Over the course of the past decade, terms like “extrovert” and “introvert” have been used extensively as labels for people. These tags are often accompanied with assumptions about personalities and preferences of the people in question. Introverts are assumed to be meek while the most cheery ones are labeled as extroverts. Human personalities range over a spectrum, it is strictly unfair to box separate individuals for one label or the other. 

What does being an “Introvert” mean?

 “Shy”, “Quiet”, “Awkward” 

These are the first words that come to mind when we think about introverts, but is that all there is to introversion? In the early 1900s the psychology field had started to develop individually as a discipline and had peaked interest of several people. During this era, did Carl Jung, a Swiss Psychiatrist introduced his “Personality Theory”. This theory has provided us with a fundamental concept for the term “Introvert”. 

Being an introvert is not just about staying at the sidelines and watching the show unfold. Introvert refers to an individual that energizes oneself by spending time alone according to Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength.They prefer having heart to heart conversations and spending time with the ones they feel comfortable with, rather than engaging in activities that result in small talk and insincere chatter. 

Are extroverts better than introverts?

As mentioned earlier, human personalities lie over a spectrum, imagine a bell curve and on the two extremes we have our two personality types introvert and extrovert. It would be a gross misinterpretation to assume that every individual on this planet either lies on one or the other end. In reality all of us lie somewhere between that bell curve, humans don’t come in binary terms. However, what makes us different is the side we naturally leans toward.

The problem with the world of today is that while extroversion is highly appreciated and cheered on, introversion is considered somewhat of a plague or a disease. Introversion is associated with lack of confidence. These sort of assumptions more often than not often kill many golden opportunities for several people that lie towards the introverted side of the scale. 

21st Century And The Introverts

Before we can talk about today it is important to examine how we got here. The 20th century was considered the era of the extrovert. The communication dynamic totally shifted towards extroversion and constant social interaction was something to strive for. Those who excelled at it became leaders. But as author Susan Cain puts it, “there is zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”

Although extroverts have their own particular charm and charisma and do exceptionally well in places where they have to use their skills in convincing people yet it can not be entirely stated that extroverts perform better in business models than introverts. They tend to be less critical of

their own work and tend to often miss some important details. Introverts are great listeners which helps them with their great interpersonal skills. There are many great examples of introverts being great leaders like Mark Zuckerbrg, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak and many more. These people didn’t use silver tongue to amass people towards their ideas but rather their work. 

A healthy balance among the team of both personalities can provide much better results than a team solely consisting of one or the other. The extroverts can use their charm for the marketing scenarios while the introverts can be more detail oriented and ensure precision in work. 

Whether an extrovert or an introvert it is important to remember to slow down and breathe during our hectic lives of 21st century. Everyone is different  It is okay to be either an introvert or an extrovert or maybe somewhere in between! As long as we are happy with ourselves.