What if nobody wants to talk to me? How do I break the ice? What if I run out of things to say? How do I join a conversation in a way that isn't awkward? If these thoughts race through your mind every time you even think about going to a networking event, this series is for you. It's for the wallflowers, the lone wolves, the late bloomers, the bookworms—anybody who would rather take a quiet solitary walk than be thrust into a room full of strangers.
I have taken many personality tests throughout my career, and while I've certainly grown and evolved, one thing stays constant: I am an "I" for Introvert. This can be challenging, especially in a world that seems to overvalue extroversion. In Susan Cain's "Quiet," she refers to it as "'the Extrovert Ideal'—the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight." And it's backed up with some pretty worrying studies. "Talkative people, for example," she writes, "are rated as smarter, better-looking, more interesting, and more desirable as friends." Pretty dire stuff.
But I'm here to say that it's not all doom and gloom for the Introverts of the world. You don't have to be loud to be a leader. You don't have to be charismatic to be influential. Introverts have their strengths too. We can be thoughtful, reflective, measured, and because of this, we often have the best ideas in the room but might not get the opportunity to share them. As Cain points out, we "prefer to work independently, and solitude can be a catalyst for innovation." So with this in mind, how do we make space for ourselves in a world where Extroverts seem to hold all the cards?
Stay tuned for the next installment of Confessions of an Introverted Businesswoman...
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