Twitter, or X, or whatever we’re calling it these days is an incredible place to learn and meet new and exciting people, despite what others are saying. It’s all about who you CHOOSE to follow that makes all the difference.

Someone I follow—I don’t recall who—made mention of a new book called Hidden Genius: The secret way of thinking that power the world’s most successful people.

I was immediately intrigued and began to researching the book and its author, Polina Marinova Pompliano.

In her book, Polina asks, “What distinguishes the truly exceptional from the merely great?”

After five years of writing The Profile, she has studied thousands of the most successful and interesting people in the world and examined how they reason their way through problems, unleash their creativity, and perform under extreme pressure.

The highest performers don’t use tricks or hacks to achieve greatness, she says. They use mental frameworks that fundamentally change the way they see the world. They’ve learned how to unlock their hidden genius in order to reach their full potential.

Polina’s book will help you do the same. After learning from the world’s most successful people featured inside, you will have a mental toolkit to help you tackle thorny problems, navigate relationships, and use creativity and resilience in times of uncertainty.

I hope you’ll click the play button below to learn more about Polina and her work. For a summary, just keep scrolling.

Join in on our chat below

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In today’s episode, I ask Polina:

• Why she believes we should approach Creativity as a muscle you can exercise as opposed to a talent you either have or you don’t, and the importance of “contemplating unexpected things together” 
• How listening to yourself and talking to yourself differ and which one of the two you should embrace and why
• What it looks like to lead from the bottom-up, rather than top down
• And lots more!

Order Polina’s Book

You can order your copy of Hidden Genius: The secret ways of thinking that power the world’s most successful people right now!

Consider Ordering My Book Too!

Purchase a copy of my new book (written with Jesse Wisnewski) Read to Lead: The Simple Habit That Expands Your Influence and Boosts Your Career. There, you can also download the introduction and first chapter for free!

Note-Making Mastery Cohort AND the Read to Lead Community

Note-Making Mastery Cohort is now available as a self-paced course! Check it out. Also, consider giving ReadtoLead+ a try free for two weeks!

Polina in Action

Books Polina Recommends

The Son Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton

Check Out These Additional Resources from Polina

Grab a copy of Polina’s book now.

Find out more about Polina at her website.

Consider inviting Polina to speak to your group or organization.

Connect with Polina personally on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Comment and Share

Please consider rating the podcast with 5 stars and leaving a one- or two-sentence review in iTunes or on Stitcher. This helps tremendously in bringing the podcast to the attention of others.

We encourage you to join the Read to Lead Nation on Facebook. It’s a community of like-minded leaders and leader-to-be, as well as fans of the Read to Lead Podcast.

You can tell your friends on Twitter about your love of reading and our new podcast by simply clicking this link and sharing the tweet you’ll find at the other end.

And, by all means, if you know someone you think would benefit, please spread the word by using the share buttons on this page.

Finally, thanks for listening and remember, “Leaders read and readers lead.”