Can introverts ever really lead?

Have you ever been in a meeting run by an introvert, and asked yourself whether some people’s personality types just make them unsuitable for leadership?  In 1929, Carl Jung published his book Psychological Types which introduced the idea of introversion and extroversion, relating to personality types. In the business world we have often over simplified and thus distorted the true meaning of this complex world of psychology to brand people as either an introvert or an extrovert. The stereo-typical view is that introverts are shy people who don’t like to go to parties, and extroverts are those loud mouthed people who never stop talking but are also the life and soul of a party.  The Myers Briggs model assumes the dichotomy defines how you are energised. The extrovert extreme is most energised when talking with a group of people, while the introvert extreme are more energised by reflecting on things on their own.  Carl Jung admitted there is no such thing as a true introvert or true extrovert -  “that person would be in the lunatic asylum”

Most of us would admit to having a default comfort zone somewhere on the scale, and if most of the time we are in one half rather than the other, we may brand ourselves introverted or extroverted. Considering leadership often involves working with groups of people, and needing to talk, not reflect, does that not mean that people who lean towards the introversion scale, are doomed to be bad leaders?

In my experience, I can point to three examples where introverted behaviour makes for a better leader:

1. Introverts think before they talk. In a leadership role this can help to provide clarity rather than confusion. Very open-ended communication, where divergent and contradictory views are aired by the leader, may be refreshingly honest, but leave the team members feeling confused as to what is really being said.
   
   
2. Introverts tend to listen more to what is being said, and can be more attuned to the non- verbal messages being communicated. Listening is an active and complex task, and it is impossible to be talking, or constructing a verbal response in your head, while listening attentively to someone else.
   
   
3. Introverts experience risky situations in a negative way emotionally. This makes them naturally more risk-aware. Taking a calculated risk with known and quantified consequences is good management. Acting blindly and ignoring risks, because the sense of the unknown and dangerous involves a positive emotional response is how good companies end up going bust!
   
   

It is arguable whether we can change our personality type, but what is widely accepted is that we can change our behaviour to suit the situation we are in. Whether we are more extroverted or introverted in nature, there is a lot we can learn from those who fit more naturally on the introverted end of the scale.