Our next four posts are going to take a look at how our personality style impacts our leadership. Personality is a word that can mean many things, but for our purposes, we’re going to consider personality to be the sum of the personal traits that were basically set within us by the time we were five, and out of which we approach life. Many personality inventories and viewpoints have been developed from which to assess and explain our personalities. My personal favorite is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The MBTI offers four basic aspects of personality expressed as opposites, which result in the expression of sixteen different basic personality types. Many of you are familiar with the MBTI or one or more of its variations. The MBTI’s paired opposites are Introvert-Extrovert; Sensing-Intuitive; Thinking-Feeling; and Judging-Perceiving. We’ll consider each of these pairs, one at a time over these next four posts.
While many see introversion and extroversion as a matter of whether one is more inward focused or outward focused, the MBTI expresses it more as a matter of whether one gains energy from interaction with others–extroversion; or one’s energy is depleted through interaction with others–introversion. As an extreme extrovert, I gain energy through interaction with others. This has been a boon to my leadership over the years, because as a pastor I interact with hundreds of people every week, and particularly on the weekends when they attend corporate worship. I have the opportunity to stand in front of them to “preach” and interact with them before and after worship. Typically after several hours of that on the weekend I am wound up. Others in the same situation whose basic make up is introverted need to take a nap, or recharge in some other way. I’m not saying I never take a nap on Sunday afternoons, I do, but not because of my people interaction. I need a nap, because I’m 59 and I just need to give my body a break. After a nap I’m ready for me.
This distinction between introversion and extroversion impacts our leadership in many ways. After all, if interacting with people energizes us, we’re more likely to seek such interaction and be more comfortable being in the spotlight, which is a place leaders find ourselves often. At the same time introverts often reflect on their interactions with others in their recharging time and that is also a benefit to a leader. The fact is being an extrovert or an introvert is not an indicator of whether one will be an effective leader. It typically means we will approach leadership from a different angle, and either an introvert or an extrovert can be a great leader. The key is to use this aspect of our leadership to our benefit as leaders rather than as a stumbling block.
Because I am an extreme extrovert, I can overlook the need for reflection and recharging time. As noted already, I also need to recharge after a long Sunday morning. During that time, I typically rest my body, but may not take time to reflect on the morning, and to consider what went well and what could have been better. The reflection time will enhance my leadership, but only if I discipline my self to take it. In the same way, when an introvert interacts with others, or needs to be on the stage the situation itself may require the introvert to focus more energy, so he or she may not be fully present in the situation, and may come off as aloof or uncaring. This can be a point of development.
As we often remind ourselves, the unexamined life is not worth living, so it’s important for us to know whether we’re introverts or extroverts. That way we can emphasize the strengths of our style and minimize the potential weaknesses. If you don’t know which you are, it will be valuable for you to take some time to get to know which you are. If you already know, then reflect on your the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership style, which are a direct result of your being an introvert or an extrovert. Make a commitment to invest some time and energy to deepening your strengths and much less time overcoming the weaknesses inherent in your style. I have always appreciated John Maxwell’s reminder to invest 85% of our time enhancing our strengths and only 15% on developing our weaknesses, because our goal is to become more effective leaders, not having “strong weaknesses.”
Here’s to leading better by emphasizing the strength of our being introverts or extroverts–today!
Chris, It is refreshing to read your points on the value of both styles of Introverts and Extroverts. I am interested in your thoughts on something I am dealing with presently. I am the President of an electrical contracting company that my husband and I founded in 2014. We are at a place of growing our team. What has been your experience in building your teams based on Introverts/Extrovert. What has worked best for you? How have you picked your team members? What is the weight given to a potential team member on being an extrovert or an introvert?
Brenda,
To be honest I haven’t found the single trait of introversion or extroversion, being the key factor in finding a match for a team member. Obviously, certain positions seem to lend themselves more to one or the other. For example an up front person is at a natural advantage if he or she is an extrovert. Having said that, Pastor Brad is an introvert, and he does a great job of up front leadership. It is the overall combination of personality traits that we look at. I like Bill Hybels statement that the “three C’s” are most important when hiring/calling someone to a position. They are character, competence and chemistry. Character is obvious and is the most important for me. Competence can always be trained. Chemistry is an intangible, but is often the long-term factor that makes or breaks a staff person’s fit. Part of determining a chemistry match is just how the potential hire “feels.” Does he or she seem to “fit?” I know that sounds intangible, but in my experience it’s a lot more tangible than it sounds. After all if your first impression is, “I don’t really like this person, but he/she has the skills I need,” do you think he/she’ll fit over time? My experience is it’s unlikely. If you have the luxury of having both an extrovert and an introvert to do the interviewing when you’re hiring, and you both think the person’s a fit, that’s usually a good sign. Hope this helps.