Being smart often has little to do with being persuasive.
And yet we often assume that one leads to the other.
We spend years and years educating people to do well on tests in the belief that this will make them smart.
And we assume that they’ll figure out the persuasive stuff on their own.
We conflate the two on a regular basis, assuming that charisma or followers or influence is somehow aligned with insight, foresight, and learning.
The good news is that being persuasive is a skill. If you’re smart, we’ll all benefit if you’ll also invest the effort to find a way to lead.