“If you want to win in the 21st century, you have to empower others, making sure other people are better than you.”

The literal message is that modern success requires actively developing the skills of your team until they surpass your own abilities. Strategically, it signals a shift from the industrial-era model of top-down, authoritarian management to a modern network model where leaders act as facilitators. Today's most successful companies thrive on decentralized intelligence, recognizing that a single CEO cannot possibly out-think a diverse, empowered workforce. Forward-thinking executives embrace this philosophy to combat their own egos and build highly scalable, resilient organizations. Jack Ma famously stated that he hired people specifically because they were smarter than him in their respective fields, viewing his role as the glue that held their genius together. Secure leaders are not threatened by the brilliance of their subordinates; they engineer it. Your ultimate success is measured by the capability and independence of the people you lead.