Why Introverts Make Great Leaders
We need leaders to make rather than take up space
Leadership is a form of relationship. And, it’s a peculiar one.
When we speak of other relationships “working well,” we often mean a sense of ease, harmony, or balance. We use the experience of the relationship as a metric of its success.
Meanwhile, leadership is slightly different. It’s a relationship with an agenda. On top of wanting to have a nourishing experience, people usually want to get to some kind of a destination as a result of leading.
In that sense, leadership is about facilitating relationships of others. A good leader does that in a way that aids collaboration, learning, growth — or whatever goal the group is pursuing.
In my experience, introverts are often badass at achieving that.
The new paradigm of leadership
Let’s acknowledge this: as we’re well into the 21st century, our understanding of leadership is undergoing transformation.
Currently, one of my favourite definitions comes from Seth Godin’s daily blog:
“Leaders create the conditions where people choose new actions.
The choices are voluntary. They’re made by people who see a new…
