Tag Archives: leaders

Introverted Leader piece lives on

Things are supposed to live on the web forever. However, I had a recent surprise when my astute friend and PR whiz Patti Danos noticed that my 2009 Forbes piece  “Why Introverts Make the Best Leaders”  disappeared from their site. Alas…turns out they were doing some house/site cleaning. Whew.. After some queries we are back in business. I think it stands the test of time but tell me what you think. Do we view introverted leaders any differently now that introverts have grabbed major buzz???? Do you think these qualities apply to Introverted Leaders in 2013?

 

Tips Introverts Can Use to Get Heard

Not that being an introvert doesn’t have some pluses, too. Kathleen McFeeters, president and CEO of dressmaker Donna Morgan, spent 15 years in the fashion biz before co-founding her own company. “I was always one of the top moneymakers, but as a typical introvert, I never asked for raises or promotions,” she says. “On the other hand, if I hadn’t spent so many years just keeping my head down and working very, very hard, I doubt I would ever have had the skills to start a company.”

She adds, “Even now, we’re one of the top women-owned businesses in New York, but we don’t really seek fame or publicity. We like being quietly successful.” Nothing wrong with that–is there?

Read the rest here.

 

Do We Have To Talk Out Everything?

Two introverted participants in a recent communications seminar told me how frustrated they both were. What about? It turns out their company wants them to “talk out” project ideas to a variety of people outside their internal group. This is the new expectation in their culture – that   they float ideas in the early stages. These introverted leaders are concerned that this reluctance to carefully think through ideas before sending them half baked into the “corporate universe”results in lower quality output.

Yet they know that they will have to get with the program and are trying to figure out how to create a healthy balance between thinking and talking..a common organizational challenge for introverts.
 Taking time to pause so that we can carefully consider proposals(even sleep on it?) makes total sense. It is hard to do when the  message is “Talk to us, talk to us!”