Published on August 16, 2020
Two sides of every coin! This eternal truth obviously applies to the science of Introvert’s success too! My Previous Blog highlighted one side of the coin – pointers for org leadership and culture to jointly celebrate introverts’ success stories. And this blog highlights the other side of the coin – self-retrospection and course-correction!
And so, presenting this 10 Points Guide for introverts to help them create bigger and better impact in their personal, professional and social lives:
1. Be nice and respectful to yourself! First, respect and accept yourself as you are! As I had written in my previous blog, one third to half of the population are introverts and introverts have been extraordinary leader examples! Being introvert is expressing your energy in certain ways; it’s not the energy itself! Introverts’ behavior is outcome of chemical processes in their brains but it’s never throwing deadly acids of harmful acts! So, when you accept this very commonly echoed human behavior, you will find other steps attainable. First rule is – Love and respect yourself. Smile. Talk straight. Make eye contact. Head held high. Maintain confident posture. Dress well and Be presentable!
2. Seek feedback: Being introvert is just not about working in silos! Data and Analysis, Presentation, Delivery, Quality, Process, Small Talk, Meeting, Your and Your Team’s performance, Your Situation Handling Approach, Your Learning and Career Path – Seek feedback on these from right set of people. This will help you in avoiding failures or failing fast and keep building yourself with higher efficiently.
3. Speak data! Many Introverts carry tendency of not highlighting their own success or promoting their own brand. Cultivate the habit of speaking through data! Setup the practice and process to build, maintain, and analyze the data about your assignments in hand, your vision and mission. I mean the data of innovational accounting and business values and not traditional metrics! Setup a regular cadence to project and publish this data to right stakeholders. Letting data speak means letting your work speak!
4. Demonstrate value to follow workers: Both science and references have proven that Introverts have deep thinking and observation skills. Use this asset of yours! Stand out with your observation skills and emotional intelligence. Build your value through these skills and create a strong positive impact on your team and people around you.
5. Look from the other side! This is one of the success mantras for everyone for everywhere! In dark and hazy circumstances, don’t be quick in criticizing the other side person or system. Expand your thought process and understand challenges s/he would be facing. This will specially help introverts in not cultivating negative feelings for the entity (whether be it people, group of people, situation, or organization) at the other side and keep presenting their best version in any case!
6. Learn to Speak Small! Don’t always remain in close cocoon. Try to open up during your group and personal conversations. Start with people with whom you feel more comfortable and slowly extend horizons. It’s just about breaking that barrier. Once you start, you will overcome the fear very easily! Talk about travels, food, hangout spots, movies, books, famous people, current affairs, industry trends and you will notice the difference of getting engaged! If you have an opinion, learn to participate and speak! Do not overthink but let your thoughts mingle with words of their choice
7. Cultivate and maintain relationships: One of the key attributes homo sapiens are different than other species is the bond of relationship and affection they ponder. There will be many people around you sharing similar interests as yours. Have coffee breaks or go for walks with them. Offer them help in small things or seek inputs when you are in need. Feeling of inner happiness is created through bonds of relations and that builds better and stronger You!
8. Have a mentor: Having a mentor is important for anyone. It is more important for introverts because they open up and perform outstanding with them. They are among their rare go-to persons for seeking advice, preparing progress plans in personal, professional and social lives. An introvert is a window; gazing at beautiful sunshine in that spectacular nature from the frame. A mentor is the door; that takes in that beautiful word of opportunities, satisfaction, and success!
9. Don’t wait to be perfectionist. Start! Apple’s first personal computer was launched 1976 and was terminated in 1977 (configuration of 1 MHz CPU and 60 Hz resolution)! And now look at the 7th Gen iPad! What if Apple would have refrained launching that 1st ever Mac worrying about limitations the company already knew? Important is to start! To take that first step and go from there! Remember that no one was born perfect but those who have made histories have worked day and night and failed multiple times for accomplishing the level where they reached! As per this Japanese proverb: “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
10. Be determined to come out of your comfort zone! Finally, what can drive all above points is your determination and desire to elevate yourself! After the first step, persistence is the key to be successful in this transformation journey! Your decision should not be like that New Year exercise resolutions which kept by only 8% people who took them! You have to be self-disciplined and self-motivated to bring that change within you. And it’s not that difficult too! First – Be clear on why you want to bring that change in your life. Pen it down and read it frequently. Second – Sharpen your honest observation skills. Observe people around you and learn from them. Third – Pen down instances in your daily diary where you could apply improvements and where you could not. These are the best practices to self-analyze keep yourself focused! As it’s a big step towards changing your regular behavior, it might take some time, but science and facts say that its guaranteed possible.
I’ll end with this quote of Henri Bergson: “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”
P.S.: I received encouragement from my COO Manish Mathuria for writing this sequel of my previous blog on Introverts’ contribution. I am always grateful for his leadership and guidance!
Image courtesy: Unsplash.com
