated with our siteremaining young, successful, and established.
Thus, we are compelled to argue that it is always not those who possess the best grades who will attain a
prosperous lifestyle. It is those who possess the ability to combine a cunning intelligence with business savvy
attributes who will be the future leaders of tomorrow.
There is myriad evidence in popular culture that corroborates our claim. Consider Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and
the myriad others who are extremely successful and never completed an undergraduate degree. Ponder the
fact that Richard Branson ended his academic career at age 16 and is currently valued at an astounding $4.2
billion.

School is a place where former A students teach mostly B students to work for C
students.

This information, contradictory to the incessantly regurgitated story of those with the most academic prowess
rising to the top, made us wonder how much ones academic performance accurately predicts their future
success. There appears to be no direct correlation between the two.
This is not to say that your academic abilities are insignificant. We are more so taking a strike at our cookiecutter academic system that aims to foster the same qualities amongst a wide set of students. Our educational
systemparticularly high schooldoes little to foster any skills other than simple rote memorization of generally
useless facts. The American academic system excels in the pursuit of broadening ones knowledge base, but
oftentimes fails to shape the minds of students and sufficiently prepare them to endure real world problems.
That is to say, the average A student is well prepared to engage in academic discourse, but it is not
guaranteed that he will be adequately prepared for challenges outside the classroom. If you glance at the state
of our economy, it is evident that theory does not always translate into reality.
Each rising generation faces the issue of whether to take the risk of following the time-tested route of birth-tocollege or take the oftentimes riskier approach of forging their own path to success. Of course, the most
beneficial method of action would be a blissful cohesion of these two roads. It is in fact these individuals who
tend to run the world. Bill Gates indeed possessed overwhelming intelligence, performing extraordinarily well
academically despite putting forth minimal effort.

A brilliant math student, Gates would blow off his classes to go to ones he hadnt
registered for. He would slack all semester, then cram at the last minute and ace
the final.

However, although he was an A student, he did not allow himself to be limited to solely academic pursuits.
Gates and one of his partners agreed the microprocessor was going to change the world, and mustered up
their own version of BASIC, which they sold to Altair without having seen their device.
Upon realizing Gates dorm room misdeeds, Harvards disciplinary board charged him for running a business
out of his dorm room, spurring the young Gates [turn] on, [boot] up and [drop] out. It is precisely this foresight
that distinguished Gates from the thousands of other vastly intelligent Harvard students around him. He
represents the type of forward thinking A students that head our nations Fortune 500 companies.
What is important to note about Gates is that he defied the confining nature of our school system, which simply
trains us to be future employees. The skills bestowed upon us provide little enlightenment in the areas of
leadership and innovative thinking. The system does quite well, however, at churning out millions of blue-collar
clad, cubicle tethered workers to take command from superiors. We wish to break free from this assimilation.
Those who ultimately attain success are not only intelligent, but also critical thinkers in society. It takes a true
genius to realize that it is not necessary that one become an expert in every field to flourish. The greatest
minds in business realize that it is simply impossible to possess a mastery of every craft. Thus, it is important to
note ones own weaknesses and seek out others who can compensate for these flaws with relevant strengths.
If you are not backed by a wealth of talented individuals it will not only hinder the companys growth and future
innovation, but also further make it difficult to produce efficiently. Guy Kawasaki concisely conveys this when he
reveals, In the Macintosh Division, we had a saying, A player hire A players; B players hire C players
meaning that great people hire great people. On the other hand, mediocre people hire candidates who are not
as good as they are, so they can feel superior to them.
The overwhelming majority of the knowledge relevant for workplace success originates from experiences
outside the confines of the classroom. It is important to maintain a synergistic relationship between real world
experiences and furthering your education. It is unfortunate that the American school structure can be reduced
to a social caste system, labeling individuals as fit or unfit for success based purely on classroom performance
rather than a more holistic approach.
We encounter examples of C students that have achieved great success because ones academic performance
does not always correlate with ones intellectual ability. The best student will have the entrepreneurial mindset
in combination with the critical thinking and analytical skills a college education can provide. Those who only
possess one of the two factors are much less likely to succeed.

The successful C student is most likely a last minute Larry, possesses excellent communication skills, and is a
leader with great charisma. These unmotivated potential A students succeed because while their peers were
solely focused on their academics, they were simultaneously learning about the world around them.
It is important to distinguish the student who earns Cs because of untapped talent from individuals whose
intellectual capabilities actually tops out at C level work. It is the former that is more likely to attain success, as a
complete imbecile is unlikely to possess the knowledge necessary to succeed.
While certain professionssuch as law and medicinerequire a wealth of academic knowledge, other fields
provide flexibility for the power of the entrepreneurial spirit. One might need a 3.8 GPA from Wharton to
become a successful financial analyst, but a savvy entrepreneur can make millions in the stock market based
on his natural analytical skills. Just like with the C students, it is important to distinguish between A students as
well. It is imperative to keep in mind that not all A students have attained their grades because of raw academic
talent.
A significant portion are simply hard-working idiots, or people who work relentlessly to feign high intelligence.
It is those with high natural intelligenceeven when it is not reflected in gradesthat will become the leaders of
tomorrow. If you can muster a straight-A performance without putting forth much effort, youre in the best
position out of anyone. One must be capable of combining skills with powerful knowledge to ensure success.
News Elite; dont be so hasty to judge your peers with lower gradesthey might just be lazy geniuses
Remember,

with untapped potential.

Life

The problem is our current system tries to mold the members of our society into being employees for the rest of
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their lives. When youre a child, your parents are the boss, and when youre in school, the professors were
considered to be the boss. Those who work extraordinarily hard to achieve the highest grades simply prove
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they excel at completing tasks; be your own boss and make something out of nothing.
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