5 Leadership Practices for Introverts

Fellow introverts—what leadership tactics work for you? Let us know in the comments!

 In my career, I’ve found that leadership is often associated with words like "charisma," "power," "outgoing," and "confident.” As a result, introverts and other quiet changemakers may have difficulties with envisioning what their type of leadership looks like at the office.

The core aspects of leadership—such as those described by transformational leadership researchers James MacGregor Burns, Bernard M. Bass, James Kouzes, and Barry Posner, and by Good to Great author Jim Collins—reflect ideas that are in total alignment with introverted personality types. Basically, this means that you don't need to be in a position of authority or have a formal leadership role to practice these leadership characteristics.

Here are a few leadership practices for introverts to improve their confidence as leaders:

1. Recognize your colleagues as individuals

Good leaders learn the interests and preferences of their colleagues; they engage in two-way communication.

Rather than seeking to be the center of attention for a large team, introverts can excel through one-on-one or small group communication. Through these individual interactions, they can learn about their colleagues' work styles and preferences, which allows them to more effectively assign and review work.

Here are questions to reflect on that can help you become a better leader for your team:

• Do I know anything about the lives of my colleagues outside of work?
• What are my team members’ strengths and weaknesses?
• Which parts of their jobs do my colleagues love/hate?
• What skills do my colleagues have that they don’t have a chance to share in their jobs?
• How do my colleagues work best?

2. Provide opportunities for others to demonstrate their knowledge

Good leaders provide space for intellectual discussion and look to others with advice, rather than trying to dominate a conversation.

As great listeners, introverts often pick up on other people’s skills and expertise. To extend this unique skill to a leadership practice, here are some questions for the introverts among us to reflect on:

• Who knows more than me in an area I’d like to improve in? What advice can I ask of them?
• What projects am I working on that others may be interested in getting involved with?
• Who would be interested in joining me about a discussion on ________?
• Are there opportunities for my colleagues to lead mini-professional development lunches so that we can learn from each other?

3. Be a role model

Good leaders follow through on commitments. They have strong characters and are consistent in their beliefs. They offer to help others for the good of the team.

Introverts can practice this aspect of leadership by knowing their values and contributing to a positive environment for their direct reports. When enacting this leadership practice, it’s good to reflect on the following questions:

• Does my current workload allow me to follow through on all commitments?
• Do my values align with those of the organization?
• Are my interactions with others generally positive, or do I focus on the negative or gossip too much?
• Do I help others and provide others the opportunity to help me when times are tough?

4. Focus on the big picture

Good leaders ensure that the work they assign their team aligns with the mission and values of the organization. They help keep people focused on the end goal(s).

Prone to reflection, introverts are naturally good at taking time to analyze their purpose, as well as that of the organization. Try extending this skill to become a better leader by considering: 

• Do I understand how my work and that of my colleagues connects the purpose of the organization and can I communicate that to others?
• Am I able to communicate how our work positively impacts society?
• What aspect of my organization’s work really invigorates me?
• Who in my network would also enjoy talking about the bigger picture of our organization’s work and/or the type of work I contribute to the movement?

5. Be humble

Good leaders are driven to achieve a purpose, but they aren’t interested in taking all the credit or blaming others for failure. They are strong yet reflective.

As introverts often over-think past interactions, they may be at risk for over-blaming themselves when things don’t work out. Being a good leader means cutting yourself some slack, too, so focus your reflection on the following points:

• Do I know what I want to achieve in my role?
• Who else can I credit for my successes?
• What have I learned from past failures and missteps, and how can I share that learning with others?
• Am I spending time on my purpose? Or are my personal issues getting in the way of success?

The concept of “leadership” as something to aspire to can be alienating; if you don't have (or want) a job that involves supervising others, it can be hard to see yourself as a leader. Other people think they have to speak up often to be recognized as a leader, so they take themselves out of the running for that upcoming promotion or leadership position.

I hope that by now you know this isn’t true. Leadership doesn’t have to be the cookie cutter description we’ve all been taught to aspire to, and there is room for introverts to take on a leadership role. By practicing many of the leadership practices that align with your skills as an introvert, you will find it’s a lot easier to motivate and lead others than you think.

About the Author | Trina Isakson is founder and principal thinker at 27 Shift and leads research and strategy projects that uncover innovations and challenge assumptions about how people contribute positively to society. She also teaches a variety of university courses on community development and nonprofit leadership and management, and is founder of the Quiet Changemaker Project.