Introverts vs. extraverts, in your experience, who are better leaders?

Now, back to the serious stuff. Going by all the little snide comics about “I”s and the plethora of books teaching introverts how to become a better leader, I can’t help but think that the general perception out there is that “E”s are better leaders. To be fair though, the reading materials we’ve gotten did cite both the larger than life “E” leaders and some equally impressive “I” leaders. But let me use a more down-to-earth example from my workplace to try to answer this question of who makes a better leader.

“Boss A”. He is a typical “E” who is energised by interaction. He loves to celebrate small successes and enjoys nothing better than holding impromptu little parties – sometimes something as simple as a 15 minute cake cutting and chatting session, to celebrate someone’s birthday for example. Working for a boss like A is fun. There’re lots of opportunities for camaraderie-building and to let off steam. However, there’s also a flip side. Surprisingly – to the introverts at least I guess, there’s such a thing as too much fun and games! There will invariably be times when people cannot join in the parties because they are rushing to meet looming deadlines or have pressing issues to attend to. On the one hand, missing the party makes them feel bad. But on the other hand, they are also unhappy about the “insensitivity” of the boss who wants to party when there’s deadlines to be met.

“Boss B”. She is a typical “I” who is more private and contained, preferring smaller gatherings to boisterous big-group get-togethers. However, she will always gamely attending all the little parties because she feels that leaders should try to support each other. Actually, she also enjoys the camaraderie but she will be the first to tell someone who whispers to her that “do you think it’s alright if I can’t go for the party because I’ve got to rush this assignment” that it’s perfectly alright. She understands because she sometimes also can’t wait to get back to the work at hand! Hmmm.. come to think about it, this may be her “F” at work!

Guess which one I am! But anyway, after thinking this through, my take is that it’s really not that important whether the leader is an “E” or an “I”. As the Prof had reiterated in class, at the end of the day, leadership is about managing self and managing relationships. So a good leader must know when to become more “E” and when to become more “I” in order to get the most out of his team, depending on individual personalities of the team, the dynamics within the team, the circumstances and contexts of situations and the team’s operating environment. Like the Wharton study mentioned in the reading “Analysing effective leaders: Why Extraverts are not always the most successful bosses” has found, to manage a group of passive personalities, leaders must be more demonstrative and set clear directions. Wheras if you are leading a proactive team, you should be more receptive. Well, exercising our natural tendencies is easy. The tough part is when we have to adopt the leadership style which is not that natural to us; and having to do it “naturally”. I guess this is what makes a good leader great!

Introverts and Extroverts - something for the "I"s and the "E"s..

For all introverts out there.. This is a really interesting blog. http://www.theintrovertedleaderblog.com/..  I came across this as I was searching for books (yes, we introverts love to get our information and knowledge from reading!) on the introverts as leaders. It was the book's cover which caught my eye first actually. Then I browsed the author (Dr Jennifer Kahnweiler)'s blog and the snippets like "Does Feng Shui work for Introverts" and "Thank you Meryl Streep" - yes, Dr Kahnweiler says that Ms Streep like most other actors are introverts were really simple yet issues which I can relate to. Hope you other introverts like this blog too. Oh of course extroverts are also welcomed to read Dr Kahnweiler's blog but then again, reading may not really be your thing :)

Ok ok, for those who prefer to watch rather than read! Here's something which made me laugh! :)

What does “leadership” mean to me? What benefit would I get from improving my leadership skills?

I was discussing with some of my classmates after we had all browsed through the recommended text “Strengths Finder” and I was struck by how all of us really liked the premise of the book – that we should focus on strengths. Around the table we all agreed unanimously that we spend lots of time, effort and energy pinpointing where we are weak in and comparatively (much) less time identifying our strengths. We do that with the people working for us too. Most times, for myself at least, as a typically less demonstrative “Asian” team-leader, I don’t really tell my team “good job” or go on too much about how their knowledge and talents have contributed to the success of a particular project. But if there are areas where they “fall short”, I am quicker to sit down with them to work out how things can be improved.

While this is quite typical, I think all is still not lost. I take comfort that as a leader who “keenly observes” her team, I do intuitively know, and focus on the strengths of my guys. Say for example, when I need to put people together to make up a certain project team I will try to put people together who will complement each other. Or when I am asked for advice when my team-mates are looking for a new job posting, I will help to analyse whether the job will give the opportunity to grow their strengths and just as importantly, challenge them to overcome their weaknesses.

To me, a leader must be able to motivate his people and bring out the best in them. So if I don’t bring back anything from this course except just this idea that we need to identify and focus on strengths – I feel that it would have already changed the way I would interact with my team – in a positive way. As it says in the book, “the key is to be aware of your potential and your limitations”. I am already trying to fit my team and colleagues into the different categories. I can’t wait to get back to work and share this with them! With this book, a least we’ll have a common language from which to start!

First trial

This is my very first attempt at a blog! Let's see how this goes...