There are many successful leaders who are introverts, among them Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Charles Schwab. Rule of thumb for networking events: one genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.Our culture rightly admires risk-takers, but we need our “heed-takers” more than ever.There’s a word for “people who are in their heads too much”: thinkers.Among the gems that she includes in the “ Sixteen things I believe”: But it’s a shame, perhaps even harmful, that our society places such a premium on being extroverted and undervalues the “quiet” people who in many cases are the ones actually getting things done.Ĭain has catalogued the many positives of being an introvert in the form of a manifesto. I would say that introverts who can be “ambiverts” when they need to be are actually more resourceful and socially attuned than their “loud,” extroverted peers. I can attest to that as someone who hasn’t always felt comfortable being “visible” at industry functions or networking events. As a recent USA Today article points out, introverts often have to force themselves to be outgoing in order to get ahead and become leaders. I do think that it is harder for introverts to succeed in the business world, especially when you get to the top of the food chain and must spend significant “face time” with clients or customers. So I have been very pleased to see Cain step forward and extol the virtues of “quiet.” But I’ve since learned to embrace and draw on what I consider the strengths of introversion. At the time, I wasn’t sure being an I was necessarily a good thing given my career path as a manager. When I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator a few years ago, it confirmed what I already knew: I’m an Introvert (I). What’s new, perhaps, is the attention introverts are now getting because of the book-and the fact that introversion is actually a much more productive force in organizations and our society than commonly thought.
I don’t know that there’s anything new about the fact that about 30 percent of our population-myself included-are introverts.
Are you an introvert? Take the Quiet Quiz on Susan Cain's website by clicking on The Thinker.īy now, you’ve probably heard about Susan Cain’s new book, “ Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” Time magazine did a cover story and most major publications have followed suit with reviews or features about the power of being quiet.
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