The Introverted Leader

Article by Dr. John E. Kello

An oxymoron?

I have been thinking for some time about the concept of the “Introverted”, or “analytical” leader, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, our everyday conceptions of leadership revolve around Extraverted traits; speak up, take control, direct others, take action, be the energetic, persuasive, even charismatic individual that others therefore “naturally” want to follow. Additionally, leaders are commonly seen as necessarily being the big picture, creative, blue-sky, visionary types, who can think about what might be, and not be limited by mundane considerations of what is; they are conceptual rather than analytical. 

Much of the popular literature on personality type supports the same everyday conception of leadership. In the popular Myers-Briggs typology, as a prominent example, Extraverted forms of each type are typically identified as the “natural” leaders of that type. In particular, Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging (ESTJ) types and especially Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging types (ENTJ) are most commonly identified as having the leader profile. The ESTJ personality is labeled “Life’s Natural Administrator” and ENTJ is labeled “Life’s Natural Leader” in some pop literature on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The Introverted forms of those profiles (ISTJ and INTJ) are not labeled as leaders. They are, respectively, “Life’s Natural Organizer” and “Life’s Independent Thinker”; not especially exciting stuff, to be sure.

Other personality/leadership typologies typically yield a very similar picture. If you are “outgoing and sociable”, you have the Extraverted wiring of a leader. If you are a detail-oriented analyzer, not so much.

The Analytical Leader?

But recent surveys of people in top corporate leadership positions, and indeed some of the older research on personality type and career, paint a rather different picture. It turns out that some of the most common pathways into very top leadership roles, including topmost CEO positions, are through engineering, finance, or operations. There is an abundance of data to suggest that those particular professional roles are staffed by disproportionate numbers of analytical, Introverted individuals. 

Beyond that, even a cursory read of the iconic and widely cited Good to Great indicates that the most effective business leaders, those who have presided over astonishing gains in the performance of their companies, the so-called “level 5” leaders, hardly fit an Extraverted “classical leader” stereotype. Indeed, instead of being the “big ego” leader with a thousand helpers, in most ways they present as analyticals, who combine the Introvert’s tenacity and focus (on the business) with great humility, and a willingness to share leadership (leader of a thousand leaders).

How could Introverts in positions of leadership inspire others? Aren’t they socially somewhat inept, and more disposed to individual- contributor, even “solitary” work?

Preferences, not Limitations

One of the common myths about analytical personalities (and indeed other “types” as well) is their behavioral preferences are narrowly defined traits, with little chance of showing up in any other way. The missing piece to that assumption, and a critical one, is that the traits really are “preferences”, and not immutable limitations.

In interpreting personality profile data with individuals or teams, I have often used the analogy that personality “type” characteristics are like handedness. Most people are firmly right-handed. That is their “preferred” hand. The other one is not limp at their side, but most tasks, certainly the unilateral ones, are done with the right hand.

But what if that is not possible? What if a sprained wrist, a broken finger, or hand surgery renders the preferred hand out of commission? We do not go unfed, teeth unbrushed, hair uncombed, etc. We shift over to the other hand, and unfamiliar as that may be, we get by.

The preferred behaviors associated with the Introverted analytical type sometimes don’t fit the situation. Even the most die-hard Introvert lives in a social world, and a world that often requires quick decisions in the absence of a complete data set. But when some “Extraverting” is required, most analytical types can do it. It may be tiring (even exhausting), but they can meet and greet, take quick action, and generally get out of their comfort zone – they can go southpaw for a while, when circumstances require it.  

The key is that most successful people, whatever particular personality type (again, a preference) they possess, have developed “work around” behaviors. They have identified, maybe at a purely intuitive level, or maybe through explicit coaching and training, modes of thinking and acting that are outside their natural preference, sometimes even opposite to their natural preference, but which fit the requirements of the situation. All types have some capacity to be flexible.

As a particularly dramatic example, I have worked with a couple of highly successful individuals in sales leadership roles who are strong Introverts. Sales is a career which attracts Extraverts, by the very nature of the work. Indeed, at the level of the calling sales rep, it would be hard to think of many jobs that were more suited to the “big personality”, socially-oriented Extravert. Sales reps have to meet and greet comfortably, take the initiative in relationship building, remember people’s names (and other important things about them such as family, hobbies, etc.), handle rejection and move on quickly.  And indeed, in my experience the vast majority of sales reps are Extraverts.

But think about the job of the executive with leadership responsibility in sales. Much of that work requires market analysis, forecasting, coordination with marketing and production, communicating expectations to the sales team, and so on. This is work more suited to the Introvert temperament.

Tellingly, my couple of Introverted sales leader friends both freely acknowledge that they were challenged early in their careers by the more social/interpersonal parts of the sales rep job. They learned to do it, and to do it well, but to use my handedness analogy, it was very left-handed for them. And as well as they were able to bring it off, it wore them out. A customer golf outing with lots of new faces, and chit-chatting with folks thereafter at the “19th hole” -- the Extravert’s dream day -- drained them.

Having progressed in their careers, the higher level and more strategic role of the VP of Sales drew on their “right-handed” skills of analysis and data-driven decision-making, much of it in a more solitary than social setting – a natural comfort zone. But they can “Extravert” on demand.

The good news for those of us who are more introspective, cautious, detail-oriented, data-driven, and maybe a bit slower to warm up and harder to get to know, is that we are not thereby out of the running for positions of leadership, in production, sales, marketing, safety, or any other organizational roles. Indeed, quite the contrary. Being more “ambidextrous” is a real advantage, and one which can be cultivated. Thus, many Introverts enjoy very high levels of influence and professional success.

Still water runs deep, as the old saying goes. It also runs into the C-suite. Don’t mistakenly minimize the impact of the analyticals among us; they can lead as well as follow. There are more than a few in top positions, or poised for top positions in many organizational settings. Don’t discount the Introverted leader.