Dear Corporate America, we are Introverts not Inept

What’s something most people don’t understand?

I began my personal career in teaching. I’m no stranger to talking in front of a large audience. I love communicating with people and socializing WITH A PURPOSE. I am articulate, and energetic, even dynamic when it comes time to execute. I am a real Meryl Streep. But when the projector is off, screen share is closed, and it’s not mission critical to be essentially “on,” I call scene and go about my day. The common misconception is when I am dialed back, hell when any introvert is dialed back, we are not dialed in. INCORRECT.

But for some reason people think that when you are not actively acting extroverted you suddenly forget how to listen, how to think, how to contribute, or how to deliver. Small talk serves a purpose; I understand that, but I also understand that it comes at a cost that I’m not willing to pay everyday. See the thing about being an introvert is that you get your energy from your inner world. I have 10 tokens a day, and each time I socialize I spend a token. Extroverts you have zero tokens at the beginning of each day and get one each time they socialize. Extroverts, you can obtain as many tokens as you like, but my tokens are fixed. As an introvert you don’t have to discuss you ideas out loud in real time to come to conclusions. You don’t get your work done orally, unless it’s a conversation with yourself. Honestly if you stand back and look at most meetings, the greatest contributions come from introverts.

One of my professional goals this quarter was to communicate more often. I can honestly say I have recognized the difference in talking a little bit more and meetings. And the difference is not in the quality of my contributions, but in the reception of them. The same ideas I communicate in Slack, the chat or email have more gravitas if I make a joke about needing more coffee first and read it aloud. But I do wish that the diversity that we expect in our organizations would extend to socialization styles. I wish that diversity would be respected and rewarded. I wish people would understand it’s not personal, it’s my personality.