I often say that most of us were lied to growing up. We were always taught that introverts were your quiet, shy or reserved people and your extroverts were outgoing, loud and very social. In most workshops when I ask the group to define what these terms mean, these are the words that are used.
I think introversion and extroversion is such a critical element to understanding people and we need to be able to adapt our interpersonal communications to better support these preferences.
If that's the goal, then we need to truly understand the terms and to do that, it's a quick flash back to school times. Carl Jung and Myers-Briggs actually used these terms to describe how people are energized. How they recharge their batteries. When we hear it defined this way, it makes a lot more sense and is more useful to understand how we can engage these preferences.
For an extrovert, even after a long day working with others and on back-to-back calls, they are often energized. But if they spend hours working from home on their own, or required to do independent planning, they will be drained by the time the clock strikes 5pm.
Our introverts are the opposite. They can work all day with people, but they will be exhausted when they go home. Typically in my workshops, introverts share they love their long commute home in silence or with music, they like to go for a walk by themselves or have quiet time. But if they spend the day working on tasks with few distractions and interruptions, they are the ones who leave feeling energized.
When we take the time to really understand these terms, our mindset starts to shift.
It means that introverts can be really great at interacting with others. They can be warm and outgoing. And it means that extroverts can sometimes be more reserved when meeting people for the first time.
It's helpful knowing which end of the spectrum our teams feel they relate. So we can adapt our communications and even meeting structures to support both preferences, so that people can feel energized versus overwhelmed and drained.
Team Human Conversation
Fight workplace zombies in your organization and join Team Human! Gather a group of fellow workplace zombie hunters to discuss our most recent blog post. Use the questions below to kick-start your conversation.
How do you see introversion and extroversion show up in your team?
In what ways do you recognize and support the different ways your team members need to recharge?
Do you feel you are more introverted or extroverted? Why do you feel this way? How do you personally recharge after a day at work?
Comments