Wednesday, 5 July 2017

Can introverts succeed in this extrovert world?


"Hey Nikhil, why are you quiet? Aren't you enjoying the party?" a guy wearing a t-shirt with 'DUDE' written over it came to the corner where I was standing for a while. I was not very surprised as this was not the first time someone asked this question but I never had any answer for it. "Yeah, I'm enjoying. I will join you in a moment", I said while trying hard to bring fake enthusiasm only to shoo him away. He gave smile and went away. I started thinking. It is not that I do not enjoy parties but I prefer to enjoy party from a corner while chatting with people whom I know. My favourite past time is to sit back, relax and read a thought provoking book. Is it the same case for you also? Do you prefer to wear the same or similar type of clothes every day instead of trying out new things and to enjoy the attention of people (not narcissism)? Do you prefer to have one deep, thoughtful conversation with you friend than saying hi to ten new people? If answer to this is yes, chances are high that you are introvert.*

There are as many definitions of personality as many psychologists. However, everyone agrees on one common trait that differentiates introvert from extroverts is the preference to stimulation. Introverts prefer to be in an environment with lesser stimuli. They feel 'charged' when they spend time alone. Considering that, it looks like it will be very difficult for them to adjust to corporate American culture where presentation and socialisation are as important (or sometimes more, depending on job profile) to succeed. Does that mean introverts can never succeed in areas like marketing, public speaking? Also, description of the personality of introverts doesn't align with the commonly perceived definition of a leader. So, does that mean they can never lead any company? Now, let me call out few names of famous introverts. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. Al Gore, 45th VP of US. Dale Carnegie, the famous writer in the area of self-help. These examples make one start scratching head. The problem is not with the definition of introvert personality but with our assumption that their personality traits are their weaknesses. Yes, they do have some weaknesses but one must not ignore strengths. Susan Cain discussed this in her book - "Quiet : The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking".

First of all, we should question widely accepted norm of extroversion being the quality of an ideal person. If we take an example of the tech industry, you can find introverts outnumbering extroverts in the list of entrepreneurs. Since being alone and working on problems quietly makes introverts feel 'charged', it is no surprise. In the case of sales, things get counter intuitive. Usually, we expect a sales person to do talking and making sales by creating an impression in short time. Introverts are not naturally good at this but they have one good quality - they are good listeners. This helps them to reorient their sales pitch according to needs of a customer. No wonder that this skill makes them grab the trophy of the top salesman. Susan gives many such examples in her book. In the case of presentations, introverts found to be more effective when the topic of the presentation is closer to their heart. If it is, no one can stop them from making good presentations. Of course, few rehearsals might be necessary to handle high stimuli of public attention when they are on stage. Introverts can benefit from their strengths in handling negotiations, high-stress and conflict situations as well.

This makes us believe that introverts can too succeed in the corporate world. A question still remains : how can they start working toward it? By harnessing strengths and working on weaknesses. First, an introvert person should recognise his/her need for low stimuli and choose work environment according to that. During interaction with extroverts, they should understand mindset or their tendency to enjoy high stimuli and vice a versa. Also, mentally preparing for high stimuli situations like parties, public speaking, conflicts helps them to handle the situation. To know more about how introverts can easily sail through extrovert world, do read the book :)