Unleashing the introverted leader
By Naphtali Hoff, smartblogs.com
About 10 years ago, I was participating in a leadership program with
area principals and other organizational leaders. As part of the
training, we were instructed to undergo a 360-degree assessment. There
were many revelations for me from that process, including important
feedback about how others viewed my leadership capacity. But one insight
that has remained with me the most had to do with our group
as a whole.
About 10 years ago, I was participating in a leadership program with
area principals and other organizational leaders. As part of the
training, we were instructed to undergo a 360-degree assessment. There
were many revelations for me from that process, including important
feedback about how others viewed my leadership capacity. But one insight
that has remained with me the most had to do with our group
The consultant who processed the data told us something that
surprised me quite a bit at the time. Our group was comprised of
communal leaders, people who oversaw many others and interacted
routinely with tens if not hundreds of people each day. When he reached
the area of extroversion and introversion (terms used by C. G. Jung to
explain different attitudes people use to direct their energy), I was
not expecting to hear that our group was collectively skewed towards
introversion.
My surprise emanated from a simple misconception. I had associated
introversion with shyness and perhaps even quietness. I figured that a
person who is in constant communication could not possibly be an
introvert. But I was wrong.
The reality is that introversion has little to do with our levels of
social comfort or verbosity. Rather, it reflects on our energy source.
Extroverts are people who gain their energy from others. They walk into a
room and feel energized, feeding off of the collective energy as they
navigate through the crowd. They seek others’ company and feel somehow
incomplete if they are left in isolation for too long.
Introverts, in contrast, gain their energy from quiet, private time.
They love to think and reflect privately, with the door closed, and
enter into public settings out of necessity rather than preference.
While many introverts can be described as quiet, introverts are more
than capable of speaking and engaging as circumstances dictate. It’s
more about their preferences and inclinations rather than their
disposition or capacity.
“Spotting the introvert can be harder than finding Waldo,” Sophia Dembling, >>>
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire