As we explore the relationship between personality types and suitable leadership roles, we find that both introversion and extroversion have their potential fit in different team settings. Studies indicate that extroverted leaders are particularly effective when team members are accustomed to compliance and responsibility. Such leaders are often seen as the pathfinders of the team, their vision, conviction, vitality, and strong social networks bring positive impacts to the team.
On the contrary, when team members are active and proactive themselves, willing to propose innovative ideas and improved strategies, introverted leaders are more beneficial for leveraging their strengths. In such team settings, extroverted leaders may feel threatened because proactive employees might inadvertently undermine their authority and status.
Research also reveals that introverted individuals make up one-third to half of the overall population. Despite this, many workplaces seem to favor extroverted personalities, who enjoy group activities, socializing, sharing ideas, and draw energy from these interactions. Introverts, on the other hand, prefer tranquility, solitude, and tend to think carefully before speaking or acting, establishing close and solid one-on-one relationships.
In a workplace environment that focuses on teamwork and leading others, how do these personality inclinations affect individual development? According to research, this depends on the type of team members. For those who tend towards passivity, extroverted leaders usually perform better; however, when team members are more spontaneous and proactive, introverted leaders are able to demonstrate their advantages.
This finding confirms the research concept of “dominance complementarity,” which suggests that a team is often more cohesive and efficient when the number of dominant personalities is close to the number of submissive personalities. We can test this theory with a quick quiz: rate the accuracy of the description of your personality from 1 to 5, with 5 being very accurate and 1 being completely inaccurate. Those scoring below 10 may be introverted.
To further verify this hypothesis, researchers studied a pizza chain operating in the United States. Due to the highly similar business models between shops, research has found that success is directly linked to the leadership style of extroverted leaders and the proactivity of employees.
Through an analysis of the profitability of 57 different shops, we explored the impact of extroverted leadership. Researchers assessed the extroversion level of the supervisors in the shops, mainly observing their resilience, eloquence, courage, and positivity. Meanwhile, an average of 6 to 7 employees from each shop participated in a survey on team proactivity, which covered the frequency of suggesting improvements, trying new business strategies, and building better workflows.
Over the following seven weeks, researchers tracked the profitability of each shop, excluding factors outside of the managers’ control such as the average price of pizza orders and the total working hours of the employees. The study results showed that shops managed by extroverted leaders had significantly higher profits when the employees were more passive; conversely, if the employees were more proactive, the earnings of these shops were relatively lower. Specifically, when team members were generally passive, shops led by extroverted leaders made about 16% more profit than those led by introverted leaders; however, in the case of generally proactive team members, their profit was about 14% lower than that of shops managed by introverted leaders. This finding is just as we expected, that extroverted leaders are more suited to managing passive teams, while they may not be as effective with proactive teams.
Further investigation also reveals that introverted leaders utilize their strengths to inspire the potential of team members, although they may face certain constraints in the current work organization methods. For instance, in the corporate meeting culture, fluent speech is often seen as the key to success. However, in such an environment where high confidence, charisma, and interactive abilities are crucial, introverts might choose to remain silent. Such behavior is not only detrimental to themselves but could also negatively impact the company.
So, how do we guide those quiet and steady employees to express their views? Some company practices could be drawn upon for reference. For example, at Amazon, every meeting begins with absolute silence, and every participant needs to spend 20 to 30 minutes in joint quiet reading of the meeting’s agenda summary. The reason for this practice is that Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, is well aware that many employees have not prepared the materials before the meeting, and joint reading ensures that everyone’s attention is focused on the important issues at hand.
The author of the summary needs to think carefully during the writing process, presenting it in the form of a story, which includes points of conflict, solutions, and must be innovative and ensure customer satisfaction. This meeting method allows both introverted and extroverted members to present constructive views in an equal discussion environment. Clearly, Bezos choose to ban PPT, to encourage employees to present their points of view through clear logical thinking.
In the end, this meeting structure and preparation process not only enhance the efficiency of the meeting but also, by encouraging writing as a method of thinking and reflection, strengthens the self-management skills and decision participation of the attendees. After in-depth reading, participants can understand, share, and analyze the data more focused and thoroughly, thereby ensuring the quality and significance of the team debate.
In today’s enterprises, introverted leaders can achieve work efficiency and interpersonal benefits that are as high, if not higher than extroverted leaders in certain work environments. To do this, the key is that introverted leaders must deeply understand their own personality traits and learn how to create a suitable environment for themselves before potential personality barriers arise.
During meetings, adjusting the process to give introverts time to organize their thoughts and encourage them to share their insights can greatly enhance the overall contribution of the team. This practice not only allows introverts the opportunity to express themselves but also encourages extroverts to listen and reflect, thus more actively embracing the opinions of their introverted colleagues.
Through this approach, management can not only take into account the opinions of extroverted employees but also appreciate the valuable suggestions from introverted staff. In enterprises, whether extroverted or introverted, both have great potential and prospects, and it is important to recognize that each personality type can bring out their unique advantages in different circumstances.
