Fact or myth: extroverts make better leaders than introverts?
Carl Jung in 1921 coined the terms "extrovert" and "introvert" to reflect how different personality types directed and received their energy.
Extroverts would direct their energy outwards, and gain more energy from meeting other people.
Introverts focus their energy inwards, and restore energy by being alone.
At the surface, it's easy to believe that extroverts would make better leaders: superintendents and principals spend their days mostly meeting people.
Board members, students, teachers, staff, families, union members, community leaders...the list goes on.
For a job that requires that level of interfacing with others, it sure would be handy to draw energy from that activity instead of having that drain your energy.
But when we dig deeper into trying to understand this, we realize it's not so simple.
I spend a lot of my day in meetings - doing interviews for our podcast, supporting customers, leading my team, working with partners and vendors, learning from other founders and entrepreneurs, sharing our journey with existing and potential investors, etc.
And honestly, many of these conversations energize me. I love learning different things from different people I meet. And I love hearing everyone's story.
But some parts of the day, I also really would very much prefer to be alone.
To write. To read. To meditate. To journal. Or even veg out on Netflix.
The Scientific American finds that actually the tags of "extrovert" and "introvert" can be overly polarizing, and most of us (up to 90%) are actually "ambiverts" - we have a bit of extroversion mixed with a pinch of introversion.
When it comes to conveying ideas effectively and influencing others, psychologist Adam Grant found that ambivert sales reps generate 24% more revenue than introverts and 32% more than extroverts in similar roles.
Besides in sales, leaders are right up there in having to influence others and my guess is a similar pattern would surface.
And yes, if you did a double take, the math works out that introverts actually drove more sales than extroverts in Grant's study.
My take? Your degree of extroversion or introversion is largely orthogonal to how good you are as a leader. You can be a great leader as an extrovert, ambivert, or introvert.
It's only important to be self-aware of which you are, and find ways to use that to your advantage.
- Introverted leaders excel at active listening and one-on-one interactions, allowing them to deeply understand their team members' strengths, aspirations and needs. They can use this to provide personalized attention that boosts morale and productivity. Their empathetic nature helps introverted leaders forge deeper connections, making team members feel valued and heard
- Extroverted leaders excel at articulating their vision and ideas clearly. They can use this to inspire and rally their team with enthusiasm. Their natural collaborator style thrives on social interaction. Extroverts can leverage this to build relationships, create a sense of unity, and drive innovation through diverse perspectives.
- Ambiverts have the luxury of switching between the two depending on the situation.
Do you know where you fall on the extroversion spectrum? Importantly, how are you helping to grow leaders below you based on their natural and authentic selves?
Till next time,
CT | Engaging Leadership
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