Feb 15, 2019
Does your organization value the role of their introverts in the workplace? Are you an introvert who has struggled to find your voice? Do you want to help your workplace become more equitable for introverts? Here to help us understand introverts and how we can best empower them is Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler.
Jennifer is an author and global speaker hailed as a "champion for introverts." Her bestselling books, “The Introverted Leader,” “Quiet Influence,” and “The Genius of Opposites” have been translated into sixteen languages and help introverts throughout the world expand their leadership capacity.
Jennifer has been invited to deliver keynote speeches and seminars in Australia, Vietnam, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Paraguay. She has also been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
Chances are you are an introvert or someone in your family is one. We can’t all be the life of the party and everyone’s best friend. If you don’t understand how introverts operate, here is a brief rundown of some of their characteristics, keep in mind that introversion and extroversion exist on a spectrum.
You might be an introvert if…
Throughout their conversation, Mark and Jennifer continue to elaborate on these characteristics as they expand their discussion on introversion. You can also further your education on introverts in the workplace by reading Jennifer’s book, “The Introverted Leader.”
Now that you have an idea of how introverts show up in the workplace, it’s time to consider what we can do in both professional and educational environments to encourage their contributions. According to Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler, pausing during a meeting to make sure more introverted people have the chance to speak can be helpful, especially if it comes from a person in power.
We should also keep in mind the role that gender expectations and “norms” play when it comes to identifying and reacting to introversion. Unfortunately, it is expected that women in the workplace should be bubbly and inviting while men should be stoic and unemotional. These gender stereotypes and expectations can cause undue stress and unique challenges for introverts.
While it might not be easy, taking intentional steps to hear from our introverted colleagues will end up enriching both learning and working environments.
To hear more from Jennifer on how to create inviting spaces for introverts in the workplace, make sure to listen to her full conversation with Mark on this engaging episode of When Science Speaks.