Design leadership for introverts
Hi! 👋 My name is Eunbi, a Product Designer in the Customer UX team at Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET).
We’re living in a world where approximately half of all people are introverts. And I’m an introvert too. I’m usually quiet, especially in a big group setting at work. However, it does not mean that I’m not ambitious.
In my career, I was told to be loud and speak up. I followed the advice.
However, there has always been a little voice in my gut saying:
“There should be some ways to get to the leadership level without changing myself and by leveraging the strengths I already have as an introvert.”
Have I found an answer? Well, I’m still on the journey, but I am very excited to share with you what I learned about introverted leadership and the positive impact it had on me.
“Being an introverted designer in a world that desires extroverts is hard.”
As an introvert, I can 100% relate to this quote. My day-to-day life as a Product Designer is filled with cross-functional collaboration and communication. This means that my calendar is usually packed with back-to-back meetings, long workshops, and such.
I definitely felt that in some of my previous jobs, the loudest voice always gets heard. Sometimes it could be difficult for me to get a word in while everyone is constantly talking.
I struggled.
I wanted to get to the next level. However, I felt like the only way to climb up the career ladder was to be an extrovert. Well, to be more precise, to pretend to be an extrovert.
Then I found a course, Design leadership for introverts.
This course is designed to help introverted designers have an impact at work, and it shares some practical tips and tactics you can apply to your day-to-day work.
There are many things I learned from this course, but I summarised the key learnings here.
1.Definition of introversion
There’s a common myth almost anywhere in the world. When someone is shy, we say the person is introverted.
Well, you know what?
That’s not true! Being shy and introverted don’t mean the same thing.
For example, extroverted people can be shy. Introverts can have really good social skills as well.
The main difference between introversion and extroversion is
how you react to stimulation.
I want you to think about the answers to these two questions:
- Do you prefer working with minimal stimulation or do you thrive in high-stimulus environments?
- When you’re speaking to a group, do you feel drained by interacting with people, or does it energise you?
If you work best with less stimulation and you lose energy from talking to many people, you’re more likely to be an introvert.
Bear in mind that this is a spectrum. No one is 100% introvert or 100% extrovert. You might be 50/50 or 60/40, it depends on the person.
It’s important to understand firstly who you are and which environment you work best in.
2.Who you are is not what you do
When someone asked me to go networking and speak in front of a large audience like I normally wouldn’t do, I used to shy away from it.
I used to think:“I don’t want to change who I am.”
But the truth is, I’m not changing who I am.
Networking, social skills, public speaking — these are important for managing and leadership roles.
However, these are skills, which means something you can improve and get better over time.
You push yourself a little bit to achieve these skills without fundamentally changing who you are.
However, just because you master all of these skills, it does not necessarily mean you’re suddenly going to enjoy public speaking, big meetings, and such.
You might still feel nervous and anxious before big presentations and meetings.
However, the difference is that you know these feelings are coming. And you learn how to manage these feelings better.
3.Manage your calendar like a project
As I explained before, introverts work best in a less stimulated environment and are likely to lose energy by talking to many people. That’s why back-to-back meetings might be draining especially for introverts. When you know you’re an introvert, it’s good to think about how you manage your time at work.
3–1. Block time in your calendar for deep work.
Make sure you block focused time in your calendar so you have dedicated time for deep work. It’s easier said than done and I also get disturbed by messages too. But during focus time, turn your notifications off and try to focus on the work you’re planning to finish. You have limited time and energy at work. If you don’t set a boundary yourself, no one is going to do it for you.
Struggle to find a time? Review your calendar and think about what meetings can be done asynchronously instead.
3–2.Group meetings together
When you have 15 minutes or 30 minutes between meetings, that’s not enough time for you to finish any work. I usually use this time to check emails, messages, or for a quick admin job. But you can give yourself more focused time by grouping all the meetings together and have less wasted time. For example, have focused time in the morning and do all the meetings in the afternoon or the other way around (whatever suits you!)
3–3. Discuss your meeting cadence with your manager
Managers want you to succeed and achieve outcomes by removing barriers you might have at work and by providing the work environment that you thrive in. Discuss your meeting cadence with your manager and work out a schedule that works best for you.
These are all the learnings I wanted to share with you. And I’d like to finish up with my personal takeaway.
After learning the definition of introversion, who I am, and how it is different from what I do, I became more comfortable with who I am.
I understand what it actually means to be an introvert and also spent some time thinking about, knowing that I need less stimulation, how I manage my own time at work.
Also, I’m learning and getting better and better at presentation and public speaking skills that are needed for my next role.
I say yes to opportunities like speaking in front of a lot of people (for example, I spoke in front of 120 UXers in monthly UX All Hands at JET! 🫢).
As I said before, I’m not changing who I am. I am just learning the skills to progress for my next role.
That’s it!
Thank you so much for reading and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or want to talk more about leadership and introversion.
—
Just Eat Takeaway.com is hiring! Want to come work with us? Apply today
