Everyone says “People at Google are so smart.” True, but I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of smart people over the course of my career. When I joined I learned that many of my colleagues have worked here for 10 years or more. Not only have they stayed on and built careers, they’re still incredibly passionate about their work. They really care! So while smarts are great, smarts and passion are the really powerful combination.A Year of Learning and Leading UX at Google

Goes without saying that this goes for any company. I've worked with a lot of smart people in my career too but the people that stand out after 2 decades are the people that were passionate (and in most cases, really smart too).