This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedantam.

Whenever a group of people come together, there are always a few who steal the limelight.

They may be gregarious and

outgoing or funnier or more athletic. But I've noticed over the years that the people

who are the center of attention on day one are very often not the center of their groups by day 62 or day 912.

This is true of college students, new employees at a company, even family.

Over time, the accomplished musician turns out to be a one-note opera.

The athlete who dazzled on day one starts to sound boring.

The great storyteller turns out he has only a dozen stories

and he keeps telling them over and over again.

In time, groups often gravitate to the people who are connectors,

the folks who are genuinely interested in others.

They are often great listeners.

These are people who put others first,

who don't imagine they know everything.

This week on Hidden Brain and in a companion story on our subscription feed Hidden Brain Plus we examine the science and psychology of

humility. It's a quality that is often underappreciated

on day one, but much in demand over the long haul. And while most of us don't associate humble people with being particularly brave,

new scientific research shows that humility usually walks hand in hand

with courage. Many people have the experience of growing up in one set of circumstances and then finding

themselves in a different set of circumstances as they grow up and start life on their own.

If that's a familiar story to you, you also know what it's like to go back to the old family

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