Career Advice_The power of introverts in the workplace.docx

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The power of introverts in the workplaceEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

ByGuest Contributor

By Kaitlin Louie,writer and editor for CareerColleges.com and CityTownInfo.com

The thought of networking parties makes us cringe. Instead of a Friday night on

the town, we prefer curling up in a chair and reading a book or watching a film. In

work meetings we rarely speak up, but when we do, its after weve thought ourentire contribution through. We are introverts, and for the longest time we have

been encouraged to change our secluded nature, lest we flounder in the working

world. In order to be visible, earn promotions and gain credibility in corporate

America, selling yourself is invaluable or so weve been told. Recent studies

have cast new light on the value of an introverted disposition in the workplace.

In her recent book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts, former lawyer and self-

professed introvert Susan Cain explains how introverts, while initially lessimpressive to hiring managers than extroverts, often perform better in the

workplace. We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert ideal the

omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the

spotlight, Cain says in the excerpt of her book that is available on her website.

But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly.
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Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions from the theory of evolution to

van Goghs sunflowers to the personal computer came from quiet and

cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures

to be found there.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts is not the only publication that advocates for

increased appreciation of introverts in the workplace. In their study entitled The

Downfall of Introverts and the Rise of Neurotics, Corinne Bendersky of UCLAs

Anderson School of Management and Neha Parikh Shah of Rutgers University

studied the dynamics within study groups composed of MBA students. They

found that, contrary to popular belief, work ethic and delivery on responsibilities

took precedence over gregariousness when it came to an individuals status in a

group.

Rather than acalculation of peoples status-valued attributes creating a stable

hierarchy, we demonstrate that status allocation processes unfold more fluidly as

peers revise their noisy initial expectations based on actual task experiences,

they wrote in their report, published in the Academy of Management Journal in

April. In other words, their findings indicate that first impressions in the workplace

might not have as powerful an effect long term as people think, because

ultimately it is ones actual contributions that determine ones value in the eyes of

ones teammates.

According to Forbes explanation of the study, Bendersky and Shah classified the

personalities of 229 MBA students as extroverted or neurotic based on their

responses to a personality survey. They then placed these students into five-

person study groups that would work together throughout the academic quarter.

All students were subsequently asked to rate their teammates on how much they

expected their peers to contribute to the group. Initial ratings showed that the

more extroverted students garnered significantly higher status scores than did

their neurotic peers.


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Interestingly, as the academic quarter progressed, these ratings reversed

themselves. Bendersky and Shah found that overall, the extroverts in the groups

did not meet the expectations set for them by their teammates, and as a result,

they lost status. Meanwhile, the neurotics within the study groups surpassed their

peers initial expectations and contributed to their study group such that theirstatus increased over time.

Extroverts disappoint us over time when theyre part of a team, Bendersky told

USA Today, On a team youre expected to work hard and contribute a lot. But

theyre often poor listeners, and they dont collaborate. In contrast, neurotics, by

not selling themselves yet working consistently hard to contribute to their team,

exceed expectations and earn the regard of their peers.

It should be noted that neurotics are distinct from introverts while neuroticism

refers to over-anxiousness, guilt and moodiness, introversion simply means that

one derives more energy from being alone and often turns inward to reflect on

life situations or creative projects. Yet Bendersky and Shahs findings are

relevant to , because neurotics and introverts share key attributes: neither enjoys

being in the spotlight, and oftentimes they are not adept at selling themselves or

arguing their points in large groups.

Anecdotal evidence also exists in favor of incorporating more introverts into the

workplace. In NPRs story, The Quiet Strength of Introverts in the Workplace,

host John Donvan and journalist Anita Bruzzese heard from numerous callers

who explained their experiences as introverts in the professional world. One

introverted caller explained how her nurse manager colleagues appreciated her

detail-oriented and focused nature, while another caller described how one of his

extroverted co-workers attempts to sell herself actually backfired by making her

seem self-centered.

One key point to keep in mind is that these studies are not placing extroverts and

introverts in a kind of hierarchy or claiming one to be better than the other. In

fact, they are an indication that both types of individuals have much to learn from


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each other: While extroverts could benefit from being more collaborative and

contributing more to team goals, introverts may find more advancement

opportunities if they learn how to advocate more strongly for their ideas and

personal qualifications. Anita Bruzzese, who wrote a piece on the value of

introverts for USA Today, told NPR, Research will show, again and again, thatthe best workforces are diverse workforces. That means you need extroverts and

introverts. You rely on their individual strengths to make a company successful.

Management experts Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins, authors of Own

the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence,

agree with Bruzzeses conclusions. In their book, they emphasize the importance

of nurturing introverts andextroverts strengths, while encouraging both types of

people to step out of their comfort zone and develop professionally. In aninterview with USA Today, Su explained that introverts within teams often ha ve

an approachable demeanor, which can make them exceptional mentors to more

junior staff or particularly good sounding boards when you interact with them in

one-on-one situations. And while extroverts can be great at leading a group or

initiating exciting projects, Wilkins explains that teaching extroverts how to listen

better and be more attentive to their teammates needs will ultimately help them

be more productive.

Those who get out of auto-pilot recognize that their natural style is a strength

and that adding a few more communication strategies in their repertoire wont

change who they are, Wilkins explained to USA Today. It will simply broaden

their impact and get to the results they desire.

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Career Advice_The power of introverts in the workplace.docx