"Is that typically something for introverts?", is something I regularly hear during my workshops and sessions with clients. Although there are certainly things that every introvert has to deal with, the picture is a bit more nuanced. In fact, every introvert is different.
Quiet. A thinker. Analytical. People oriented. These are just some of the features I often heard in my conversations with introverted leaders when I asked them how they view themselves. You could therefore say that these are qualities of introverts or even introverted leaders.
Yet it is not all that simple. Even scientists still disagree on what the exact definition of introversion is. Based on everything I have read and my conversations with introverted leaders, I therefore made my own definition:
"An introvert is someone who recharges when he or she is alone. He or she likes to be with other people, but prefers to do so in smaller groups. He or she needs more time to recharge, think and analyze things than an extrovert does. "
More aspects
So much for the things introverts have in common. There are many more aspects that make you the way you are. For example, to what extent you are open to new things. Or whether or not you are organized as a person.
You can map all these things using a questionnaire about your personality, the Big Five. In addition to introversion, it shows four other dimensions: agreeableness, emotional stability, conscientiousness and openness. Those dimensions all influence your personality as much as your score on introversion does.
In addition, it is also true that introversion is partly innate and partly influenced by your environment. Are your parents more introverted or more extroverted? That makes a big difference. The environment in which you grow up and the schools you attend also do.
Stretch zone
Finally, there is your own agility as an introvert. Introversion and extraversion are scales, within which you can move as a person. Because of the environment in which you grow up, you also learn to show more or less extraverted behavior from time to time: your stretch zone. If you have practiced a lot with this, you will be able to go further than people who have done so less often. That also ultimately influences your personality.
As you can see, it is not so easy to only link certain properties to your introverted side. Personality is a complex set of various characteristics that you combine as a person. That makes you unique and therefore different from other introverts. And you can certainly be proud of that.
Do you want to know more about what makes you unique? I offer you the opportunity to take the Big Five test in order to gain more insight into yourself. This costs 49.95 euros including debriefing. Feel free to contact me for more information.
