The Economist March 20th 2021 pp59 |Bartleby|”Winning Personality” “The divide between introverts and extroverts”
Image from Pepperdine-graphic.com
Read the short article for full detail
Summary of the article
It is an old topic but worthy of revisiting from time-to-time. Karl Moore (McGill University) believes that the world is 40% Extrovert/40% Introvert/20% Ambivert and he notes, not surprisingly that “extroverts are 25% more likely to be in a high-earning job than those less outgoing.” Having said that Bartleby notes another study “in 2017 [that found] introverts were slightly more likely than extroverts to surpass the expectations of boards and investors when appointed as chief executive.” As to why Bartleby offers up “The study also found that the children of professionals were more likely to be extrovert. It could simply be that children who grow up in more prosperous homes are less likely to face the kind of stressful events that undermine self-confidence.” He follows that avoiding the extremes of introversion or extraversion and being able to flex outside of our innate personality, be ambivert, when needed are important factors for success.
The practical applications. When leading an effort or an organization one must understand their own personality and set-the-stage for all personalities to contribute effectively. First, regardless of a leader’s personality they must get to know their direct and as possible their indirect reports on the team. “But that means managers have to spend time chatting to, and observing, their team members before deciding how best to get them motivated and inspired…[as]…”people don’t have labels on their foreheads…”. According to Jon Baker (Author of “Running Meetings That Make Things Happen”) to get contributions, from all, provide detailed information before meetings (Helps the analyst mindsets), suggest that staff during the meeting write out comments (Helps the introverts participate) and diplomatically query the quiet ones in the room. Lastly or firstly leader hold back your POV as most or nearly all participants are loathe to counter your POV.