Many people strive to be leaders in their society so they can make a difference in the world and improve people’s lives. As many of us know, it takes just one person to create even the most significant of changes around us — this thought alone should push everyone to develop their inner leader, no matter what their personality may be.
A leader needs to have passion, determination, positivity and, above all, great communication skills. But how should these communication skills be expressed? Most people tend to think that the position of a leader belongs to those who are extroverts; those whose voices are always heard and tend to be noticed first. What about the people who are introverts? Can these people not possess character traits that make them just as competent leaders as those who are loud and outspoken?
Karl Moore, a professor at McGill University, has been running leadership programs for the past 10 years and has researched the character traits of both introvert and extrovert leaders. His findings led to an interesting idea: “If an introverted CEO must ‘become’ an extrovert to be an effective leader, then might the opposite be true? That an extroverted leader must ‘channel’ their inner introvert in order to be an effective leader?” asks Moore.
This idea brings up an excellent point in that many times introverts are told they must become more outgoing and approachable in order to have greater success as a leader. However, introverts possess many positive qualities which extroverts should apply if they want to increase their productivity as leaders.
Introverts tend to listen more effectively to the ideas of those around them, which gives their team a stronger sense of belonging in the work place. This provides the individuals with a greater sense of satisfaction in their work because they feel like what they say is of value and serving a purpose to the overall goal of a project. Extroverts on the other hand, tend to talk more than listen which does not allow them to be more open to new ideas that people around them might have.
Introverts also possess the great quality of being more analytical than extrovert leaders. Introverts tend to sit back and think about things more deeply before contributing to the conversation or saying what they think. This allows them to get a more well-rounded view of an issue or idea before they propose a solution. Extroverts tend to be more spontaneous and state whatever thought is on their mind, which might not always allow them to think things through completely.
The idea proposed by Moore is true in that both personalities can increase their effectiveness as a leader by incorporating traits of each other; however, this also proves that a great leader does not need to have the base personality traits of an extrovert in order to be a successful one.
People can have a variety of qualities that may differ from the leadership stereotype. As long as they realize what their strengths and weakness are, and learn how to use each of them to their advantage, being a leader should not be a position reserved only for those who are seen as more sociable or friendly compared to those that are quiet and reserved.
Fortunately, this stereotype of extrovert leaders has been slowly diminishing and people are starting to realize more and more that great leaders can come from any type of personality, including introverts.
Reach the columnist at tnunez1@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @TayNunz
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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