In 1 Sentence, Taylor Swift Gave Some of the Best Success Advice You’ll Ever Hear

What’s the single best thing you can do as an entrepreneur or business leader to ensure the success of your company, your new project, or your team? Make sure to work with people who are smarter than you are. Taylor Swift once gave that simple but powerful advice to Selena Gomez, the entrepreneur and actor known for her appearance in the series Only Murders in the Building. She’s also the founder of Rare Beauty, a hugely successful makeup company that donates 1 percent of sales to support mental health initiatives for young people.

“One thing that stuck out to me, and I’ll always remember it, she said, ‘If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room,’” Gomez recalled during an onstage interview at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. “That’s why I surround myself with really incredible people. There’s no dumb questions.”

Many brilliant entrepreneurs, including Warren Buffett, have given similar advice. And, as an entrepreneur, Swift’s is well worth listening to. In addition to being a pop icon, and Time person of the year in 2023, she also brings her considerable creativity and smarts to how she runs her business as a star performer. She orchestrated special-event cinematic releases–and even a book–in conjunction with her Eras tour and album releases. When she lost control of the master recordings of her first six albums, she re-recorded all of them, inviting fans to choose her new “Taylor’s version” of the music over the originals. Most did.

Thanks to all these smart moves, and an incredible amount of hard work, Swift became the first musician to become a billionaire on the strength of their music and performances alone, rather than through some combination of music and other money-making activities, such as Jay-Z’s liquor brands.

Taylor Swift seeks out people who are smarter than she is.

Whether or not you’re a fan of her music, it’s clear that Swift is very, very smart. So I find it revealing that one of her priorities is to find and learn from people who are even smarter than she is. It’s a fantastic way for someone with one set of skills, such as a musician and songwriter, to acquire other skills, such as how to successfully publish a book, launch a movie, or reward her employees. It’s true for every entrepreneur: The more you learn, the better off you are, and both you and your business are likelier to thrive if you keep on learning throughout your life.

That’s what makes Swift’s advice to Gomez so useful to keep in mind. Next time you find yourself in a room where you seem to be the smartest person, ask yourself if there’s someplace else you should be.

There’s a growing audience of Inc.com readers who receive a daily text from me with a self-care or motivational micro-challenge or tip. Often, they text me back and we wind up in a conversation. (Want to know more? Here’s some information about the texts and a special invitation to a two-month free trial.) Many of my subscribers are entrepreneurs or business leaders. They know how important it is to always keep learning throughout their careers. Surrounding yourself with incredible people is a great start.