Design Leadership for Introverts (isolation/remote edition)
New techniques I’ve learned as an introverted design leader working in an isolated world that works fully remote.
Introduction
It was Wednesday, 1st April 2020.
Australia had just gone into coronavirus lockdown. Australia, New South Wales recorded it’s 2,182th case of covid-19 (USA had 215,000 cases); and Prince Charles has just come out of self isolation after suffering mild coronavirus symptoms.
It was also the first day at my new job.
When covid-19 hit, working remotely became the new normal. Before, so much of the leadership I felt I did was in-person, peer to peer, face-to-face. Being in the room to read the room.
And just like that, all that was gone. I found myself starting a new role fully remote, leading a design team in a company that was newly remote.
I had never worked remote.
I had never led a remote team.
So, I wondered:
- In this new normal, will I as an introverted leader thrive or wilt?
- Will this new normal be a boom or bust for introverts like me?
- Will my techniques, my introvert superpowers still serve me well working in a fully remote world?
In this article, I share new techniques I’ve learned to lead as an introvert in an isolated world that works fully remote.
Pre-reading: Design Leadership for Introverts
Meetings
Arrive at virtual meetings early
In real life, meetings tend to happen in rooms, at tables, sitting side by side or across from each other.
Meetings in real life are bound by time and space. Sometimes you just can’t get to your next meeting quick enough because your next meeting is 3 floors up in a different building.
Not in iso (isolation) though. In iso, meetings happen virtually. Your next meeting is literally a click away.
And the one thing that remains true about meetings in real life and in iso is that there will always be someone who is late. Someone whose arrival you are waiting for so that the meeting can finally begin. There’s no point in starting the meeting because you are just going to have to repeat what you said all over again when the late person finally arrives.
So why arrive early?
You arrive early because in this small pocket of time, you are alone with the punctual attendees. Not everyone arrives at the same time. So being early gives you precious 1:1 time to connect with the people you work with.
Sometimes it’s your team who are early. Other times its your boss, or your boss’s boss. You can practice small talk:
- What did you have for lunch?
- Is that a new shirt?
- Did the baby FINALLY sleep through the night?
The minutes between meetings are when people speak more freely, when there is nobody else there to listen. It’s an opportunity to connect at a more human level.
By arriving early, you get to ask people how they truly are, especially in iso. And you will never have that opportunity if you arrive late.
1:1s are even more important in isolation
In iso (isolation), 1:1s are more important than ever. Bumping into someone at the watercooler or pantry just does not happen anymore. You can’t just turn your chair around and ask someone a quick question because you are no longer in the same room.
Schedule 1:1s with peers and leaders intentionally so that staying connected is not left to chance.
Context changes behaviour
If you have a difficult subject to discuss, change your space.
Before, you could take a walk with someone, or meet over lunch or coffee. In iso, that’s no longer possible. But you can still change your space.
You could take a call in the garden, at the park, from your living room, on your phone. You get to engage on a more personal level, away from business and behaviours as usual.
Changing where you have your meeting can change your behaviour and the outcome of the meeting.
Not everything has to be a meeting
Meetings aren’t always the best way to get things done.
On a practical level, meetings are synchronous, where all attendees need to assemble at a fixed time. Even if you are successful at calendar tetris and you find one precious hour, two weeks later where all attendees are free; when you meet across timezones, it will always be too early or too late for someone on the call (if they even show up).
Also, group meetings are rife with social dynamics.
Politics. Posturing. Power.
Some groups even encourage adversarial behaviour, claiming that conflict leads to better decisions. As introverts, we may not always get our turn with the microphone. The louder voices on the call seem to say the most, but don’t always have the most to say. Meeting this way isn’t just bad for introverts, it is bad for most of us.
So if not meetings, then what?
Use asynchronous communication methods to get things done
You probably communicate async already if you write emails, blog posts or send instant messages. Here a few other things you can do, especially for introverts.
Record a video of yourself presenting
Instead of a fifteen minute monologue during a meeting where you present your point of view, why not record a video of yourself presenting, so that people can watch in their own time?
I’ll admit, you will cringe the first few times you rewatch a video of yourself and it may take a few tries before you get a good take.
But as an introvert, you are not put on the spot to speak or be interrupted mid-sentence and lose your train of thought. You can have all the time to reflect and deliver a thoughtful, polished presentation.
Also, rewatching a video of yourself is a good way to get better at public speaking. The initial discomfort of watching yourself on video will pass.
Then, you will start to notice little ticks and habits you have when you speak. Like how you say UMM or… aaaahh… LIKE — ALL the time. What you notice in these videos, you can then fix, iterate and improve.
Tell others when a response is required
Not every instant message warrants an immediate response.
