<p>Often times Ive heard that saying/story where the C student will become the A student’s boss. Or something along the lines of that.
Do you guys find that true?
As an A student, I don’t think I work THAT hard, but my peers seem to think I do. I feel my success comes from the fact that I take education seriously and that I want to do better than most. If im going to do something why not do it well?
So if the C kid in my class was to become my boss Id feel disappointed.
What about you guys?</p>
<p>The stereotype exists because school and entrepreneurship/management select for different traits. </p>
<p>-School selects for work ethic, technical skills, attention to details, and obedience/conformity to an extent. </p>
<p>-Management selects for good leadership, out-of-the-box thinking, risk-taking, vision, people skills, and a different kind of willingness to push.</p>
<p>These are not static traits either. When you work as a technician, you become like a technician. When you get promoted to management, you adjust. </p>
<p>Take it from me - I used to work in biotech research as a chemist, and now I’m running my own business. Who I was then and who I am now are two different people. You think differently, you work differently, and you have a totally different effect on the people around you.</p>
<p>There are plenty of good students who become good leaders, but there’s no need to be successful in school to become the big man. You can’t call it unfair - because you have a choice in the role you want to play in life.</p>
<p>The real world is a reboot. the winner will be those who are motivated, courageous, strong, communicative, engaging and smart. (Not necessarily in that order) If you’re an A student and have all the qualities then you will do just fine. If you don’t it is likely that you will be leaped frogged by those who do, including those who were C students.</p>
<p>Good advice guys!</p>
<p>The difference between a C student and an A student is motivation, work ethic, and organization.</p>
<p>Being the boss is not necessarily good. The boss is defined by delegation of work, interesting and boring, to employees. The world needs people to delegate work and people to do the work, and the work is often more intellectually challenging and more interesting than the process of delegating it.</p>
<p>Maybe A students prefer to do their own work and C students prefer others to do their work for them, and that’s why A students end up working for C students.</p>
<p>Entrepreneurs. Can get people to take a chance on them. They have a certain charisma backed up by courage and the desire to take chances. This person could be an A student but not necessarily. Here’s a test. If you’re an A student who’s afraid to leave his dorm room and afraid to talk to different types of people then there’s a good chance that you will be working for the C student.</p>
<p>Sometimes the A student is an A student in academics, but is not so strong in real life applications, nor in the necessary real life social skills or leadership qualities. The person who was not such a strong academic student , for whatever reason–maybe lacking in memorization skills or test taking skills-- might have A level skills in real life applications of the principles learned in classes and be adept in social and leadership skills.</p>
<p>Some C students spend an equal or greater amount of time studying and doing homework and still end up with less to show for it. Some C students just don’t test well. Some C students aren’t ready for the difficulty of course work until they are older. Some C students grow up when they get to college. Some C students excel in extracurricular activities instead of academics. Some C students have learning disabilities but are excellent at management. </p>
<p>Stereotyping C students isn’t fair to them (and no, I’m not one). While some are lazy bums who could get As with minimal effort, that isn’t all of them. Some work hard enough and are talented enough to deserve success in the work world. Don’t be disappointed by others’ successes. Be proud of your own.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Out of the box thinking and risk taking will likely either result in quicker promotion or dismissal, depending on whether taking the risk is successful.</p>
<p>“Often times Ive heard that saying/story where the C student will become the A student’s boss. Or something along the lines of that.”</p>
<p>In some (not all) cases, the C student may be the more well-rounded student - socially and academically. He may be the “people-person”. </p>
<p>At my kids’ high school, the principal does tell parents that he wasn’t a great student in high school. But, he’s a people-person, very student-oriented, and does a great job as principal. So, he is “the boss” of a number of teachers who were A students. </p>
<p>Based on the fact that you made this thread and the general tone of your original post, you are destined to work for someone else. You don’t have what it takes to be a boss. </p>
<p>So yes you’ll probably end up working for a former C student. </p>
<p>I am the boss at a company I own. I can guarantee you that most of my employees were better students than me. That is way I hired them. I have no need to be the smartest person in the room. I do have a need to run a successful business. </p>
<p>George W. Bush’s Commencement Address at Yale University, May 21, 2001
<a href=“http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=45895”>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=45895</a>
</p>
<p>My favorite saying in business is something I lived by" never confuse effort with results." The adjunct to that saying is “but you usually can’t get results without effort”. So A student or C student, the person who figures out how to meet the objectives of the company, is going to move up the ladder, vs. the guy that works endlessly, but misses the objective! </p>
<p>But note that there are not as many bosses as a percentage of the working population as there are C students as a percentage of the student population (in K-12 school or college, although certain grade-inflated colleges may not have that many C students). So while some C students become bosses, most of them do not. And some A students who also have the “boss” characteristics also become bosses.</p>
<p>There are all kinds of C students just as there are all kinds of A students and B students.</p>
<p>Sometimes there are A students who are just so smart they blow everything out of the water. Sometimes there are A students because the class plays to their interests and they do all the work. Sometimes there is an A student who gets that A by grubbing out every point available while ignoring all other parts of life other than getting those all-important As.</p>
<p>Sometimes a C student just isn’t all that bright. Sometimes the C student is bright, but lazy. Or disorganized. Or disinterested.</p>
<p>Sometimes the C student is getting Cs because he or she is busy doing other things that lead to a successful career. In other words, they are triaging their commitments to reach the most beneficial outcome. All 3 of my sons were capable of being straight A students: two of them were, and one was when he chose to be. But that third son decided that he had priorities other than getting an A on every assignment and exam–he instead threw himself in to college campus life and also most semesters worked at an internship, or real job (not food service or card-checking, but something where he obtained real career skills), or both. He has done very, very well for himself. He is making a real track record in the business world. And no future employer will ever care that he received a C+ in his Environmental Genetics class his sophomore year.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think that students who wrap up their self esteem in never getting anything other than an A have a very rough time when they hit the real world and their efforts are no longer “graded” and there is no longer a narrow path to success and "assignments’ are not always neatly defined and that there is no clear finish line.</p>
<p>Another possibility… a C student might be constantly trying to catch up having left school at 16 and four years later got her GED and starting at college - trying to catch up due to being out of education for so long and because taking the GED didnt restore the 2 years of HS she missed - for her every C is a blessed relief cause shes still there and still online for her diploma.</p>
<p>Some days I’m an A student, and some days I’m an F student; it all comes down to how much effort I put into any given assignment. I don’t think it’s fair to judge a person, and their ability to succeed, based on letter grades handed out for meeting certain criteria. Some people are just bad students. </p>
<p>The older I grow, the less I value formal education. Now I’m spending more time unlearning the stuff they have taught me in school than I am in actually learning whatever they are trying to teach me. Formal education is slowly becoming unbearable. </p>
<p>I agree with Mark Twain completely: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” And I think I’m beginning to understand what G.K. Chesterton meant when he said, “The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things.”</p>