(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn serves as the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)
It may surprise you to learn that I am an introvert. Or maybe not. Depends on how well you know me. I’m pretty good in groups and at parties. I’m truly interested in learning about you and what makes you tick. But when I’m done, I’m done. Doesn’t matter how nice you are or how much we like each other, at the end of the day (really the end of the hour), I’m going to need to get away and process.
It seems the business world is catching on.
The book “Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain became a New York Times best seller and had the longest wait time at my local library for any book I have requested.
By the way, introverts love libraries.
According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, well known test of personalities, about half the people you employ are like me. We like quiet. We need processing time and time apart from people. Consider the following to maximize the “I” half of your workforce:
1. Invest in your team by doing an inventory like MBTI, DISC, or another personality indicator. A shy extrovert may be feeling abandoned by her peers. A little knowledge of self and others can inform your workplace adjustments. One of our clients is doing this for their whole company. In this way, they are providing a service not only to their workplace, but also to each individual. Investing in your employees this way demonstrates value.
2. Prepare for meetings with both “E” and “I” personality types in mind. This is especially true for brainstorming sessions. We need a heads up to get our thoughts together. And because we are notoriously deep thinkers, your results will improve by 50%.
3. Reconsider that office configuration. Open seating and think-tank arrangements may help the extroverts in your group feed off one another’s energy, but you may be sabotaging half the productivity of your company.
4. Please give us time to think. I used to work for a delightfully gifted and enthusiastic young man. He would lean over my desk, and before he could even finish his “What do you think about_____???”, would look at my face and say, “You don’t like it.” In fact, I had not even had time to process his words, let alone evaluate his ideas.
5. Practice servant leadership. Jim Collins, in his landmark book Good to Great discovered that glitzy, dynamic, high-profile CEOs are actually a hindrance to the long term success of their corporation. They may attract people but they don’t keep them.
Of course, you’ll need to consider the other side of the coin too. Your extroverts need noise, music, energy and rapid fire communication.
Building bridges between the two sides of the coin is a powerful way to grow your company’s productivity and your employee’s job satisfaction. No accident that the two usually go hand in hand. A great book about building bridges is “Introverts in the Church: Finding our Place in an Extroverted Culture.” If you happen to be an introvert in an evangelical church like me, you will especially appreciate what author Adam McHugh has to say. But much of what he proposes can be applied in business scenarios. As McHugh puts it, “ People participate in community in different ways, and move among community at different rates.” Isn’t this so true in the workplace?!
Different speeds. Different needs.
Two sides of a coin. Both winners. Both need to be considered.
Start today and make one small change that will accommodate both sides of that coin.
Your organization will benefit, your employees will benefit, and in the end, so will the bottom line.
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