Looking for fair and balanced (leadership) reporting
You don’t have to be an extrovert to be a good leader, says Douglas Lang who, he confesses, is an introvert.
MY confession as an introvert: • I don’t enjoy gatherings with lots of
people. • I don’t have lots of different friends. • I am quite happy spending time on
my own. • I find networking tiring. • I’m much happier listening rather
than talking. • I don’t have a strong opinion about many things. When I was younger and maybe less worldly-wise, many of the above things seemed to be at odds with what you saw or heard that ‘successful’ leaders and people were doing. They had strong views, were quick decision makers, assertive (aggressive), impulsive, risk-taking, gregarious, loud, etc. So, for a period of time I thought this meant that I would never be a successful leader or person.
Over the past few years as I’ve worked with leaders in organisations, and investigated and understood more, I now realise I was / am a leader – just a different type from the extroverted picture we are fed by the media. Like the evening news which focuses on death, violence and drama, there tends to be a focus in the press on more extreme, extroverted examples of leadership (think Richard Branson; Donald Trump etc.) as they are more ‘exciting’ and newsworthy.
If you believed the daily news was a fair reflection of society you would have a skewed view of reality. The same is true of the way that the media portrays leadership. Many successful leaders achieve quietly and unobtrusively. But this isn’t exciting so you don’t hear a lot about them.
Here’s my pitch – It’s time to rebalance the picture and tune into an alternative channel. That channel
Level 5 characteristics include personal humility and professional will, with ambition being more about the good of the company rather than themselves. Level 5 leaders are modest, self-effacing and understated; workmanlike and deliberate.”
shows that both extroverted and introverted leaders can be successful by understanding their respective strengths and blockers as well as how to get the best from people who have a different behavioural style.
That channel features examples of leaders who are able to get out of the way and allow their teams to flourish without needing to direct them; leaders who are great listeners and coaches; leaders who are able to work quietly and effectively without needing to tell everyone about it.