In iso, communication through digital channels has increased exponentially. People’s inboxes are lit up like a christmas tree with unread messages.
Also, your team isn’t just working. They are also dealing with kids who are home schooled or feeling couped up in the same 4 walls for the 50th day in a row.
As a design leader, make sure your team knows when a response is required. Instead of sending a message at 1245am that suits you, why not write it now but schedule it to be sent the next morning?
Communicating this way asynchronously lets your team work their best when they are at their best.
Networking
Networking is one of those activities that somehow magically combines all the things that we introverts do not enjoy. Pre-covid, it mostly happened like this:
You arrive in a room full of strangers. You grab a drink and stand awkwardly on the side, quietly scanning the room, hoping someone would make eye contact with you.
The group over there is deep in conversation and you don’t see a way in. You see individuals just like you, scattered around the perimeter, but you dread having to make small talk. Again.
So you just stand there, with your drink in hand and stare at your phone.
Sound familiar?
Clearly, networking does not come naturally to me; and since we’re in iso, I no longer have to make excuses not to attend networking events anymore (because such in-person events no longer happen).
But I recognised it was important for me as a leader to extend my network. Why? For me, the goal of networking is resourcefulness. It is to grow the pool of people I know who I can help and who can help me. It’s something I need to do to become a better leader.
But how do you network in iso, when networking events no longer happen? Here are a few techniques.
Always be networking - methodically and consistently
Extroverts gain energy from interactions with people. Introverts lose energy, even if the conversations are stimulating.
The trick here is to be consistent and methodical with your networking. Have a system.
Spend 15 minutes of your morning serendipitously stumbling onto people on Linkedin or Twitter. Reach out to them; join the conversation. Talk to them about something they recently posted online. If they are keen, exchange direct messages or catchup 1:1 on a video call.
By being methodical and consistent, you do not leave networking to chance. For me, doing this for 15 minutes every morning is less draining compared to 1 hour circulating in a room full of strangers once a month.
Also, don’t just network with people who can help you. Reach out to people that you can help too. Now, more than ever, people need all the help they can get. Review portfolios or CVs; share stories of how you have adapted to remote working. To those who have lost their jobs due to covid, make introductions to others in your network.
Our design community never fails to surprise me how willing we are to help. You get to meet new people, and you get to keep passing the goodwill forward. And one day, you will get to say: “Hey, I know someone who can help you with that. Let me introduce you.”
Get introductions to two other people
So you’ve made all this effort networking to get to know this one person. In fact, you genuinely like this person; they seem like someone you can hang out with. Interesting people probably know other interesting people you should meet.
So why stop at one?
When networking, don’t stop at one. Ask your new connection to introduce you to two other people you should meet, and you can do the same.
Have an exit script
Sometimes conversations come to a natural end. We’ve run out of things to talk about, and that’s totally OK. Rather than awkward silences, have an exit script so you can leave and start up another conversation with someone else.
Practice, practice, practice your exit script. Repeat it until it comes naturally. It could sound something like this:
“Hey John. I’ve really enjoyed chatting with you. If feels like we have a lot in common. Are there 2 interesting people you know that I should talk to? Can you introduce me? I’m happy to do the same.”
Conclusion
I’d like to bring our attention back to Susan Cain’s talk and the extrovert ideal. The world may continue to favour extroverts as leaders, but I hope I’ve convinced you that we introverts have our place as effective leaders as well.
This article was never intended to be introverts vs extroverts; we all have a role to play. I hope that the techniques I’ve shared can be put to good use by introverts and extroverts alike.
Introversion is not a flaw.
Introversion is not a disability.
It is a superpower.
And I hope you’ll let your superpower shine.
#Quiet is the new loud.
This article is a companion piece to my talk: Design Leadership for Introverts (most recently delivered at IxDA Milan 2020); also an article on Medium and Boxes and Arrows.
Tweet me if you’d like me to speak at your meetup or event.
Mentorship and coaching
Are you an introverted designer struggling in a workplace that desires extroverts? Or maybe you are an extroverted design leader looking for ways to work better with your introverted designers?
I’d like to help.
My goal is to help introverts operate successfully in a world that desires extroverts.
My focus is to mentor:
- introverted designers
- introverted design leaders
- design leaders (extrovert/ambivert) who manage introverts
I’d love to hear challenges you face and, where I can, offer practical techniques you can apply to manage your own introversion or to get the best out of your introverted team.
These sessions are free of charge (but buy me a coffee if you found the session useful).
I’d like to offer these sessions to a diverse panel. So please tell me a little about yourself, where you’d like help and I’ll be in touch via email with a calendly link to schedule your first session.
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to catching up with you 1:1.
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