Introverts Can Be Transformational Leaders, Too: A Data-Driven Perspective
6 minute read
We all have a mental image of the ideal leader, especially in the business world. It seems like the best leaders behave, operate, and interact in specific ways, but most of the time, these “perfect” leaders have been chosen and groomed for their roles because of their personalities.
Outgoing, extroverted candidates are considered more desirable, especially when the organization is looking for a transformational leader.
Yet as an introvert who has held a number of leadership positions, I have to question the belief that leaders must have a certain personality type to be successful.
Instead, I’d like to explore a different perspective: that introverts can be just as successful as extroverts in the realm of transformational leadership.
What It Means To Be A Leader
Successful leadership is about so much more than simply being one who leads. We’ve all experienced bad leadership from a boss, supervisor, or even a teacher or parent. Good leaders not only fulfill their leadership roles, but do so in a way that builds confidence, promotes teamwork, and prevents conflict.
However, there’s another category of leadership that I’d like to focus on: the transformational leader, or one who has the capacity to bring about change within the group that he or she leads.
Leadership expert and professor Andrew DuBrin has written that transformational leadership involves three factors: the leader’s accomplishments, their relationships with others, and their personal characteristics.
As DuBrin points out, personality is a significant attribute of transformational leadership, and extroversion is widely considered the preferred personality type for effective transformational leaders.
But how justified is that preference? Are introverts truly less qualified to be leaders who can revolutionize businesses and organizations? Before we look at the data, let’s take a moment to discuss what introversion and extroversion really mean.
Introversion and Extroversion
Introversion isn’t the same thing as being shy or submissive, just as extroversion isn’t about being dominant and aggressive, though for many individuals there is some correlation. For clear definitions of these terms, we can turn to the American Psychological Association:
Orientation toward the internal private world of one’s self and one’s inner thoughts and feelings, rather than toward the outer world of people and things. Introversion is a broad personality trait and, like extraversion, exists on a continuum of attitudes and behaviors. Introverts are relatively more withdrawn, retiring, reserved, quiet, and deliberate; they may tend to mute or guard expression of positive affect, adopt more skeptical views or positions, and prefer to work independently.
One of the elements of the Big Five and five-factor personality models, characterized by an orientation of one’s interests and energies toward the outer world of people and things rather than the inner world of subjective experience. Extraversion is a broad personality trait and, like introversion, exists on a continuum of attitudes and behaviors. Extraverts are relatively outgoing, gregarious, sociable, and openly expressive.
By these definitions, we can see leadership strengths and weaknesses for people of both personality types, but certainly nothing that suggests that introverts can’t be effective and successful leaders.
After all, deliberate people who approach proposals in a skeptical way, who are measured in how they express pleasure or displeasure, and who are comfortable making decisions independently can be a natural fit for leadership in many environments.
Introversion and Leadership
Although DuBrin suggests that extroverted leaders make better transformational leaders, there are limited sources that back this claim.
Many of the characteristics that DuBrin and other researchers identify as important for effective leadership — such as authenticity, assertiveness, and optimism — can be found in leaders of any personality type, regardless of his or her overall level of extroversion or introversion.
Let’s take authenticity as an example. For extroverts, it can look like the open expression of thoughts and emotions and an eagerness to share about interests and passions.
But introverts are just as likely to bring authenticity to their work; theirs might look like attention to who people really are and respect for other people’s privacy and internal lives, as well as considered opinions and decisions rather than offhand responses.
In my own leadership experience, I had the skills and qualities I needed for those positions, if not the extroversion that many people expected—but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t initiate changes in the organizations for which I worked with creative thinking. It’s possible that my personality had something to do with my ability to problem-solve with others, but problem-solving is a skill that anyone can learn.
As an undergraduate, I was the head copyeditor for the university’s literary magazine; later, I was the shift leader for a frozen yogurt store, campsite coordinator for a summer camp, and graduate student liaison for a behavioral health department.
From solving day-to-day issues around business operations to mediating personal conflicts between coworkers, I was responsible for a number of tasks that an extrovert would be expected to handle with ease but an introvert might struggle with.
For example, when fulfilling my role as a summer campsite coordinator, there were times when I had speak before the camp about behavioral issues and camper complaints. It was my decision to speak to the campers as a group—something many introverts would not willingly do.
WHERE INTROVERTS CAN ADD VALUE
According to DuBrin, transformational leaders do things like engage in innovative thinking, demonstrate emotional intelligence, and create a vision—all things that introverts are certainly capable of.
In fact, these responsibilities of a transformational leader play to the main strength of introverts, namely their comfort with taking time to themselves.
Because they would not be quick to jump to conclusions about an aspect of a business plan, for example, an introverted transformational leader would be more deliberate about their decision-making for themselves and for the group they lead.
One study published in the International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences even concluded that introverts are better at decision-making than extroverts because they rely on their own judgment and intuition and are less likely to make impulsive decisions.
The extroverts in this study were more likely to make snap decisions, postpone decisions to avoid thinking about them, and go with what felt natural at the moment. Extroverts were more likely to double-check their information, which is a practice introverts can easily adopt.
Introversion, Leadership, and Potential Employees
As you can see, the idea that being transformational and introverted are mutually exclusive starts to break down when you look at what introverted leaders can bring to the table.
Yet it’s not only that introverted personalities are capable of leadership, but that introverted leaders are complex individuals who shouldn’t be discounted for myriad reasons.
For example, how well a person can interact with others is not always based on personality. People are multifaceted; in addition to your natural tendencies, parts of who you are come from learned behaviors and societal expectations. Your upbringing, education, and previous work experience not only gave you knowledge and professional skills but shaped how you approach challenges and opportunities.
Employers can and should take this individuality into consideration. Exploring these skills with their candidates and employees can help introverted individuals can thrive in their roles without the pressure to exhibit extroverted behaviors on top of the position's responsibilities.
Rather than worrying that introverted candidates may not be a good fit for leadership roles, employers can instead look at what they can bring to the position and how they can complement other skills already on the team.
NEXT STEPS FOR EMPLOYERS
If you’re an employer, you can start by taking another look at the role itself—which parts of it are a natural fit for introverts that other candidates may struggle with? How could an introverted leader bring new energy to the role and the initiatives he or she will be responsible for?
Whether they’re heading up a team of people who will benefit from a calm and deliberative leader or joining a leadership team that needs more personality diversity, introverts can be a major asset to an organization.
Because they don’t always have to be the star, introverts are comfortable helping their whole team shine, highlighting individual contributors and working toward the good of the group. Your next introverted leadership candidate may have not only the qualities to build a vision for the future, but the tools to carry it out.