The Cost of Brilliance

Whenever we read about someone with vision and brilliance, it is a good idea to read more. I have heard someone say that we all want heroes, but we don't want to have them in our families. 

Justine Musk, the ex-wife of Elon Musk and a writer, wrote an article in Marie Claire a while ago about her relationship with Elon Musk. http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/relationship-issues/millionaire-starter-wife

While each story has two sides, it is also often easy to spot certain truths from just one side, simply because there is just no other explanation. Indeed, if Musk could tackle multiple industries at once, he must have been obsessed with work as opposed to helping his wife recover from the loss of their first-born son. Indeed, if Musk could plow ahead with his ideas when few people agreed with him, he must have also ignored any different ideas from his wife, dismissed any criticism from her, or pushed her aside when she stood in the way of him having epiphany moments for work. Everyone's most prized asset is also often everyone's worst enemy and Archilles' heel. It is practically impossible to be decisive and impervious to criticism at work, while being a good listener at home. For one thing, there is just no time to listen. 

In the book "Steve Jobs", the writer correctly gave Laurene Jobs credit, as "behind every great man stands a woman". She stood behind him until the very end, when the same conviction that allowed him to go against conventional wisdom also let him go against medical advice, in the end killing himself prematurely. Musk will certainly not give credit to Justine for standing behind him at any cost, because she in the end could not do it any more. 

Yes, we all like to admire someone in the distance who has vision and brilliance. But none of us wants to incur the cost of brilliance.