When it comes to elect a group leader, whom are you likely to vote for? Would it be one of the people eagerly waving their hands in the air in a meeting? These individuals are probably the ones who tend to be most outgoing, sociable, and hyped up about an opportunity to be recognized and identified.
Admitted it or not, in organizations, we still frequently hear comments that represent stereotypes based on gender, age, religion and personality. “Women will not relocate for a promotion,” “older workers cannot learn new skills,” “Asian immigrants are hard-working and conscientious,” and also, “Extroverts can be better leaders”. When we question what qualities shape a successful figure, the answers seem obvious. It is easy to notice that most job advertisements require their employees to be outgoing and extrovert. In most people’s mind, introvert and reserved people can only be analysts or calm observers in a team.
However, it turns out that your best choice of a leader is more likely to be the quiet and reticent person who takes a back seat in public discussions. Introverts make better leaders than extroverts actually.
Through the Ted talk of Susan Cain, who makes the speech on “the power of introverts” we learn that introversion is a complex personal trait. Virtually, it is arbitrary to classify those shy and quiet ones into introverts. To observe them closely, they in fact are more qualified to be wisdom listeners and inspirer.
Under the ideal circumstance, a good team is that the personalities of a leader and followers should be in harmony for a group to achieve maximum productivity. Can introvert leaders achieve this goal? Yes, and actually they can do better than extroverts!! In some specific cases, extroverts are easily irritated and cause more conflicts inside the team, while those introverts can alleviate the disputes and solve the difficulties with less effort and cost to integrate the whole team closely. Without any doubt, we may rate those introvert leaders higher due to their ability to maximize the group’s actual productivity. It is widely acknowledged that introverts are observant by nature and then they can spark teammates’ motivation subtly, which is more efficient than those of extroverts.
After discussing above, we can learn that introverts, equipped with acute ability of observing and solving, are definitely better leaders for a successful teamwork than extroverts. With an introvert leader, the team will be more productive and harmonious, rather that those extroverts who usually take advantage of group work as a stage for themselves to show off.
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Cain, Susan. “The power of introverts.” Susan Cain: The power of introverts | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.