I’m not an introvert but I’m sure I’m becoming more introverted with time.
Perhaps I’m being more circumspect, perhaps I take more time to listen?
What I do know is that I need introverts and extroverts in my service teams.
It’s been proven that diversity brings a dividend to problem solving (there’s lots of studies but Scott Page is my go to researcher for that).
But is it essential to ensure that people who are ‘more introverted’ are definitely part of your team?
Especially in services that are customer facing – where your team are meeting and greeting, they’re speaking on the phone, they’re responsible for those touch points with a customer.
Have you built a team with an overriding bias toward extroversion?
If so – are you losing out?
A study of the classic Myers Briggs test has shown that overall 56.8% of us have a preference for introversion. (As reported by Myers Briggs).
So first – you’re missing out on a lot of talent if you’re not tapping into the introvert ‘market’.
Second – introverts have a natural affinity for … deep listening, reflective learning, strong written communications skills, the ability to build deep relationships and more. (Extroverts can be good at these too, of course).
Third – unleashing the potential of your talent pool with an introversion preference can be easily done through – rewards for building quality relationships, using tools & digital platforms alongside talking, encouraging a self-promotion strategy where there’s an emphasis on expertise through content, case study generation and referrals as well as networking, and structuring deep work slots at times of the day / week.
Most importantly – diversity – in all its forms – brings dividends (see earlier point re Scott Page).
I’ll always build a team to include people with an introversion preference.
What do Introverts think? Do you find the industry rewarding as an introvert, or do you feel pressured to be more extroverted?
(BTW – did you know there’s a World Introverts Day – 2nd January? I couldn’t find a World Extrovert Day).
Sidebar – We have all kinds of tracking – especially when recruiting.
Ethnicity, religion, disability, age etc – (all collected for DEI / legal / reporting purposes) are now often joined with ‘what your parents did when you were 14’, ‘what school you went to’ and more.
But what about an introvert / extrovert question (of course with the caveat as with all the above questions that you can tick the ‘I prefer not to comment’ if you like).
I’d need to think that one through a little more.
Hi – I’m Gary Travers.
I help ambitious
project service and tech businesses
be great.
