Look at the leaders around you.
What do you see?
Calm, reasoned individuals,
who listen, and make considered judgements?
Or something very different?
Great leaders are often seen as classic confident, extroverts
who can speak without thinking,
react rapidly and change tack pretty frequently.
It’s what best-selling author Susan Cain calls
“The Extrovert Ideal”.
But is this really what we need right now?
I’d argue that the crises of our time need a more considered approach.
A quieter one.
Let’s look at the status quo.
Extroverts are over-represented in senior leadership positions.
One study found an incredible 98% of top executives scoring “very high”
or “above average” on the extrovert scale.
But people aren’t on the whole satisfied with their leaders.
Could there be a connection between the two?
There are lots of examples through history
of successful leaders who have taken that quieter approach.
For example, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, or Bill Gates.
Research shows that introverts often bring a great deal to the table.
They’re more likely to listen and process the ideas of their team,
and consider those ideas deeply before acting on them.
They may be humble
and more likely to credit their team for ideas and performance.
And because their motivation generally comes from within,
they’re less likely to compromise themselves
chasing rewards like money or power.
I think we need to re-examine the way our society
views effective leadership, and whether we really are allowing
the space for all team members to thrive.
Research suggests that between 40 and 60% of employees
tend to the quieter, more introverted, side of things.
They can often feel invisible in meetings,
because their thoughtful approach means they have difficulty
responding to those common on the spot questions.
Many leadership courses can tend to focus on extroverted team activities,
such as networking and presentations,
leaving quieter people perhaps mistakenly believing
they just don’t have the qualities of a “good” leader.
An approach that fails to bring out the best in around half of us
is not just bad for quieter people, it’s a disservice to us all.
Leadership is complex, but in a world of soundbites,
sledgehammer tactics and black-and-white thinking,
perhaps standing back and listening
can be empowering to leaders and their followers.
As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu puts it,
the best leaders are those that “talk little”
and when their work is done and their aims fulfilled,
their followers will say,
“We did it ourselves.”