A workplace usually has a wide range of personalities. The office can offer endless fodder for the social anthropologist researching human interaction. On the other hand, it can also be a constant battleground for some. Working together and getting along day-in, day-out can be a delicate balancing act.
Most people find a niche by navigating their colleagues’ quirks and characteristics. But what happens when extremes collide? There are no greater opposites than the introvert and extrovert. When placed in a room and forced to spend time together, these opposite personalities can clash, but they can also come out as the best of friends.
The extreme introvert certainly seems to get the worst rap: the quiet and shy recluse, always wrapped up in his or her own thoughts. It seems as though introverts are always pushed to be more extroverted. There’s a notion that being on the shyer side doesn’t breed success. Taken at face value, the stereotype is deflating, and often untrue. There are a number of purportedly introverted celebrities that turn this perception on its heels: Jerry Seinfeld; David Letterman; Meryl Streep. While they may enjoy some alone time, they can certainly can display personality and wit for the camera.
The extreme extrovert can just as easily be pigeonholed: overly gregarious; loud; obnoxious, even dumb. This person doesn’t know when to leave people alone. Extroverts can garner an equally bad rap for seeming to take over a situation: intimidating and overshadowing the quiet talents of the introvert; an equally disparaging, and like all stereotypes, untrue.
What is true is that these personality types can rub each other the wrong way. So how can these extremes combine rather than collide?
Here are some tips that might help the introvert and extrovert work together and overcome their stereotypical behaviours.
Are you busy?
Ask before barging in to an introvert’s office. Although being sequestered to a quiet corner to focus on work may feel like a jail sentence for an extrovert, someone who tends to be more introverted cherishes space and quiet. Allow an introvert their space and ask before you engage.
Taking the Stage
Talking to a crowd and feeding off the energy of a group is precisely where an extrovert feels at home. For the introvert, presentations or crowds may be the bane of their employment. Split projects into sections that cater to each other’s strengths, but also realize that it’s sometimes good to push your comfort zone. Although presentations may provoke some anxiety for the introvert, take a page from your extroverted colleague and try your best to have fun with it.
Everyone has an opinion
Although it’s easy for an extrovert to enter into and hold a discussion, it may not come as naturally for their more introverted colleague. Asking for an introvert’s opinion will encourage them to join in the conversation. If you do tend to be introverted it’s just as important to remember that your opinion still has equal value.
The key to success when opposites collide is to recognize and support each others’ differences. It is equally important to recognize your own natural inclinations.
As important as these tips may be in a workplace, understanding and drawing on your natural abilities in an interview will also help provide strong answers and solutions to the age old question dreaded by both extroverts and introverts: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Although this article attempts to debunk some misconceptions, there are a couple that it perpetuates. Introversion does not always equate shyness. Also, I am strongly introverted and making small talk in a roomful of strangers is exhausting, but I do not consider myself to be shy. I find defending my point in a small group is a chore. However, I am an effective and comfortable public speaker. I believe that extroverts must learn that silence need not always be filled.
I consider myself an introvert because I have always been more relaxed and happy alone. I have had a very successful career for 35 year even though it has required me to work with many people daily. I have been thanked by co-workers for being a friendly, helpful manager but have been accused of being standoffish because I have no interest in idle chit chat at work. My pet peeve is people that feel the need to immediately start talking and communicating the second they enter a room. I can work silently for hours, even days so please just leave me alone when I’m busy….I don’t need to engage in visiting or answering never ending questions. Don’t keep asking me if I am mad at you just because I am not talking, if I’m mad at you I will let you know….I’m not mad I’m busy.
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