Introverts and Leadership

Susan Cain made a good point about the leadership process, I can admit to being bias to this phenomenon.  Being an extrovert myself, I have encouraged people to work together to create the best possible outcomes in a group setting. I believe we do encourage introverts to act as extroverts because as extroverts we believe in the single story that collaborating will produce the best outcomes for projects, tasks, and programs, but just as Susan Cain presented this way of thinking is not always true. Although I do not agree with everything she said, “…introverts actually get better grades and are more knowledgeable” (Susan Cain, 5:52-5:55) it resonated with me.

If introverts were permitted to express introversion in a group setting, then the group benefit from the deep and analytic thoughts about the particular subject of discussion. These thoughts as introverts more than likely would be not only strategic, but be well thought out to cover the pros and cons of the specific solution. If there are no true introverts in a group the group may miss potential creative problem solving solutions because extroverts may have a tendency to only understand one particular method of thinking about the problem. The best solutions and ideas are created when each individual involved may offer a different perspective to the process.

Suppressing any member of the group in Tuckman’s Developmental Stages model may affect the stages that the group must go through in order to be successful because not all introverts feel it is necessary to take an official public role in the organization to create change and inspire others. Rather introverts may close attention to the details and may contain the modesty necessary to balance the group’s dynamics.

There is a way to incorporate both collaboration and autonomy in teamwork. If we have members of the group prepare for a meeting, maybe by giving individuals prompts, scenarios, or case studies to stimulate creative thought, then introverts may think freely in solitude to create the best outcomes. Once all stakeholders involved construct what he or she believes to be the best solution or idea to a given issue, the group may come together and voice their opinions to avoid conforming to one idea. I am going to try to directly apply this information to my management position that everyone may develop their own styles and methods of problem solving.  I will follow up to let you all know how it goes! Thanks for reading my reflection!