To succeed in corporate America a person must continually take more and more work.  To do this, it requires the ability to scale.  However, many very smart people do not scale because they feel the need to show their brilliance on all tasks assigned to them, and they eventually run out of hours in a day to get all the work done. It is almost an arrogance which inhibits them from delegating (speaking from my personal experiences).

The average person career is able to rise above the brilliant person’s when they are able scale more effectively.  To scale effectively it requires the ability to delegate.  If one of your direct reports is able to perform a job that you are performing at the same quality, then you are “paying” too much to get that task done (assuming you make more than your direct).  Instead, it should be delegated.  With that extra time, you should be able to perform the more important tasks to a higher quality, or else take one of your boss’ tasks.

As a person moves through their career it becomes less about how brilliant you can make a presentation, but rather about the people under you who will determine how far your career goes.