Rachael Maltiel Swenson shares an article on leadership from the perspective and practice of an introvert.
Although more than half the population identifies as Introverts, only 39% of top executives and senior leaders in the US are introverts. And, 65% of executives said they perceive introversion as a potential barrier to leadership, with only 6% believing introverts make better leaders.
As an introvert myself, I felt this astutely when I first became a manager. The transition to a day filled with meetings was exhausting! And suddenly my role had a higher expectation around actively engaging in these meetings and attending networking events with other leaders and vendors.
Susan Cain’s book Quiet was a powerful read on the value of an introverted approach. It also brought forward for me the realization that if I kept quiet and didn’t share my ideas and perspectives, no one would know that I had good ideas and perspectives. It helped me recognize that I needed to balance my introverted tendencies with extroverted approaches to influence leadership and support my team’s work.
Over the years, I found many approaches that helped me lean into my strengths as an introvert while balancing with areas to push myself to maximize my impact for my team overall. As some areas to consider as an introvert in leadership:
Influence in ways that feel natural – Our methods of working are expanding, with more and more opportunities to influence through thoughtful written communication, async comments, and remote-first meetings which may enable different levels of comfort. Figure out where you feel most comfortable to share your perspectives and lean into them. I loved opportunities to think through written comments as well as 1:1s and deep relationships, where I could find other supporters of my perspectives in a manner that felt less intimidating than larger groups.
Key points include:
- Growing the comfort zone
- Methods to recharge
- Leaning into strengths
Read the full article, “Leading as an Introvert”, on ArcGrowthLlc.com.