Apparently, the third week of March is set aside for National Introverts Week—at least according to National Day Calendar. It’s a week to celebrate the power of introversion, which I’ve blogged about before with summaries of books like Quiet Strength, Quiet Influence, and Susan Cain’s blockbuster Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.
Many assume that business leaders must be extroverts. After all, they are constantly in the public eye; they regularly appear on TV. At speaking engagements, they lead meetings, they’re master networkers and salespeople, and they have to be the face of their companies. But consider these successful introverts: Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft); Elon Musk (see my post about his leadership here); Ivan Misner (founder of BNI, the largest networking organization in the world); and Zig Ziglar (one of the best-known salespeople of all time).
And in the entertainment industry, there are powerful introverts like Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, and Emma Watson, just to name a few.
During National Introverts Week, achievement is not a matter of personality or sociability; it comes down to an introvert’s ability to discover and master the strategies to harness their inherent strengths.
As an introvert myself, I’ll celebrate the week with John Maxwell’s book The Self-Aware Leader: Play to Your Strengths, Unleash Your Team.
Click here for a summary